Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits with Molasses

 First and foremost, say "Hello" to Miss Shelby! This is the adorable creature that I have been preparing to have for months now! All of my hard work is paying off.

Remember that puppy bed DIY? She LOVES it!

Now that we have admired her cuteness, here's my second recipe that I used. My breeder loved these ones and asked for the recipe, so here you go! These are a bit easier to make. The dough isn't nearly as tough.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits with Molasses

Yields 40-50 biscuits

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)

3/4 to 1 cup peanut butter

1 tbsp.  molasses

Additional Flour for Rolling

Preheat oven to 350° F

  Mix the flour, oats and baking powder together in a medium bowl.  Gradually stir in the milk, peanut butter and molasses.

(I just dumped everything into the standing mixer and turn it on.  It's a very stiff dough, so I had to stop the mixer and push the dough around a few times)

Turn out onto a floured surface.

Knead until a soft dough forms.

Roll out to 1/2" thickness and cut with a dog bone cookie cutter.

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn off the oven.

Let cool overnight on the counter and voila! You have some yummy doggie biscuits! :)

Pumpkin Dog Treats

Hey everyone,

Guess what!? Shelby is home and enjoying the good life. Her breeder did an excellent job preparing her for a life of pampering and being completely spoiled! But before I went to pick her up, my breeder mentioned that pumpkin helps to calm down the tummies of puppies and older dogs. If a dog has indigestion or just an upset tummy, pumpkin helps to make them feel better!  So, I made these awesome dog treats for my new puppy, her breeder, and some of our neighbors. This the second recipe I tried, but I want to post it first! :)

Pumpkin Dog Biscuits
2 eggs
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons dry milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (I used the fine ground variety)
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (can substitute and use brown rice flour if your dog is gluten intolerrant)


Preheat oven to 350.

In large bowl, use a mixer to mix together eggs and pumpkin to smooth. Stir in dry milk, and sea salt. Add wheat flour gradually, combining with mixer, spatula, or hands to form a stiff, dry dough. It is very hard to mix, so beware of the thickness of the dough. Turn out onto lightly floured surface (can use the whole wheat flour) and if dough is still rough, briefly knead and press to combine. I used a bit of water to help combine my dough since it was really hard to form.

Roll dough between 1/4 – 1/2"– depending on your dog’s chew preferences, ask first – and use biscuit or other shape cutter to punch shapes, gathering and re-rolling scraps as you go. Place shapes on cookie sheet, no greasing or paper necessary. If desired, press fork pattern on biscuits before baking, a quick up-and-down movement with fork, lightly pressing down halfway through dough. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully turn biscuits over, then bake additional 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely on rack before feeding to dog.

Makes up to 75 small (1″) biscuits or 50 medium biscuits

Please note: This is not professional medical advice. These biscuits are a healthy everyday treat, and useful for a dog with a sensitive stomach, or minor digestion issues. If your dog is showing any signs of serious distress, remove all food and contact your veterinarian immediately.

Here are some images of the biscuits baking away.

 

DIY Dog Crate Cover

 Hello again!

     It's been a while since I have written a post. That is because I took on a HUGE project! I have seen these really cool dog crate covers on other blogs and Pinterest. As I was looking, I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so therefore, I had to create my own. I knew that I wanted to have something with roll up doors and that it would have ribbon ties to hold them up. It was tricky to find anything where it had specific instructions on how to make it like I wanted and I couldn't find any I wanted to purchase. Most of my project was done on a whim with a little bit of creativity. I did all of my own sewing (had to relearn how to use the machine...it's been a while) so don't look too closely! I piped between all of the layers, too, to add a little extra somethin'! My crate cover is this gorgeous tan duck cloth (slightly heavier fabric) with a black and grey pattern and the inside is a red marble type cotton fabric. It looks very cool. For my ribbon ties, I used iron-on adhesive to attach a red ribbon to a puppy paw print ribbon for this effect. All in all, this took me about four days (including the time to learn to use my machine). I am super proud of it!

(Look I fit inside!)

Happy Crafting!

Personalized Leash Hook

Hey Everyone!


Probably one of the simplest DIYs I will ever do/show that I did. It's almost embarrassingly simple. This "S" hook was a $1 purchase from Michael's. The zebra cost more than the "S". Easy peasy on this one...hot glue zebra to "S" and write name on "S" with a Sharpie... I am going to use this as her leash hook. It will be adorable! Super simple, but way useful!

Happy crafting! :)

Shelby's Name Plaque

Hey guys!

This is less of a DIY and more of a "YAY, ME!", but I'm going to show you anyway! :) I recently bought a basket for Shelby at Hobby Lobby. It is a dark brown wicker basket with a jean liner to use as her toy box. I wanted to personalize it and somehow put her name or something on it. I looked forever for letters to put on it, but every time that I found something I liked in a good size, there was one letter missing that I needed. :( Instead, I decided (with the help of my husband) that it might be better to make plaque with just her initial on it in whatever colors I wanted. So I found a oval plaque and a really cute curly letter "S". I found this cute pink color and extremely sparkly blue! I painted them, hot glued the letter to the plaque and drew two puppy prints with a permanent marker! I also hot glued a ribbon on it to make a loop to hang from one of the buttons on the basket. It didn't look quite right without a bow! Luckily, I had ribbon here at home that matched quite well. Here is my finished product!

Happy crafting! :)

T-Shirt Poof Ball

Hey everyone!

Remember that T-shirt dog pull toy I made a few weeks ago for my parents' dog, Sophie? Well, I found something to make with those too small pieces! I made a poof ball toy! It is so cute but definitely requires some supervision when you give it to the puppy. It could easily be shredded and I would watch the puppy very closely.


