Cereal Box Advent Calendar

Posted on December 1, 2010 by city-made_admin

So we made it to the last month of our repurposing challenge.  Thank you to all of you who have been reading our posts.  Don’t worry, we won’t go away after the year ends.  We still plan to create and blog about what we are up to. During the month of December we plan to include repurposed christmas decorations, christmas gifts, gift wrap and much more.

Today we have an Advent Calendar made from a cereal box and old Christmas cards.

We started by cutting off the back and top of the box and cutting the front to look like a roof.  You could really make your calendar any shape that you want, we chose a house.

Next we painted the box black and white and cut out twenty-four windows and one door with an exacto knife.  We used a sharpie to write the numbers on the windows and door.

Last, we cut out pictures from old Christmas cards that we had saved from past years.  We taped the pictures onto the back of the windows and door so that you will see them when the windows are opened.

Now we have our countdown until Christmas!

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CD Case to Recipe Holder

Posted on November 30, 2010 by city-made_admin

In our last post we gave you a way to repurpose your old casette tape case, now we give you a method to repurpose your old CD case.

It is the time of year for all of your holiday baking. Use CD case to keep your recipe in a convenient spot for quick reference.

Bend the case backward so that it is in an upright position. This works best with the thin CD-R cases.

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It's time your earbud holder moved on to the iPod age

Posted on November 29, 2010 by city-made_admin

We have all ditched cassettes in every form. Whether it is the casette audio tape, or the mini-casette video tape, everything has gone digital.

But don’t make the switch to digital when it comes to how you keep your earbuds neat and tidy in your purse or backpack.

You remember these…

Doesn’t this seem like such an easy solution?

My husband Jeff could really use this idea as he always is untangling his earbuds from his backpack or his pocket. (Now if he will only get the earbuds into the casette holder each time)

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Advent calendar or centerpeice

Posted on November 28, 2010 by city-made_admin

If you celebrate advent, the first Sunday is today. The tradition is to light one of the 4 candles each day and add candles each week until Christmas. Neither of us had an “official” Advent calendar. So, we decided to make one. Now if you don’t celebrate Advent, you can also use this idea for a nice centerpiece.

We had some tiles from citymade MIL, Nancy. Carol painted on a few, but there were still a few left.

Luckily, the color was really nice. We simply placed a few candles on the tile,

decorated it with some decorative green, and we have a nice center piece for Advent.

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Skirt to Bib for Josephine

Posted on November 27, 2010 by city-made_admin

Yet another project for the new citymade niece, Josephine.

I (Carol) had a skirt (that actually used to be a dress) that I never wore. It has such a pretty pattern on it.

I thought it would make a beautiful bib.

Ever practical, we backed it with washable rip stop fabric. There is still plenty of fabric left for other projects, too.

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Ribbon scrap taggie blanket

Posted on November 26, 2010 by city-made_admin

We at citymade are happy to announce the arrival of citymade sister Catherine’s new daughter, Josephine! Congratulations to Catherine, John and Oscar on the new addition to the family.

We always love to do sewing-for-baby projects, so Josephine wa a great reason.

We always have a ton of ribbon scraps around, (Melany: why don’t we throw any of these away? Carol: then we couldn’t make the taggie blankets. Melany: Oh, right. ), we decided to make a fun, taggie blanket with them. Fun fact: The white side of the blanket was a shirt I wore for the expecting Mom’s wedding. Double re-purpose!

This is a great item to have for baby.

They will love all the different textures and it is the perfect size for on-the-go!


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Alternative to plastic wrap

Posted on November 25, 2010 by city-made_admin

Happy Thanksgiving from citymade!

Today we will have a re-purposed, eco-friendly way for you to store all of your Thanksgiving left-overs (that you are going to re-purpose into delicious meals right?).

Start with a disposable or oilcloth tablecloth.


1. Trace around the top of the bowl on the backside of your tablecloth.

2. Cut out the circle using scissors or pinking shears.

3.  Sew a piece of elastic around the outside of the circle about a half-inch in using a zig-zag stitch.  Be sure to pull the elastic tight as you sew.

4.  Slip the bowl cover over the bowl for an airtight seal.

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Turkey Pot Pie

Posted on November 24, 2010 by city-made_admin

Friend of citymade, Michele, made this next recipe for us (she used chicken). Of course, since she is an amazing cook, it was delicious.

Enjoy!

Turkey and Vegetable Pot Pie

1 lb turkey

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 carrots, diced

3 tbsp all purpose flour

½ c dry white wine

2 c 1% milk

1 10 oz package of frozen peas

1 tbsp fresh thyme

Salt/pepper

1 9-inch pie crust, thawed if frozen

Heat oven to 400F. Shred turkey. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and cook, stirring, until they begin to soften, 6 to 8 minutes (do not let them darken). Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add the wine and cook until evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the milk and simmer until the sauce thickens, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the turkey, peas, thyme, ¾ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper. Transfer to shallow 1 ½ to 2 quart baking dish.

Lay the crust on top, pressing to seal. Cut several vents in the crust. Place the pot pie on a baking sheet and bake until bubbling and the crust is golden, 30 to 35 minutes.

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Hearty Turkey Noodle Soup

Posted on November 23, 2010 by city-made_admin

Hearty Turkey Noodle Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped thyme
3 1/2 to 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups baby spinach
2 cups cubed or shredded turkey or chicken
1 1/2 cups uncooked wide egg noodles
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained
1 (14.5-ounce) can sliced carrots, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add thyme and stir to blend. Add broth, spinach, turkey, noodles, beans, carrots, and salt and pepper and stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer about 15 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 19oz/551g-wt.): 340 calories (70 from fat), 8g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 65mg cholesterol, 740mg sodium, 36g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 5g sugar), 29g protein

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Turkey and Sweet Potato Curry

Posted on November 22, 2010 by city-made_admin

Turkey and Sweet Potato Curry

Nutrition

Per serving (about 12oz/352g-wt.): 340 calories (45 from fat), 5g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 80mg cholesterol, 135mg sodium, 40g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 19g sugar), 34g protein

Ingredients

2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons garam masala
1 cup nonfat yogurt
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 pound chopped cooked turkey
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1 pound chopped cooked sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons half-and-half (optional)

Directions

Put ginger, garlic, pepper flakes, tomatoes, curry powder, garam masala, yogurt and cilantro into a deep bowl and stir to combine. Add turkey, toss well, cover and refrigerate overnight. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Stir in turkey and marinade, sweet potatoes, sugar and half-and-half and cook until heated through. Transfer to a large bowl and serve.
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