cross stitch heart

Cross Stitch Heart Pattern

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Cross Stitch Heart

I was thinking about Valentine’s Day and realized I didn’t have a cross stitch heart pattern. I wanted it to be like something I use to draw in junior high, you know, the heart with my love’s and I’s initials in it. Then I thought about Rusty and how he is part of this family, so I put half a paw peeking out over the top of the heart.

cross stitch heart

Pattern

 

 

 

The pattern didn’t turn out the greatest when I scanned it because I pretty much beat it to death while I was completing the stitching, taking it everywhere with me. Next time I’ll scan it before I start the stitching. Lesson learned.

 

 

 

 

 

cross stitch heart

Stitching the paw print was a pain in my rear. Even though I had my pattern the squares are so tiny that it would have benefited me and the pattern to make it a bit bigger if I want to stitch this heart again.

 

I really need graph paper with smaller squares so I can make bigger patterns. This tiny heart reminds me of a Pound Puppy patch! I don’t know what I’ll do with it now that the stitching is complete, maybe I will put it on a stuffed animal and then watch the Pound Puppies.


waffle recipe

Waffle Recipe

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waffle recipe

Who doesn’t love waffles? My waffle recipe is pretty basic. I use applesauce and honey to make them a little sweet. This makes 6 large George Foreman waffles, I don’t have a regular waffle iron.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1½ cups milk
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and combine until well mixed.
  3. Pour over preheated iron and cook
  4. Enjoy!

 


Valentine's day outfit

Top Ten Valentine’s Day Dog Clothes

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Even though Rusty isn’t a fan of clothes, I find dog clothes to be adorable and themed ones are even better. Normally I say “make your own, be creative” but that can’t happen all the time. So if you don’t have time to make a bandana, tutu, or stamp a heart onto a doggy shirt, no big deal!

Here is my ten favorite Valentine’s Day Dog Clothes:

valentine's day clothes Love Letter Collar

The perfect accessory, found on Amazon, for either gender and is for the pup who wants to celebrate Valentine’s Day without being loud about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

valentine's day dog clothesThe Monkey Daze Heart and Arrow Dog Hoodie.

This adorable hoodie, complete with heart shaped ears, can be found at doggievogue.com and can be worn by both sexes and keep your puppy warm on the cold February mornings.

 

 

 

 

valentine's day dog clothes

Couture Velour Pajamas- Pink/Yellow Hearts

Who doesn’t love comfy PJs? These can be found at poshpuppyboutique.com

 

 

dog valentines day clothes

Be Mine Dog Tee

 

This tee is cute enough to eat! Can be found at Amazon and Jake’s Dog House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

valentine's day dog clothes

Hot Pink Tie Tee Shirt by Olivetini 

This is perfect for the doggy man in your life! Simple tee with a hot pink tie and he’s ready for Valentine’s Day. It can be found at yuppypuppyboutique.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

valentine's day dog clothes

Black Tux Bib with Satin Bow Tie

 

This adorable tux bib and bow tie will keep your perfect gentleman all night. It can be found at  doggyduds.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

RedWhite

Red Sweet Heart Festive Dog Collar

 

This collar is perfect for your pup to make a grand entrance wherever she goes.

 

 

 

 

dogtutu

 

 

Full of Heart Tutu Dress

 

This tutu dress by East Side Collection and can be found on Amazon is adorable! Every girl should where a tutu at least once in their life.

 

 

headband

 

Two Hearts Antenna 

This is for your pup with a goofy and heartwarming personality. It’s probably my favorite of the outfits, it can be found at LovADog.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentines day dog clothes Valentines Day dog ClothesThe last, and best model 🙂 for my favorite Valentine’s Day outfit is a simple bow tie from my husband’s closet. Rusty looks so handsome and ready for a night on the town.


tie for dog

How to Make a Tie for a Dog

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tie for dog

I made a tie for a dog, my dog! Rusty has been going to work with me and I decided he needed an update to his office attire. I went with a tie. Now this is a very simple design. I could have gone one step farther and made it wider and then folded the sides in and tacked them down like a typical tie but the way I did it worked for me. Besides, it’s a tie for a dog, perfection is not required because any dog wearing any type of tie is going to be adorable.