Whatcha Need:

• Small scraps of t-shirt or fleece (the more you have the thicker the ball)
• Rubberband

Take all of your strips and lay them all facing the same way. The scraps do not all need to be the same length, but do try to make sure all of the middles are in the same spot to make each side even. Tie the middle with a rubberband. To keep the dog from getting the rubber band, take one more strip and cover over the rubberband, like shown above.

Poof and Play! :)

Enjoy playing with your pet!

Sweatshirt Puppy Bed

Hello Pet Lovers and DIYers!

I'm back! I know, so soon... I just started the blog, so I have to go backwards and show you what I did, right? Of course! This one I actually did last night, so I'm not going back too far. This one took a bit more time and concentration, but is totally worth it! I made this as my puppy's new bed. Puppies tend to have some anxiety when their owners leave them home alone. This bed made from your old things will be warm, cuddly, and smell like you so your puppy will feel more comfortable. And again...it's FREE! :) Just repurpose!

Here's what ya need:

• An old sweatshirt (I prefer to use one with a hood. I'll explain later.)
• Several old t-shirts to use as stuffing
• An old pillow
• Needle and Thread (I know, me with sharp things! SCARY!)

1. Make sure everything is clean. Just because it's clean doesn't mean it doesn't still smell like you. You don't want a stinky t-shirt to stink up your whole house, do you?

2. Lay out the sweatshirt on the floor with the pocket side facing up. (If yours doesn't have a pocket, just put the front side up. I would avoid the half zips since they do have a sharp zipper.) Take and ball up your old t-shirts and shove them down the sleeves until you have the firmness you desire. I think there are three to four t-shirts per sleeve in mine. It will take more if you have a different size hooded sweater. Mine is a medium, if that helps.

3. Take the pillow and use it to fill the torso of the sweatshirt. It will be squarish for now, but no worries! We will make it look round. When I did it, my pillow was bit long so I bent it up to be like a back at the top of the sweatshirt to finish out the padded edge.

4. Now for the tedious part, you will need to stitch up the bottom of the sweatshirt. I will attempt to explain this as best as I can. Your way may be easier, but here's how I did it. I took the bottom edge that is stretchy from the front and folded it up. Then take the other side and make it match up with the seam on the top half.

 

Then, fold over the top to match the sewn seam on the other side to look like this.

 Stitch it all up now! :) I hand-stitched, but it would be much easier if you had a sewing machine to do it real quick.

5. You are probably wondering what to do with the awkward sleeves. This was probably the simplest part. Take one stretchy part of the sleeve and put it inside the other to make a circle with arms. Make a few small stitches so it doesn't fall apart and then that part is done.

6. Now, you have to attach the sleeves to the torso. Position the arms around the torso to your desire. It may take some man handling, but hopefully, you find something you like. Flip your project over a hand-stitch until you feel like the torso is firmly attached to the arms.

7. Flip over and VOILA! You have your very own puppy bed! :)

Oh, I almost forgot! Why did I want a hooded sweatshirt you ask? I tucked my hood into the dog bed and it made a very convenient pocket! I am thinking it would be a great place to put a heating pad to keep the puppy warm when I am gone. I would use something more like a microwavable heating pad and not an electric because of the wires. Don't want to shock the puppy! Hope you have enjoyed this step by step tutorial of how to make your very own puppy bed from a sweatshirt!

I also included a video of what mine looked like when it was all done, a picture shown here that is supposed to help with size comparison (the photo album shown is a 12" by 12"), and what it looks like in the sunlight.

HAPPY CRAFTING!

T-Shirt Tug Toy

Hey everyone!

I promised some DIYs and you got 'em! I found this on Pinterest and decided to try it out myself. This is a tug toy for dogs made from old t-shirts. It is a perfect way to repurpose those old stained t-shirts that you never wear!

 Here's what ya need:

  ~Two old t-shirts
  ~Scissors
  ~Rubberbands (Optional)



1. Start by cutting little 2-3” wide slits at the base of your shirts. After you’ve cut your slits, just rip along the slit and your t-shirt will have strips of fabric for the next step. This does take some time so it would be great thing to do during commercial breaks from your favorite show! The strips may not tear evenly, but that's okay. It just creates a different look, but works exactly the same!

2. Gather your t-shirt strips and tie off one end using one of the strips. To help hold it, rubberband them first and then tie the fabric strip. It will help to hold them tighter so you don't drop it as much. Divide your strips into thirds and braid them together. The tighter you braid, the harder it will be for your dog to destroy it. If you find that the toy is too thick for a small dog, just remove some of the strips and it should solve your problem.


3. Once you’ve braided down to the other end, tie up the bottom (use the rubberband if you need to) and cut any straggling t-shirt strips. Cut the strips close to the rope to avoid having your dog destroy it too quickly. To make it more challenging for your dog, tie a big knot in the middle of the rope to turn it in to more of a chew toy than a tug rope.















I test-trialed this on my parents' tough chewing, 5-year old, Australian Shepherd, Sophie, and she has yet to destroy it and it's been over a month! If it does fall apart, it is fairly easy to repair! It's just t-shirt, so if it is destroyed, it's okay to throw it away! It was only reused t-shirts to begin that could have been donated.

So create, enjoy, and take time to play with your pet! :)

Hello Everyone!

Hey everyone!

I know many of you keep up with my Keepin' Afloat in 5th Grade Blog, but I didn't find that to be an appropriate place to put all of my DIY materials. As many of you know, I am getting a golden retriever puppy in June and I am doing everything under the sun to prepare for her coming arrival. I have made a few things and I thought I should share my ideas and some how-to's to make them. I'm not only making things for Shelby's arrival, but other fun things for around the house. Keep on being crafty and check me out for new exciting DIY projects! :)