DIY Pug Bookmark

I have been crazy busy lately!  Between trying to get ready for the LoLa Art Crawl and the school year starting back up again, I'm feeling really overwhelmed.  Fortunately, my students are awesome, and when I'm working on my crafting I get to stare at puppy faces all day :)

Here's a step by step on how I make the pugs:

It's a little hard to tell in the pictures the amount of detail on the nose- it's my favorite part though.  I roll the clay out thin with pointed ends, then curve it inward at both ends to make the nose.  Then I add a bunch of tiny little dots to add the puppy dog nose texture.  I think they're really cute!

DIY Puppy Paw Mug

I love mugs.  If I had the room, I'd have a million!  Fortunately, they make great gifts, too.  So, even the ones I don't have room for end up in loving homes ;)

To make this paw print mug, you will need:

• White coffee mug (try IKEA!)
• Acrylic enamel paint in bright green and blue (or whatever colors you like!)
• Paw print sticker
• Scissors
• Tweezers

First, take your paw print sticker and cut it out around all the lines.  Next, stick it to your mug- aim for the middle, but don't worry if it's not perfectly centered!  Then simply paint stripes over the paw print!  I started with my green and filled in with the blue afterwards.  This ensured that my lines stayed evenly spaced.  Use your tweezers to remove the stickers carefully, then touch up the paint if any peeled off.  Finally, follow the directions on your paint bottle for how to bake the mug.  Typically, you want to be sure and place the mug in a cold oven, then heat it to temperature while the mug is in.  This prevents any cracking from sudden temperature changes.

Ta da!  So simple!!

Life Lately

1) Donuts!  And lots of sweets, as usual
2) and 4) We've been working out a bunch lately!  I got a new medicine ball that has really changed up my workouts, and we also got a hangboard, which is great training for rock climbing.
4) Of course, I've been hanging out with this sweetheart too!

1) Valentine's Day started with a delicious living room picnic
2-4) and it continued with a terrific fire, marshmallow toasting, and delicious s'mores (we made them with fudge graham crackers!)
5) and 6) The beautiful bouquet John gave me.  I love flowers!

February has been a great month!  And I'm looking forward to next month even more- it's my birthday month!  I've got lots of DIYs, recipes, and fun birthday ideas lined up to share with you all :)  What have you been up to this month?

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Life Lately

Hi all!  I hope you've all had a wonderful month of May.  I can't believe it's already almost over!  This month has been CRAZY busy for me (I actually took a little break on Tuesday).  So, a big apology to all my blogging friends because I've fallen way behind on all of your lovely posts (I'll be catching up soon!).  I've been on the job hunt and then in the process of getting my teacher's license.  I'm almost done with it all; next week is the last week of student teaching, I've got a job lined up for next school year, and almost all of my paperwork is ready to go for my license.  Phew!  I don't know about you, but I am definitely going to savor this summer break!

In other news, this month featured the final, at long last, arrival of spring in Minnesota.  I even got to plant our pots for the front and back yards.  And, as always, there were lots of walks and cuddles with Inga :)

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day weekend and a rest-filled weekend ahead!  Enjoy!

DIY Christmas Dog Collar Slide

Have I mentioned how much I love Christmas?  Today I've got a cute little puppy project for you to try.  To make your own, you will need:

• Scissors
• Green felt (dark green and kelly green)
• Green embroidery floss
• Red embroidery floss
• Red plastic round beads
• Elastic

First, cut your felt into four rectangles.  The size will depend on the size of your puppy :)

Then, cut one lighter green rectangle into a holly leaf.  This is much easier than you think!  Just cut out a quarter circle from the corners on one end.  Then, cut out half circles along the sides.  Finally, end with a curved V

Place this holly leaf over a darker green rectangle and use it as a guide so that the two are nearly identical in shape.

Then, use your embroidery floss (I separated out two strands) and do a running back stitch down the center of the felt leaves, joining the two colors together.

Continue with the same stitch around the outside of the leaf.

Repeat the process with the remaining two felt rectangles.