1. I used one of my husband’s old ties as a basic pattern and just shortened the length. The length of my tie is 40 inches mainly because that is the length of the leftover flannel fabric I had. Also, I used an old tie just in case I accidentally clipped it with my scissors. If you don’t have a tie to use, there are many free patterns online for ties from newborn sizes to men’s.

I pressed the fabric and then folded it in half before I laid the tie on it so I could cut two equal pieces.

tie for dogtie for a dog

 

2. Next I pinned the tie onto the fabric, folding the tie to adjust the length.

3. I cut the fabric with my pinking shears because I just bought them and couldn’t wait to use them. I cut just outside the fabric. The area where the tie is folded, I just angled the scissors inward to reach the skinny part of the tie. Then I unpinned and removed the tie and adjusted the angle to make sure there was smooth line for the length of the tie.

4. I decided to apply fusible interfacing to both points of the tie because I wasn’t doing the traditional tie where, on the back of the tie, both sides fold in towards the middle, and wanted to create a little bit of heft to the fabric.

– For interfacing, cut it just on the inside of the seam line so you don’t have to sew through the extra bulk. Next, lay the fabric wrong side up on the ironing board. Then place the interfacing on the desired part of the fabric shiny side down. Place a pressing cloth over the fabric and interfacing. With a steam setting, use the spray button on the iron and wet down area of interfacing and iron over it, constantly moving for about 30 seconds. Allow the fabric to cool and then check to see if it is fused. If not, repeat the ironing.

5. Pin both layers together, right sides facing each other.

6. Press, just in case wrinkles have formed.

7. Sew around the edges with a 1/2 inch seam, start in the middle of the tie, in order to machine stitch each point, and leave an inch wide opening. Backstitch at the start and finish.

8. Press.

9. Pull fabric through so the right side of the fabric is now on the outside and press.

tie for dog

 

10. Slip stitch the hole closed, pressing it in the step before should have folded the fabric giving a nice area to stitch the hole closed.

tie for dog

 

I used this Youtube video to learn how to actually tie it.

Now Rusty is ready for work!

tie for dogtie for dog


stuffed shells recipe

Stuffed Shells Recipe

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Here is my stuffed shells recipe. I sometimes make it was ground Italian sausage and sometimes I omit it. It just depends on what sort of mood I am in.

This amount should serve around 4 people. The measurements are only guidelines and things should be adjusted to your own taste. I’ve made this so many times that I usually don’t measure anymore and just throw it all in and stir.

Ingredients:

  • 16 Jumbo Shells
  • 3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 cups uncooked Spinach, fresh or frozen,
  • 1 Egg
  • 4 shredded Fresh leaves or Dried Basil to taste
  • Italian Seasoning to taste
  • 2 small Garlic cloves
  • Pasta Sauce
  • 1/2 lbs ground Italian Sausage (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat Oven to 350°
  2. Cook shells according to packaging directions
  3. In a medium size bowl, put all cheeses, egg and seasonings including garlic in it.
  4. Saute spinach, in a medium skillet, until wilted, then remove it, chop it and place in bowl with the cheese.
  5. If adding sausage, brown the sausage in a skillet until cooked through, and put into bowl with the cheese.
  6. Mix everything until well combined.
  7. In a oven safe dish big enough to hold the shells in one layer, spread some pasta sauce covering the entire bottom and place the shells in the pan opening side up.
  8. Fill each shell with a scoop, large spoonful, of the cheese mixture.
  9. Cover the shells with a thin layer of pasta sauce and then cover them with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
  10. Cover the dish with foil and cook for 15 minutes.
  11. Then remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
  12. Serve with a side salad and biscuits!

 

stuffed shells recipe

 


Great Information on the Difference of Domestic and Industrial Sewing Machines

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I am definitely a novice when it comes to sewing. I haven’t done a lot of research on the differences between types of machines and their uses. All I know, is that on my little Brother machine I am not suppose to use heavy duty/thick thread or thick fabric in it because it can throw off the tension and will require it to be serviced. I also know how to clean the dust of the lower bobbin area.That’s it. That is the extent of my sewing machine knowledge. Then thanks to Reddit I found this blog where the author does an amazing job talking about the differences between vintage domestic and industrial sewing machines, like amp vs. horsepower, specific use machines,  and how not to get swindled by a seller.

