Second Life

Today, I'm going to tell you about this little habit of mine.

I keep used tea bags.

It's weird, I know.

After brewing a cup, I let the tea bag dry

on a tea caddy (or a small sauce dish).

Then I store the bags in a jar until I'm

ready to use them again.

These may be a blah, but I'm definite that

these tea bags still have flavor in them and

can be used a second time.

I gather them, knot the strings together and

let them steep in hot water

for a few hours.

Then I take out the bags and stir in

some honey or simple syrup.

TADA! I've got iced tea perfect for

the warm summer months!

Green Tea Salad

It's all about tea this week.

Tea isn't just for drinking.

We can add it to sweet & savory treats, too.

Did you know that you can make a salad dressing

using green tea leaves?

I've adapted this recipe from an issue of

Rachael Ray's magazine.

Here's what we need:

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1/4 cup green tea leaves

1/4 cup lemon juice

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons fish sauce

2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger

1 jalapeno (stemmed, seeded & finely chopped)

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

One 5-ounce bag mixed baby greens

Here's what we need to do:

(1) In a small skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until golden,

about 3 minutes.

(2) In a small bowl, combine the tea leaves, lemon juice,

soy sauce, fish sauce, ginger, jalapeno & garlic .

Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.

(3) Strain the dressing into a bowl, pressing with a spoon,

and discard the solids. Add sesame seeds.

(4) Toss with the mixed greens and serve immediately.

Now you can have your green tea

and eat it, too!

It's Tea Time!

It's another new week to turn blah into TADA!

And this week, it's tea time.

I love tea.

Asian tea...

English tea...

Tea in boxes, tea in tins -- I'm an equal opportunity

tea lover!

I can't even throw away the blah bits left behind.

So when you've got left-over loose tea...

Make cookies!

I added the remaining tea (2 tablespoons)

in a butter cookie recipe.

TADA! Sweet & soothing Chamomile Tea Cookies!

You can see the flecks of tea all over the cookie.

These are the reason I look forward to

tea time even more.

Have a nice Monday!

Trying My Hand at Applique'

Hey, hey it's Friday! Aren't you glad the weekend's here?

I've been sewing like a mad woman thanks to this fabulous book

and its equally fabulous book launch showing off actual

crafts and several on-site projects.

Among the many things in the book, applique' is one thing I'd like to learn.

It most likely originated as a means to patch holes in clothing,

but is now used for decorative purposes for bed linens...

and drapery...

clothing...

and pillows!

These projects are a little too ambitious for me,

so allow me to practice first.

I found an old shirt.

Then I cut out a starfish shape from

another old shirt.

{Can you tell that summer's on my mind right now?}

Position & pin the starfish.

Stitch in place, folding the fabric inside as you sew,

for a clean edge.

TADA! -- my first attempt at applique!

I know, it could be much neater.

Hope you like my sweet summer silly starfish shirt!

Now go and have yourselves a fun weekend.

Ribbon Art

These past two weeks, I've been doing some blah to TADA! crafts based on this book:

I also had the chance to go to the book launch

called Stitch Fest in New York City,

where I found the cutest display:

Flowers made out of ribbons!

This technique is called ribbon embroidery.

I really liked how they turned out so

I had to try it myself:

I got myself some blah fabric scraps.

Then embroidered away using pink ribbon.

{You'll need some force to tug the ribbon through the cloth}

I also used some thread since I

had no green & yellow ribbon on hand.

TADA! I made this all by myself!

I put it in a frame to decorate the hallway.

I think it makes a nice gift to someone you'd like to give a bouquet of flowers to -- but it's fantastic because this requires no watering, there's no wilting and it's a gift that's completely handmade!

Summer Shoes

While doing some spring cleaning, I found some stuff

that I haven't worn in the longest time, like these blah shoes:

Experts on organizing would say, "Get rid of them!"

But I want to give these shoes another chance.

They're comfortable after all.

And if you can recall, I update the look of a shoe

with some shoe clips:

Buckles from the "Bag of Scrap"

A more colorful version of the buckle

Clip-on earrings

Flower patches

And because I've been sewing the past couple of days...

...I'm sewing up a pair of shoe clips using felt & crochet thread.

Trying out the lazy daisy stitch which I haven't done in a while.

Curve the edges and attach to a pair of clips with hot glue.

Then add to your old pair of shoes.

TADA! It's like I have a brand new pair!

Sketch-a-roo!

Hey there! So nice to see you today.

Here is one of the displays I kept coming back to at Stitch Fest:

They are simple canvas bags made beautiful with

stencils, iron-on transfers, applique and embroidery.

Definitely a blah to TADA! project, which inspired me to do this:

I found this bag in my closet over the weekend.

It was a freebie from a magazine.

I thought I could add some more personality

to it even if it was already TADA!

These images from the internet got me all excited.

I used the bag as a canvas for some sketching.

If you aren't confident with your drawing skills,

you can transfer your chosen images to the

bag using some carbon or transfer paper.

Use a permanent marker to define your design.

TADA! -- my official summer tote bag!

Woot! Woot!