DIY: Cat Mat

Basically I'm obsessed with my cat (Burli) , some of you probably already know this :) Often my crafting projects involve thoughts of what I want to make Burli but usually get overruled in my mind by rational projects like things for the house or new A cup of T products.  However I did take a little time to make him a cat mat! What's a cat mat you may ask?? Well the mat that lays under their food and water of course ;) I have step by step instructions below on how to create an adorable one for your fury little feline!  I hope you find this helpful! 

You will need:

2 fabrics, 1 scrap material solid and 1/4 yard print, scissors, iron, sewing machine, embroidery thread and needle



Cut Printed fabric to desired size of mat, I cut about 2 inches off of the 1/4 yard and fold fabric in half with wrong sides out

Place pins along the edge of the long side of the fabric

Sew the edges together leaving about 4-5 inches on one of the short sides open

Place your hand inside the hole and turn the fabric right side out

Iron fabric to flatten all sides

Sew around all edges of cat mat to give a finished look and close the hole left open

Cut 4 small and 1 large circles out from your solid fabric to form a cat paw

Pick embroidery thread out and stitch paw in the corner of your mat

And you are finished!! Ready for kitty to enjoy :)

Great for doggies too:)

Happy Crafting!

Love, T

Meow:)

Giveaway Time!!

I'm giving away one pair of these sweet rosette earrings! If you win you get to pick between neon green and baby blue :)

To Enter:

1. Go to my facebook page and "Like" my page A cup of T
or
2. Visit my etsy shop Etsy Shop and tell me your favorite item

Be sure to leave you email address with your comment! I will announce the winner on Monday!

Happy Sharing!

Love, T

My Morning Run

Today I woke up bright and early to get my run in early. I awoke to 68 degree weather and sunshine. In other words pretty much the best running weather I've seen all summer! Maybe fall is brewing somewhere..wishful thinking!! Laced up my kicks threw on my running gear and drove to one of my go to running routes. Running is like therapy for me, my mind is allowed to wonder which in turn makes me ignore my feet pounding on the pavement, it's pretty much a win win :) I snapped a few pics from the beautiful start to my day.  I encourage you to get up and run! Ready Set Go......

I found this message quite appropriate. I hope your day starts out nice too!

Happy Running!

Love, T

Photo Art

Here's a quick craft post..My newest line of creations are Photo Art! Lately I've been thinking about my wedding and the things I wish I would have made for myself but didn't have time to.  So I am going to be creating more wedding and love inspired pieces in the near future! Hopefully I will make someones wedding day that much more wonderful :)

Happy Day!

Love, T

Mom's Sewing Room

When most people think of living back home with their parents they generally want to cringe.  Since all of our plans Johnny and I had for the next year or so have turned upside down we have found ourselves living with my parents, not for too much longer though :)  It's been 2 weeks and 2 days since we moved in and really it's been pretty pleasant.  One huge perk has been my mom's sewing room :) I've spent a portion of nearly everyday I 've been here working on something!  Some pieces I've finished, some just were not working so their production stopped.  Being in her sewing room makes me realize how nice it is to be able to cut my fabric on a table instead of in my lap.  Also being able to leave my work in progress out and just shut the door rather than have to gather it all up and put it up until the next day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that our next place has enough space for me to fully enjoy sewing and crafting!! I took a few pics of her sewing room and I wanted to share them with you!

 This is my temporary work station :) Sun shines in every evening..ahh:)

 Mom and I went to Jo Ann Fabrics on Sunday and they had their Simplicity patterns for only $1!   So i picked out 5 and I have big plans to sew more of my clothes.  My mom is an amazing sewer, I wish she had more pictures of her clothes from when she was younger, I mean they are AMAZING! She told me she may have a few of her old dresses in a closet, so my thoughts..dig them out of course! Be looking for a post in the future!

Happy Creating!

Love, T

What's for Dinner?

Here's that question again...What's for dinner?  As you probably are aware I love making something from nothing.  I know that Johnny's hungry and doesn't know quite what he wants when he starts walking around the kitchen quietly opening all the cabinet doors and blankly staring into the fridge.  He usually finishes with "there's nothing to eat."  My response? Well of course there is silly :) So I scrounged around a bit and found ingredients to make spaghetti, turkey meatballs and garlic bread sticks.  He liked the sound of this so between us we had a pretty tasty meal!

Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey sausage

1 egg

1/2 cup Italian Style bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1/4 cup skim milk

1/2 t oregano

1/2t Italian seasoning

pepper, salt, garlic to taste

1.Preheat oven to 375

2. Combine all ingredients in medium bowl

3. Roll into small balls and place on non greased cookie sheet

4. Bake for 35 minutes

While you wait on your turkey meatballs to finish baking go ahead and cook your pasta and start on the pasta sauce.

Semi Homemade Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

3/4 cup mushrooms halved

1 small green bell pepper chopped

1/2 onion chopped

2 cans rotel

1 large can traditional pasta sauce

salt, pepper, garlic to taste

1. Add the first 3 ingredients in a greased sauce pan and cook on medium/high until soft

2. Add remaining indigents to sauce pan and turn temp to low

Once you have your sauce simmering, start on your garlic bread sticks!  No bread sticks in the fridge? no problem you can use crescent rolls to make them!

 Garlic Bread sticks

Ingredients:

1 can crescent rolls

1 T light butter

1/2 T garlic

1. Preheat oven 375

2. Divide rolls into 4 squares and squeeze the serrations together

3. Cut into strips

4. Twist and place on baking stone

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes

6. Combine the butter and garlic into a small bowl

7. Brush mixture over warm bread sticks

By this time your meatballs should be finished so you are ready to eat!!

Remember there's always something you can turn into dinner :)

Happy Cooking!

Love, T

Crafting Continued..

If you read my previous post I told you about my fun little craft day with Leah of Sookie Says :) Well she posted a cute post about it as well and you can check it out here:  http://sookiesaysblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/craft-day-and-photo-fun.html. I want to share with you a little more of our craft day.  After creating the fabric wrapped wreath I decided to create a fabric wrapped jar!  Leah had some old jars sitting around that she was planning to cover with doilies and lace so I did my own version and covered it with fabric.  I'll walk you through it and you will be able to make your very own at home in a matter of 10-15 minutes!
Supplies needed: empty jar and lid, hot glue gun, scissors fabric of choice, a small doily, small piece of yarn

 Step 1: Cut enough fabric to wrap completely around the jar and to cover the bottom of the jar

Step 2: Hot glue the fabric to the body of the jar, line up the end of the fabric to the brim and leave the excess at the base of the jar

 Step 3: Glue the fabric around the rim of the jar

 Step 4: Glue down the excess fabric to the bottom of the jar.

 Step 5: Decorate your lid! I just cut a small piece from a doily and hot glued it to the lid

Finish up with a small piece of yarn wrapped around the top of the jar and there you have it!

You can use any type of jar you have laying around, heck you can even save a jelly jar! I hope you find this helpful! I'd love to see your variations of this DIY! Post pics to my facebook page A cup of T if you try it!

Happy Crafting!

Love, T