I think the information is wonderful and I now feel a lot smarter 🙂


fried chicken

How to Make Fried Chicken Bites

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I love fried foods. As I’ve said before, I don’t own a frier because that would be so bad for me. But sometimes I just need some fried chicken. Is that just me? I made fried chicken bites for dinner and I thought I’d share.

I think my version is pretty easy. It can be a bit messy though. This time I used breadcrumbs I made from a loaf of bread from Panera, but I have used Panko and Progresso breadcrumbs as well as crushed Ritz crackers. I think I actually prefer the Ritz with some seasoning mixed into them and mixed into the flour/cornstarch bowl.

I could have left the chicken in bigger pieces or in stripes for chicken fingers but I like to chop it into smaller pieces because it cooks faster. Also, since it is the same thickness I don’t have to worry as much about some parts of the chicken being cooked and other parts still being raw.

For this recipe, the amount of everything depends upon how much you want to make. I was frying two chicken tender strips.

Ingredients:

  • boneless, skinless, chicken chopped up into bite sized pieces
  • corn starch
  • all-purpose flour
  • milk
  • egg
  • breadcrumbs
  • oil

1. In a small sauce pan, pour oil, I used canola, enough to make it about an inch or more deep. Again this depends upon your amount of chicken you’re frying.

2. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces

3. In a bowl, mix 3 parts flour to 1 part cornstarch.  The cornstarch helps everything stick to the chicken better as opposed to just flour.

4. In another bowl, with a fork, whisk 1 egg with 1/4 cup milk

5. In yet another bowl have a lot of breadcrumbs.

fried chicken

The order is going right to left because my saucepan is to the left of the breadcrumbs and yes my counter is that tiny!

6. Now, coat in the flour, dunk in the egg wash, and cover with breadcrumbs the pieces of chicken.

7. Carefully drop the chicken in the oil to fry or else the oil could splash up.

fried chicken

cooking in oil

Now my chicken wasn’t completely submerged in the oil, so I let it cook to a golden brown on the bottom, about 4 minutes and flipped them over with my tongs so the other side could fry an get a golden brown color as well.

7. With a slotted spoon, remove the fried chicken bites.

fried chicken

Yum!

Now it’s time to enjoy the fried deliciousness. I prefer to dip mine in a ketchup ranch combo. Am I the only one who does that?

I know the coat, dunk, and coat mixtures work pretty well for fried pickles too. I wonder if they work for cheese balls. I need to try it because I am missing some Culver’s cheese curds.


altered men's suit jacket

Altered Men’s Suit Jacket

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My husband bought a $30 suit jacket from Target that was too big for him, mainly in the waist. We decided it would be a good project for me to work on since I’ve never done any tailoring or altering of men’s clothing except for the hem of pants. So I attempted at creating a great altered men’s suit jacket.

1. First thing I did was have him put it on and I pinched the fabric to fit and then pinned it. Then I unpinned it because I got his undershirt :/ and re-pinned it.

2. Then I marked the place where the pins went into and out of the fabric just in case a pin fell out with a chalk pencil. I did this on the lining of the jacket as well.

men's altered suit jacket

pinch and pin

3. I measured in between the dots and marked the measurements on the jacket, with a fabric chalk pencil, and on a piece of paper. These measurements are what I needed to take the jacket in by. I did this on the lining of the jacket as well.

men's altered suit jacket

my measurements

4. I then got out my handy seam ripper and separated the lining from the back of the jacket. I just did the bottom of the jacket and up the closest seam line on the side of the jacket.

altered men's suit jacket

lining pulled back

5. With the lining up and out of the way, I ironed the seam so it was no longer open. Then from the seam I measured and marked half the distance that I wrote down and because the measurements were slightly different in some locations I did this at each site of where a pin was and connected the dots. This starts with no measurements at the top because the shoulders fit so the line in a diagonal down the back of the jacket increasing as it goes to the bottom because the waist of the jacket is what was too big. I pinned the layers together and sewed down the chalk line, cut off the extra fabric and ironed the seam open. The first time I did this, I had a notch of extra fabric at the collar and had to redo it. 

men's altered suit jacket

mark and sew

6. Repeat step 5 for the lining.

The last couple of steps is figuring out the tail and reattaching the lining to the jacket.

