Bags on etsy

The recycled and hemp wrist bags are on my Etsy site. I am looking forward to selling in the warm indoors instead of the frigid outdoors for the remainder of the holiday season. I tried the local city holiday market for three weeks in a row but had to finally admit that it isn't worth selling only a few items in the cold. It is a great little market but the location has been moved and though it is full of vendors it is unfortunately not full of shoppers. Oh well, I gave it a good try and onward to selling online. I am really impressed with how easy it is to list items on Etsy and all the fun extras to promote your site. I added a nifty mini etsy to the blog and I am slowly discovering all the wonderful tools available.

Cowl neck warmer from a sweater and t-shirt

I am really excited that cowl necks are back in style. I loved my pink fluffy cowl neck sweater that I got for Christmas when I was a preteen. I am selling on Saturdays at a local outdoor city holiday market and it is really cold so I figure cowl neck warmers are good addition. I made this one out of a cotton sweater and t-shirt that I got at the local thrift store. I marked off the section I wanted to cut with a pen and then sewed along the line prior to cutting to make sure the edges do not unravel. I added a t-shirt circle and quilted a spiral through all the layers. Pretty cute and fun to make. By the way I have finally uploaded all my items to my etsy shop so please head over a check out all the fun items.

Carrot veggie burgers

We love veggie burgers. Here is my take on a simple nut and veggie burger. I can usually get a dozen burgers out of the recipe and it easily works for two meals. They also freeze well. If you don't have vital wheat gluten then you can substitute more ground oats, bread crumbs or a whole grain flour. Also feel free to add any other shredded veggies. Beets work really nicely as well as broccoli. Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Carrot Veggie Burgers

version one
1 cup raw or toasted walnuts
1.5 cups raw or toasted sunflower seeds
1 medium size onion
3 large carrots
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
3 cups cooked brown rice
0.5 cup vital wheat gluten
0.5 cup ground rolled oats
0.5 tsp salt

In a food processor add the nuts, seeds and oats. Pulse to a fine grind. Remove and place in a bowl. Add the carrots and onion and also pulse to shred. Remove and place in the bowl with the nuts. Add oil if using. Pulse again to a sticky consistency and place in the bowl with the other ingredients. Add the wheat gluten to the same bowl. Add salt to taste. Now the fun part. Mix everything together. Feel free to use your hands. They work great. Form the mixture into four inch size patties and fry or bake at 375F for 25 minutes flipping halfway. Freeze the leftovers and you have dinner or lunch for another day. Goes great with sweet potato fries.

Esty shop is finally up and running

I finally have the Natural Violet Etsy shop up and running. I have flower pins made from recycled t-shirts. I also have fun hemp/organic cotton bibs and burp cloth sets along with a few baby teeny pants. I am working on the recycled wrist bags and should have listing for those in a few days. I am also knitting neck warmers/cowls from recycled yarn and plan to sew a few neck warmers from recycled sweaters. I should have the store fully stocked by the end of week so please take a peek. Please also excuse my lack luster photos. I need to work on my photo taking skills. I figured if I wait until I have good photo skills then I will likely never list anything. Hopefully the photos are descriptive enough and please feel free to contact me with any questions. Happy holiday shopping!