Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Feeling crafty

Whether it's the inspiration of all the gorgeous fall colors or that fact that, in crafting terms, the holidays are right around the corner I'm becoming increasingly addicted to everything home-made. I'm loving anything you can do with a needle (ok, so that came out wrong), and I'm even reacquainting myself with my long-abandoned kitchen. My favorite cookie and cake recipes are being dug out and dusted off and I've started whipping up giant batches of soup, chili and curry. Some delicious bundles of fabric have been landing on my doorstep and I'm slowly building up my stack of, believe it or not, Christmas presents, which I'm determined will be nearly all handmade this year. I actually started the biggest project back in August!

In the midst of the stitching and baking whirlwind I couldn't quite forget about the pups. With the cold weather coming on my little Flowerpot was starting to get chilly on walks so I took another shot at a jacket pattern. This one's definitely an improvement on the first attempt so I must be learning something. Flower gave it a good test drive in the park, snuffling through the grass chasing bugs! (Excuse the scary looming-giant shadow!)


I'm thinking I might add a love of buttons to my fabric obsession and couldn't resist embellishing her little tweed outfit.


With my exciting new neighbors moving in on Sunday I had to think up some pooch-appropriate housewarming gifts. Poor Fifty's had a bit of a poorly tummy so I'm not sure if he'll actually be able to chomp on his Coconutty Star dog cookies now, but Bilbo went nuts for them and barked and whined his way around the house the whole time they were cooking.


I have to admit they smelled delicious - I even tried one myself - but I'm a sweet-tooth girl so sugar-free goodies didn't quite do it for me. Don't worry, I kept some back for the whining Bilbo too! This recipe did call for flour and rolled oats so although I used mostly rice flour I'm still on the look out for some good grain-free treat recipes. Any ideas?


For Izzy I reached into the fabric stash for some pieces of one of my favorite home-decorator weight prints for a stuffed bone. I bought this one on my first trip to the Needle Shop, a fabulous little store just 20 minutes walk from my house which pretty much single-handedly fanned the flames of my fabric obsession.

Next on the doggy crafting list is a big floor cushion for Bilbo. He loves to lounge across piles of clothes when I'm sorting out laundry so I'm guessing I might get a bit more room on the bed from time to time if I provide him with a bit of comfy floor space. The only problem is, I can't decide on a fabric!

Don't forget to like us on facebook for more pictures of the pups. There are some very cute pooches in Flower's Halloween Fashion Show album so please show them some love and vote for the one you like the best to help them win $ for their favorite animal rescue! 

13 comments:

  1. I would love some ideas of crafty Christmas presents you are making (though, I guess if the receiver is a blog reader, you may not want to share). I am planning on a few home made presents for my family (reusable coffee filter for eco-conscious, coffee obsessed Mom, thermo-reflective cat beds for sister's cats), but have a shortage of ideas for my sister (who likes fine things) or, the worst to get presents for, my brother-in-law.

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  2. I love these crafts, so fun! The stuffed bone is especially cute!

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  3. You are so creative!!! Do you use a pattern or do you just wing it?! I have absolutely no ability to sew...it's embarrassing. My 7th grade home economics teacher was so ashamed of my shotty sewing.

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  4. How cute!! I sewed my finger last time I attempted a crafty project but I need to get back on the bandwagon. Though I'm sure anything I do will look more like a 5 year old did it!

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  5. I'd be very curious to learn about any grain-free treat recipes as well, let me know if you get any!

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  6. That's so cool! I would love to make a jacket like that for my dogs, but I'm so intimidated by my sewing machine.

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  7. Really? You made all of these??? I was marveling at Flower's coat, then I saw the treats and the bone... That bone is something I always wanted to make because I think pretty toys scattered around the house is kind of nice, and our guys are soft chewers. Quite impressed!

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  8. Grain free treats are easy enough. You could grind the rolled oats up into oat flour, buy (in bulk, seriously cuz it's expensive!) almond flour or i'm sure there's a way to make your own somehow. Almond flour makes the most delicious doggy treats -- they're so sweet!

    That coat is amazing, so cuuute! It looks like it came out of a magazine! I'm on my way to the fabric store today to make a throver for Elli and to embellish a collar for her upcoming gotcha day. :)

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  9. So so SO impressed!! Everything is just amazing. I am in awe.

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  10. Love those stuffed fabric bones! Do they stand up to a fair amount of chewing?

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  11. What a nifty smart looking jacket you made for Flower! Bravo! :D

    Thank you for stopping by to wish me a Happy Day! :) Together we raised $53 for my shelter. Wahoo!

    Followin your tail,
    Roo

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  12. We would LOVE to see you post about making your treats and join us for our Tasty Tuesday Blog Hop! For grain free treat recipes, you can find a TON of them on our blog on the Tasty Tuesday tab, but as a general tip? We use potato flour or coconut flour in our dog treats when we want to go 100% grain free. You can sub them in most dog treat recipes no problem!

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  13. I'm so impressed! I wish I could say I hope to follow in your artsy footsteps someday, but I would be worried about sewing my fingertips into the jacket.

    As for the leftover rice flour, I've been thinking of trying this recipe from Best Bully Sticks: http://www.bestbullysticks.com/blog/weekly-drool-recipes/weekly-drool-recipe-pupkin-pumpkin-dog-biscuits/. We serve up pumpkin every day with breakfast for our three, but I wouldn't mind turning it into a treat instead. I just need a cute cookie cutter and I can get started....

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