Next, take three of your red plastic beads and, using the red embroidery floss, stitch them onto the overlapping leaves.  This will not only add your red holly berries, but it will also join the two leaves securely together.

Finally, take your elastic and cut a piece that fits snugly around the collar.

Stitch it to itself so that it forms a loop.

Then, simply stitch it to the holly leaves.  (This part doesn't have to be pretty since no one will ever see it)

Stretch the elastic over the collar clasp and you're done!

I think Inga looks pretty cute in this :)  If I can just keep her from trying to eat it....

Saturday Snapshot

As easy as it would be for me to do, I promise not to have every Saturday Snapshot be of my dog :) 

Here, I was playing with the pet portrait and macro settings.

Pet Profile Art

Happy Monday!  When I was growing up, I remember that my parents had silhouettes of my brother and me hanging in the house.  John's family had silhouettes of him and his sister as well.  Well, John and I don't have children, but we do have Inga!  So, I thought it would be fun (funny?) to make a silhouette of Inga as a piece of art for our home.

I started with a picture of Inga in profile:

Then, I opened it with Paint.net, and added a layer so I could trace around her face.  I filled in the rest with white, so all I was left with was a black outline:

I cropped the outline to 8x10 proportions so I could enlarge it to fit our 16x20 frame.  Then, I took the outline to Kinko's on my jump drive and printed it out on a 16x20 piece of white paper.

I got two big pieces of poster board, one white and one in a fun color to use as the background.

Then, I simply cut out Inga's face and traced it onto the white poster board.  I cut this out again and secured it to the green poster board, cut down to size.

Voila!  Doggy pop art :)  I think it's cute and fun.  What do you think- is it fun art or are we just crazy dog people?

Homemade Dog Biscuits

 

 ...because our pets deserve some extra love on Valentine's day, too!  Truth be told, I had forgotten to buy treats when I was at the pet store.  Instead of going back and making an extra trip, I thought I would see if I could make some that my dog, Inga, would enjoy.  I'm so glad that I did!  The ingredients were all already in our house, so the treats were practically free :)

You will need:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 egg
• 1 small apple
• 1/2 cup peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place the oats in a food processor and pulse until they are fine and small pieces.  Pour into a medium bowl and add the flour.

Then, core and cut the apple into slices, using the food processor until the apple is likewise in small and fine pieces.  It will be like a really coarse apple sauce.

Add the apple, egg, and peanut butter to the dry ingredients and combine, kneading until it forms a firm ball.

Roll the dough onto a work surface and use small cookie cutters to form the biscuits until the dough is used up. 

Place the biscuits on a parchment lined pan and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the bottom of the biscuits begin to brown.

I used small bone and heart shapes to make my biscuits.  My puppy is about 20 pounds, so if you've got a big dog you can use larger cookie cutters to make bigger treats if you want.  Store in an airtight container.

Inga loves them!  She had to wait very patiently for this picture, and she wasn't too happy about it :)

Look at the treat on her paw!  Good girl!

We even put together a little Valentine gift for our dog walker's dog!

Tell your dog you love them! ;)

DIY Puppy Bows

 

Our dog, Inga, is not a very girly dog.

 

Nor is she very lady like...

In fact, she usually is mistaken on walks for a boy dog, even though she has a pink collar and leash.  So, I thought it would be cute and maybe solve the gender ambiguity if I made some bows for Inga's collar.  I wanted to be able to change them out occasionally, and for them to be a little durable.  If you don't have a dog, these bows would be so cute on barrettes for little girls instead!

You will need:

• Ribbon (I found mine in Target's dollar bins!)
• Dog collar for measuring (or barrettes, etc.)

First, simply loop the ribbon to make your bow shape, pinning it in place.

Trim the excess once it's pinned

 Then, stitch the bow shape to secure it.

Next, you'll want to take the excess scrap of ribbon and measure it around the largest part of the dog collar (for Inga, this was the clasp).  Pin the loop to secure it and stitch the loop closed.

Finally, stitch the loop to the bow!  And, you can make the bows in whatever shape your heart desires!

Just slide the bow onto the collar and voila!  Inga is now a girly girl. 

Okay, not really, but she sure looks cute! :)