Can you rock an apron?

Robyn can!  This is her baby boy, Logan Richard.

Aren't those the cutest BabyLegs leg warmers he's wearing?  I like this pair too.  Robyn's hubby is a musician so we had fun searching sales racks for rock inspired baby gear during lunch breaks.

Her birthday was close to Logan's due date and I wanted to give her something a little bit quirky.  Robyn likes music, skulls, and Gilmore Girls among other things.  Hmm.  I wonder why we're friends.  ;)  One of my favorite Gilmore Girls episodes to reference (Season 1 Episode 14 That Damn Donna Reed) is when Rory dresses up like Donna Reed and makes dinner for Dean while she's cat sitting for Babbette.  Somehow this all led me to making a reversible rock star apron for Robyn.

Rory Gilmore 

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Visit YouTube here to watch the scene where Lorelai (Rory's mom) and Luke (who was looking for a lost baby chick at Lorelai's) discover Rory and Dean's unconventional date.  Awkward and hilarious.  "Oh my god, I just noticed the pearls!" hehe

Robyn's rockin' apron has a scalloped hem and one side pocket on each side.  It was the second project I had sewed in nearly ten years and was completed before starting this blog.  I didn't make any tweaks to the apron pattern pieces but I did decide to switch the waistbands and pockets around for contrast.

The first side is black polka dots.  Did you notice the skull and crossbones centered on the waistband and pocket?

The other side is red bandanna-like fabric that has skulls, crossbones, and hearts hidden all over the print.

I made one for Jake's mom using the same reversible pattern.  It was a thank you gift because she knitted a beautiful sweater set for me to gift to Logan.  I used cheerful cupcake and red polka dot fabric for Carolyn's apron but I forgot to take a photo.  Oops.

Pattern info:

Butternick B5411 Apron A (photos on right side in collage below)

I have more apron patterns that I'd like to try and stacks of fabric ready to go.  Have you ever made one?  I'm planning to install hooks on an empty slice of wall in our kitchen and hang some aprons as functional wall art.  Do you wear aprons?  I'm messy in the kitchen so I need to start!

Dog Treat Voluntary Recall

A reader brought the following recall to my attention today.  Thanks, Ryan!  I haven't noticed this brand at my local pet store but it is distributed throughout the U.S. and I'd rather be safe than hear that someone's pet is ill.

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MERRICK PET CARE RECALLS JR TEXAS TAFFY PET TREAT (ITEM # 27077, ALL LOTS UP TO AND INCLUDING 10364) BECAUSE OF POSSIBLE SALMONELLA HEALTH RISK
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - January 28, 2011 – Merrick Pet Care, Inc. of Amarillo, Texas is recalling the Jr. Texas Taffy pet treat (ITEM # 27077, UPC # 02280827077, All Lots up to and including 10364) because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Merrick Pet Care has made the decision to recall all Jr. Texas Taffy pet treats in the abundance of caution. Salmonella can affect animals and there is risk to humans from handling contaminated pet products. People handling the treats can become infected with Salmonella, especially if they have not thoroughly washed their hands after having contact with the chews or any surfaces exposed to these products.  


Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-664-7387 M-F 8:00am – 5:00pm CST.

Please visit the company's website to view all the voluntary recall information: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/about_us/news_article.php?tid=438

I forgot to mention something when I shared Lindsey's Homemade Peanut Butter Biscuits recipe the other day.  There aren't any preservatives in the recipe so I'd plan to use up the biscuits in the same amount of time that you'd eat human cookies.  I store them in the freezer to extend the biscuits' shelf life by a couple weeks.  Bru and Max like them straight from the freezer.

Thanks again, Ryan!

Laura's DIY Wall Art, our fabric swap, and blog parties

Laura from Luckiest in Love and I had an impromptu fabric swap in October.  A year ago, I never would've guessed that I'd be mailing fabric to someone in Kansas.  :)  I've mentioned Laura before because she organized the Christmas ornament swap.

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know I love participating in the Show Us Your Life series over at Kelly's Korner.  During master bedroom week in September, I commented on Laura's bedroom post because we have the same bedding set.  Laura visited my bedroom post and liked our new DIY wall art.  After emailing back and forth, we decided to swap fabric.

Laura's bedroom completed with her new wall art.

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If you like the bedding, it's an 8 piece set (Bedskirt, 2 Shams, 2 Decorative Pillows, Comforter, 2 Euro Shams) from Target that's still available here.  Young House Love created one of their design dilemma mood boards using this bedding here.  Jake and I bought our set a year ago and it's still in great shape.  I put the brown section of the comforter at the bottom of our bed but everyone else seems to put it at the top.  :)

The DIY wall art using IKEA frames in our master bedroom 

You can see more photos of Laura's room and learn how she made her wall art here.  I used the same technique to make this wall hanging for our aqua guest room.