7. For the matching the lining to the tail I just kept folding and pinning until I had what I thought looked acceptable.

altered men's suit jacket

all sewn up

8. To reattach the lining to the jacket, I am sure there is a machine stitch way, like a blind hem stitch possibly, but I decided to hand stitch it with a slip stitch, I own a book called Teach Yourself Visually Sewing and does a great job illustrating how to do it. The stitch mimicked the rest of the lining to the jacket pretty well which is another reason why I picked it. I then ironed the lining and now the jacket is a great fit!

altered men's suit jacket

finished!

 

 


How to Make Sweet Potato Fries

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This really isn’t a recipe for sweet potato fries. Just a “How To” because the only ingredients I used were sweet potatoes and extra virgin olive oil. Sometimes you just really want to have something fried but don’t want to feel guilty about eating it afterwards. Maybe that’s just me; but here is an alternative to regular fries and using a fry daddy. It would be dangerous to my health, and I don’t have the counter space, to have a fryer because I love french fries and fried pickles! I’ll stick to the stove.

Sweet Potato Fries on the stove!

1. Scrub your potatoes! Veggies are pretty dirty in general, because they come from dirt and also you have no idea how many people have touched your food before you took it home. Ok rant over back to cooking.

2. I am not a big fan of skin so I peel it off. Sometimes I’ll leave a little skin on for a bit of a flavor change.

3. Chop it into fries! sweet potato fries

4. Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Heat it up on medium heat. sweet potato fries

5. Put in the heated skillet. Cook it for about 10 minutes moving the fries around on a pretty constant bases until desired crispiness.

Enjoy your sweet potato fries! I like to dip mine in ranch. sweet potato fries


lion mane dog costume

How to Make a Lion Mane Dog Costume Version 2

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lion mane dog costume

I made another version of my lion mane dog costume for Rusty because I had bought way too much fake fur and I didn’t know what to do with it. I decided to be a little more adventurous with it this time. I actually used my sewing machine on the fake fur and I sewed fleece. Two things I have never done before. I basically made a doggy ski mask and then sewed layers of pleated fake fur onto it.

I lost all of my pictures of each step :/   But I took some other pictures that will hopefully help out.

Things I used:

How I did it:

1. Take a LOT of measurements the dog’s head and neck. If all else fails drape the fabric around the dog and mark the fabric.

2. Cut a ski mask out of a base material, I choose lycra. I did this in two pieces one to go around the head and one to go around the neck. I then sewed the neck piece to the head piece using a tight zig-zag stitch, since lycra is a bit stretchy. If your fabric snags, try adding tissue paper under the fabric and then tear it away after the seam is created. Also, I didn’t finish the edges of the lycra, mainly because I can be lazy.

lion dog costume

inside of the mane

3. Fuse the velcro into the correct positions. Hopefully you can see what I did in the picture.

4. Next, cut 1 inch to 2 inch wide strips of fur (it depends on the amount of volume and work you want to do, my strips were 2 inches wide) that are about 4 inches longer than the mask.

To cut the fur mark on the back where you want to cut and then use a straight blade like a box cutter or a razor blade to prevent trimming the fur and creating a huge mess. I, unfortunately, didn’t have either one of those and used scissors. BIG MISTAKE fur everywhere! and because the scissors trimmed the fur and created a weird raw edge I needed to fold over the edge and sew it down. Something I wouldn’t have had to do if I had just went out and bought a box cutter.

5. Next step is to pleat and pin the fur to fit the mask. If you don’t know how to pleat, here is a drawing I did that might help. Pleat whichever way is most comfortable to you, I find the knife pleat to be the easiest.

box, inverted, knife pleat

Drawing of different pleats for sewing

lion mane dog costume

pleats

Sew the layers, fur side down on the machine,  onto the lycra mask, starting with the bottom layer first working your way up so the layers don’t get in the way. I did the layer that goes around Rusty’s face going in the opposite direction to create more volume around his face.

6. Repeat for around the neck, I only did 2 layers for that part.

7. Fold fleece into fours, to where there are 4 layers of fleece and draw out an open bottom oval and then cut along your lines.

Lion Mane Dog Costume

lion ears

8. Next, combine two of the pieces and sew as close to the edge as possible, turn inside out and repeat for other ear. Pin onto mask for placement and hand stitch the ears to the mask.

Finally you have a lion mane dog costume!

lion mane dog costume

Manne modeling it

lion dog costume

Manne model shot

lion mane dog costume
lion mane dog costumelion mane dog costume

lion mane dog costume

lion mane dog costume