homemade dog bed

Up until recently my dog was stuck with a tiny bed. We bought it for her when she was a puppy and she promptly started to destroy it. Fortunately I had the brilliant idea to slip it inside a pillowcase which seemed to make her uninterested in chewing it up. Now she's "grown up" (or at least as grown up as labs can get) and out of her chewing phase, so I felt bad about her tiny bed. I started looking online and dog beds big enough for an 80lb dog are expensive! so I decided to take matters into my own hands and make one. I didn't have any of this stuff around so I just decided to buy it all in one go, and it was less than $30.

I bought a twin mattress pad, a twin mattress protector, and 2 yards of flannel. 

The first thing I did was decide to make a 24"x24" bed. It fits well in her crate and the numbers work out nicely with the mattress pad. Then I cut out two 26"x"26" pieces of the vinyl. If I had to do it over, I'd probably do 27"x27" though because it was a bit of a tight fit. 

Now I sewed three of the four sides and left the bottom open to insert the mattress pad. 

Like I said earlier, 24" was a good length because that was the same width as the mattress pad folded in thirds. I also had to cut several inches off the side because I didn't want it to take up the whole length of the crate. 

Insert the foam pad in the vinyl cover and sew that end shut. 

Now we get to start measuring and cutting the fabric! 

With the fabric folded in half width-wise (so it's one yard wide) measure out a 26"28" rectangle for the top and bottom of the case, a 4"x14" rectangle ALONG the fold (so it'll actually be 28" long) for the back, and a 4"x29" rectangle for the sides. 

Then I began to assemble the pillowcase. First I made a 1/2" double hem along the 26" bottom of one of the big pieces. Then I sewed the 4"x"28" piece to the other 26" side.

 Do the same with the other big piece.

Now hem the 29" long side pieces.

Line up one of them along the 28" side of the main pillowcase.

Sew along the edge until you get to the end of the first piece and the back piece is sticking out.

 Lift the presser foot and turn the side piece so that it's now lined up with the back piece and sew those 4".

 When you get to the end, lift the presser foot and turn the fabric again.

Make sure the hemlines line up and pin it. 

Sew along that edge now.

Do the same with the other side and then you're done! Slip the bed into the case and let your dog enjoy it.

MUCH BETTER! :)

decorating outlet/light switch covers

We're in the process of painting a room in our house and when we started taking the covers off the outlets and light switch, we noticed that the previous owners knew nothing about painting. They left them on when they painted (and didn't even tape them!) so we knew we had to do something about the light switch and outlet covers.
Flat out replacing them would be cheap but booooooring and buying fancy ones is expensive (relatively speaking: $6.54 is 18 times more than $0.35!), so I went off the internet in search of ideas.

What I found was the idea to glue scrapbook paper to the basic cover and it looks great!

Ugh! If you look closely at the bottom outlet, you can see some paint on it. I told you the previous owners did a really bad paint job. And the reason the wall isn't painted yet in the after picture is because they were also really bad at patching holes in the wall. We've spent a few hours sanding them...

Start off by removing all the covers from the wall.

Then was all the dirt off and leave them to dry for a few minutes. (notice the old toothbrush I wound up needing for the tight corners)

While they were drying, I assembled everything else I'd need for the job: scrapbook paper, pencil, scissors, Mod Podge, sponge brush, a knife, and some heavy books. And a piece of plywood that came with our elliptical that I use for a work surface. 

As it turns out, a piece of scrapbook paper is 12x12 in. and you need about 4x6 in. to cover each plate. That means you can cover 6 of them with one piece of paper. Financially speaking, we could either spend $32.70 on those fancy rubbed bronze ones from Lowe's or we could spend $0.30 on some scrapbook paper (it was 50% off at Hobby Lobby!). And if we had to buy new covers*, that still would have only been $2.05. Not bad at all! :) 

*And even if you also had to buy a pencil, scissors, Mod Podge, a brush, and a knife, you would've spent less than $32.70.

Cut the paper and brush the cover with a light layer of Mod Podge. Be sure not to leave it too thick in some areas! If you do, the paper will bunch like it did with my "after" example. 

Place the cover upside down on the paper and hold it for a few seconds to smooth out the wrinkles. 

Now make diagonal cuts from the corner of the paper towards the cover. I also went ahead and trimmed the corners so there would be less bulk. 

Now glue the back of one section of the paper and press it against the side. Then, once it's securely glued, fold it over and press it again. 

Repeat for the other 3 sections. 

This is where things like Elementary Differential Equations and Advanced Engineering Mathematics really come in handy! Place the covers paper-side down and put the books on them. There are three under the first book and two under the second. Let them dry for 20-30 minutes. 

Once they're dry, flip them over and make 4 diagonal cuts (or 8 radial cuts) in each outlet hole and 2 diagonal (4 radial) in the light switch hole. Apply Mod Podge to the paper and fold it back.

Now carefully brush a light layer of Mod Podge over the paper and let it dry. I did a second layer just because.

Finally, hold the cover up to the light to poke the screws where they belong. Then screw them into the walls and enjoy! 

Non-Alcoholic White Sangria

Well, it's hot and summer is here! What better way to celebrate than to make a nice pitcher of sangria and relax with your friends? Or whoever you want to relax with. I adapted this recipe from this yummy list of drinks.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of orange juice
1/2 a fresh lemon, sliced
1/2 a fresh orange, sliced
1 small apple, cut into wedges
1 peach, cut into pieces
4 cups of white grape juice
4 cups of ginger ale

How To:
1. Assemble all your ingredients and supplies. I don't have an orange squeezer, so I had to make-do with a lemon squeezer.

2. I decided to go all out and use freshly squeezed orange juice. The lemon squeezer was a bit small, but it worked.

In the end I needed just a little bit more juice, so I squeezed a quarter of an orange and ate the other quarter.  (note the other half of the orange waiting to be sliced)

3. Add the orange juice, grape juice, and sugar to the pitcher and stir until all the sugar dissolves. On a homemaking note, keep those orange peels and run them through your garbage disposal. It'll make your sink and kitchen smell nice and citrusy.

I wound up using this white cranberry peach juice in place of regular white grape juice because it was on sale when I went to the store this morning. Plus I figured it would go with the fruity/summery theme. 

4. Slice/dice/cube/whatever the remaining fruit and then add it to the pitcher. I started doing little wedges for the apples, but gave up and started cutting them into chunks instead. 

 Stir it all in if it needs it.

5. Chill in the refrigerator for several hours. 

6. Shortly before serving add the ginger ale. This is actually a one liter bottle, which is slightly over 4 cups. 

7. Enjoy! 

homemade dog shampoo

In case you can't tell by now, I love using vinegar to clean with. It's amazing! It's very acidic and sour, which means that you aren't the only one who dislikes it. Fleas hate it too. I've used this shampoo on my dog from day one and I've never noticed fleas on her. (side note: I'm not a vet so take this all with a grain of salt. Flea medication might be the right route for you and your dog.)

Ingredients:
equal parts liquid hand soap and vinegar

How To:
1. Gather all your ingredients. The day before I made it the first time I happened to run out of face wash and I thought it would make a good bottle to use for this. A funnel isn't necessary, but it does make things a lot easier.

2. Fill the bottle half way with soap. Maybe one day I'll make my own liquid hand soap.

3. Fill the bottle the rest of the way with vinegar.

4. Shake well. (it wouldn't hurt to give it a good shake before you use it each time)