I covered a large printed canvas that used to hang above our couch (photo below from 2008) that was collecting dust in the basement.    

BTW, that's what our I furniture looked like before we got Brewster and started covering everything in big fleece blankets to combat fur and big dirty paws.

Here are the Joann's fabrics that I sent to Laura.

Dwell Studio's Soft Scrolls in Espresso - still available  Also available in white on green.

Eddie Bauer Blue Batik - clearance find used in the EB Piedmont collection

Laura sent me fabric from Joann's too.

Here's the current Show Us Your Life party schedule:
February 4 - Tell us what you feed your toddlers/preschoolers 
February 11 - Tell us your hair and beauty tips!
February 18 - Tell us about your alma mater
February 25 - Tell us what you make (etsy stores, clothes, bows, etc)
March 4 - Tell us about your family - parents, brothers, sisters - feature them!
March 11 - Show us your kids’ birthday parties
Break because she's expecting to have baby Hollis sometime around here
April 1 - Tell us about your church
April 8 - Tell us mother’s day/father’s day ideas
April 15 - Tell us what is on your book list right now
April 22 - Tell us how you stay organized
April 29 - Tell us about your favorite vacation spots (include places to eat , stay, what to do)
May 6 - Share your home school stories (how it works for you, curriculum, etc)
May 13 - Favorite Main course recipe
May 20 - Favorite Dessert
May 27 - Favorite appetizer recipe

I love glimpses into other peoples lives so the Show Us Your Life blog party series is one of my favorite things about blogging.  If you visit our party buttons page, you'll see that I participate (irregularly) in a variety of DIY home and craft linky parties as well as new friend parties.  I know some people knock new friend parties but that's how I've discovered some of my favorite bloggers.  I have many interests and I enjoy 'meeting' lots of people outside the home/craft blog circles too (hi Kris!).

Do you join any linky parties regularly?  If so, what are your favorites?

Hopefully Laura's completed project will be the kick in the pants I needed to use the aqua fabric I received (need to pick my apron pattern first).  Thanks again to Laura for swapping fabric with me!  :)

Lindsey's homemade peanut butter dog biscuits

Remember the awesome homemade dog cookies that Lindsey sent Max and Brewster for the Christmas pet gift exchange?

A couple weeks ago, she very kindly shared the recipe in the pet exchange post's comments and also emailed me photos she took while making the biscuits and adorable photos of Jasper and Precious with their Christmas gifts.  I thought it'd be nice to post the recipe and photos for everyone to enjoy today.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

 Prep Time:

15 Min

Cook Time:20 Min

Ready In:35 Min

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
• 1 cup natural peanut butter
• 1 cup skim milk

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Stir together the flour and baking powder; set aside.

2.     In a medium bowl, mix together the peanut butter and milk. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into shapes using cookie cutters. Place onto the prepared cookie sheets.  (They don’t really expand in size, so you can place them close together - about ½” apart.)

3.     Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. 


Note from Lindsey: I used different shape cookie cutters I found to make most of them, and then I had a letter brander for meat when we grill, so I used the letters from that to personalize the heart dog biscuits.


UPDATE 2/7/2011: I forgot to mention before...  There aren't any preservatives in the recipe so I'd plan to use up the biscuits in the same amount of time that you'd eat human cookies.  I store them in the freezer to extend the biscuits' shelf life by a couple weeks.  Bru and Max like them straight from the freezer.  -Alison

 Jasper and Precious are such cutie pies!  I'm so happy they're enjoying their gifts.

Lindsey, thanks so much for sharing your recipe and all these photos!  I can't wait to make a batch for Max, Bru, and all their doggy buddies.  :)

Brewster update

Brewster's disgusting bloody messy mysterious medical issue from last weekend is resolved.  The cause is still unknown (probably parasite or bacteria) but the antibiotics ran their course.  She's doing 100% better and is enjoying all the fresh snow.  Yay! :)

Unfortunately, a new issue popped up (literally) so I took Bru to the vet on Monday.  The good news is that this issue is normal.

Diagnosis: Bru has a tennis ball sized growth on her right elbow called a hygloma.  It was caught early so it's not infected or ulcered or any other yucky things.  The vet extracted a sample and verified that it's normal joint fluid.  It is unrelated to last week's mystery issue; the timing is a fluke.

Cause: It's common in big dogs that strike their elbows on hard surfaces repeatedly.  It usually occurs as they lay down.  Bru tends to flop down hard and let out a big dramatic sigh.  Such a diva.

Treatment: Brewster will stay on soft surfaces while the joint heals itself naturally.  This will take weeks and the condition will most likely reappear in the future.  Super.

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Reality check: I'd be happy to let nature run it's course.  However, have you ever tried to keep a 100+ pound dog on soft surfaces 24 hours?  Ha! Yeah right.  Every square foot of our flooring is hard with the exception of our bath mats.  Area rugs don't work for us because I trip on them and Bru's hair piles up quickly.

Vet's alternative treatment: A custom rehabilitative product called DogLeggs.  Am I the only one that hears a cash register ca-ching after 'custom rehabilitative product' or what?  I planned to order one so I read every single syllable on the company's website.  Once I realized that I'd need to send them all Bru's measurements my DIY instincts kicked in. Here are some other Saint Bernard's modeling the product.

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My DIY version:  Coming soon!  I hope.  I have several potential prototypes bouncing around in my head...

Bonus story from the vet's office: (please skip the remainder of this post if you are squeamish like me!) The vet extracted a sample and verified that the hygloma contains normal joint fluid.  Yup.  I wish that's all I knew.  The sample extraction was done in the regular exam room.  Aka I was there.  My job was to distract Bru with treats while a vet tech held her, and the vet took the sample.  I held the treats near Bru's mouth (she was not interested) and stood frozen in horror as I watched the syringe fill with orange fluid.  Orange. Blazing freaking orange.  I told myself to be brave for Bru and refrained from bolting for the door.

The vet opened a drawer, retrieved a glass slide, squirted some fluid onto it, and explained that she's going to look at the sample under a microscope.  I flashed back to looking at slides under the microscope in Mr. Pierce's 8th grade biology class then to the frog dissections.  Yuck.  Apparently my attempts to be brave were too good because she set the joint fluid filled syringe on the counter before she left.  I stayed on the other side of the room and texted Jake while I waited for the vet to return.

She came back and explained that it's normal joint fluid.  Then, she continued talking and brought the slide over to me for a closer look.  She slid the two glass slides against each other which squished the fluid around in between.  Then, she showed me how when the slides were pulled apart it was got a little stringy like syrup and continued talking.  I hit my limit.  I blurted out "I work for a bank!" and immediately felt ridiculous.  The vet smiled kindly, said she'd go print some material for me to read, and asked if a vet student she's mentoring could come examine Bru's hygloma for the learning experience.  Of course, I said yes.  The syringe filled with joint juice (ew!) remained on the counter so I remained on the other side of the room.

If you stuck around for this bonus story, thank you.  :)  Bru's vet really is a wonderful gal.  She loves what she does and I know she meant well.  Bodily fluids are just not my thing.  Especially syrupy ones!  I could never work in any type of medical field.  I have nothing but respect, admiration, and appreciation for everyone that does.  If that's what you do for a living, THANK YOU ever so much!  :)

Our niece and a snuggly blanket

I made a snuggly blanket for our niece for Christmas.  She loves horseback riding so I couldn't pass up pink horse print fleece I saw at Joanns.

She's doing very well in riding and has ribbons to prove it.  :)  Her mom's blog is Our Maine Life.  Wendy (one of my sisters-in-law) writes about "Mother/daughter life in Maine, our favorite activities, recipes, efforts of green life, occasional battles, and thoughts on life."  Stop by and visit Wendy some time.  She does some interesting things like making homemade yogurt.

photo borrowed from Wendy's blog :)

If you love adoption stories with a happy ending, you can find our niece's saga on Melissa's blog (another one of Jake's sisters).  Melissa is an amazing writer and they had quite an experience in Russia.  There are several posts so be prepared to get sucked in and settle in to read for awhile.  Start with this post.

Ok, on to the blanket... I didn't have a plan for the fleece besides doing something in time for Christmas.  One night I decided to I whip up a no sew blanket while watching tv.

I cut the fleece to my desired size  (about 3.5ft by 4ft) and then cut strips along each side.  Fleece doesn't fray so you don't need to use pinking shears.  I did because mine are still sharp and the blades are long enough that I could do just one snip.  Then, hand tie a knot on each strip and you're done!

Here's a closer look at how I handled the corners.

Have you tried hand tying fleece before?  What's your favorite no sew project?  Have you adopted or are you interested in adopting some day?

Click here to see some of the parties we'll be mingling at this week.