Project Runway Candy Couture

Oh my, how we love Project Runway over here.  We were planning to skip this season's challenges, but we absolutely could not pass up a candy one!

We are 100% in love with Ven's candy dress made out of crushed rock candy.  Genius!  He won, obviously, and we used his crushing technique as inspiration in our outfit.  

photo by Lifetime

So, we got crushin' away with some rainbow nerds.  Oh yeah!  I wasn't thrilled about the shade of the purple nerds so I ate 'em.

We cut out a tie, created shapes with some 3D fabric paint, and then glued the nerds on to create this funky design.  We added the candy dots as "buttons" for the collar and cuffs.

Well we originally bought the cotton candy for a crazy mohawk hairdo, but things don't always go as planned.  Once I realized the cotton candy wasn't going to cooperate, I ended up making this tall hat and used the cotton candy for flowers.

BUT the cotton candy literally dissolves just being exposed to air I guess.  I tried to glue the flowers on as fast as I could so I could take pictures before they totally lost their shape.  Ahhhhh!!!

You can see a huge difference looking at the flowers in this photo from when I first applied them to the hat (above photo).  If you watched Project Runway, you would have seen almost every designer had candy falling off their models, candy sagging/changing shape, candy dissolving, etc.

All in all, this was a fun challenge and it reminded me of one of my favorite challenges from Project Runway All Stars when we made this pineapple costume for a "fruit-inspired" look.

What type of candy would you choose to create a look with?  We want to know!

XOXOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Day After Crafting for Shelters

Sebastian poses with our proud supporters who donated art supplies and food to our craft party.  Thank you iLoveto Create and Me-n-Eds!

Don't forget to enter our pawesome GIVEAWAYS!!!

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

National Craft for your Local Shelters Day - GIVEAWAYS

BITE ME COLLARS - Enter this giveaway to WIN a gorgeous denim dog collar in your size!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DOGS INCORPORATED - Enter this giveaway to WIN a Custom Dog Breed Print! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


NUTRO - Enter this giveaway to win dog food for your shelter of choice!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to all of our wonderful giveaway supporters in honor of National Craft for your Local Shelters Day!!!


XOXOXOXO,
Erika and Sebastian

Screen Printing with Freezer Paper Stencils - By Ooh Leela!

We have a very special guest tutorial by our dear friends, Isabela and Leela, over at Ooh Leela just in time for National Craft for your Local Shelters Day!  Ooh Leela is a mother and daughter team who make trendy dog clothes, as well as personalized pet fashions.  You can visit their cute little shop here.

"Freezer paper stenciling is super easy," says Leela (a 4.5 year old silky terrier) as she barks orders at her mother.  "You can use it to print shapes, text...pretty much anything."  

Speaking of text, Leela shows us how we can add an "ADOPT ME" message to the bandanas they will be donating to their local shelters.  

Here's what you'll need:

Freezer Paper (found theirs at Safeway)

Exacto knife

Pattern/sign (Get the template here)

Fabric Paint (Leela recommends Tulip)

Paintbrush

first cut one 8.5X11" piece of freezer paper so you can run it through your printer.  Print sign on the dull side of the freezer paper (ignore the shiny side for now).

Using an exacto knife, cut the image out very carefully.  Any cracks or extra cuts in the paper will allow paint to seep through.  Be sure to save the inside of the letters A,D,O and P.  You will need them too.

Iron the stencil (shiny side down) onto your fabric.

"This is where the magic happens," Barks Leela.  The shiny side becomes sticky with heat.  Make sure you iron around all the edges of your stencil, so as to create a good seal.  You don't want paint seeping through.  The trick here is to use low heat and make sure that the iron doesn't touch the shiny side, or else it will lose its sticky-ness.  

Leela says, "Believe me - been there, done that!"

Using a paintbrush, paint over the stencil.  Use painter's tape if you need to cover any additional areas.  It is better to use a light coat of paint.  Too much paint will cause the stencil to unstick and you will not get a crisp image.  If you end up using more than one coat of paint, make sure you let it dry in between coats.

Let paint dry.  Or if you are impatient like Leela, get the "big gun" out: use your blow dryer to speed up the process.  Oh yeah!!!

When the paint is dry, peel off the freezer paper (like a band-aid).  Make sure you heat set your ink, according to the manufacturer's instructions (this step is important - otherwise the ink will fade when you wash the bandana).

Voila!  The screen printing part of the process is done.  You can turn this into just about anything, but Ooh Leela is turning it into a bandana specifically for the shelter animals!

Here's Leela modeling her finished bandana.  What a cutie-pa-tutie!

Thank you Ooh Leela for such a cute tute!

Now head on over to Ooh Leela's facebook page and be sure to share the love.  

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Our Favorite Pet Bandana Tutorials

More ideas for National Craft for your Local Shelters Day!

How cute would some of these be for the shelter dogs?  

Basic Bandana

www.lovetosew.com

Bandana with Reflective Tape and Neck Strap

www.sew4home.com

Slip-On Collar Bandana

www.craftycritique.com

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Our Favorite Pet Bed Tutorials

Awesome beds that would be perfect to make for

  National Craft for your Local Shelters Day!  

Shabby Rectangular Pet Bed
I would say this one is for the experienced sewer

https://sew4home.com

Elevated Pet Bed

No sewing required - excellent for shelters!!!

Photo from http://petprojectblog.com 

Tutorial from www.columbusdogconnection.com

Circular Fleece Dog Bed

http://erinerickson.com

Recycled Sweater Pet Bed

just cover an already stuffed pillowcase!

www.apartmenttherapy.com

Recycled Shag Rug Dog Bed

by us at Sew DoggyStyle!

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Our Favorite Dog Toy Tutorials

The countdown for National Craft for your Local Shelters Day starts now!  What will YOU be making?

Braided Tug Toy

from recycled T-shirts

www.iamthemandy.com

Weaved Tug Toy

from recycled T-shirts

www.yellowdandy.blogspot.com

Twisted Tug Toy 

from recycled T-shirts

www.craftbits.com

Tennis Ball Tug Toy

from dish towels

www.doggiestylish.com

Dog Bone Plush Toy

http://laura-griffin.com

XOXOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

I Am Thankful

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Nutro Taste Testing Party Pics

Our Nutro party was so much fun.

Georgie the Pug looooves food so she was right in her element!

We enjoyed watching the furbabies run wild...

...while the humans sipped on some martinis.

Then we played games with the dogs.  First challenge:  All dogs are told to "sit" and "stay" while their owner walks circles around them.  Last one sitting wins.  It was interesting and takes patience!

Tobey had this challenge down.  He won easily.

Then we played another game that tested patience as well:  Put a treat down on the ground and tell your dog to NOT eat it!  Most dogs were out immediately.  Jeffrey won!

Third and final game:  say "Nutro" to your dog in whatever tone of voice you'd like and as many times as you'd like.  Whichever dog wags his or her tail the most wins.  We had to have a rematch between two dogs and do a group vote.  Penelope conquered it!

We attempted some photos of the dogs on the bench together.

Sebastian, the host, sat there very patiently as we switched the dog guests out.

Nutro treats were definitely involved in the success of these photos!

Then I handed out some awesome swag bags from Nutro and talked about their new Natural Choice Small Breed line.

We saved the most exciting part for last...the drawing for a year's supply of Nutro dog food!!!

Jaxon won.  Yay Jaxon!!!  Enjoy!

We'd like to give a big shout out to Nutro for this opportunity.

You can WIN a chance to throw your own party by entering the drawing on their facebook page, so make sure you check it out!

Check out the rest of Sebastian's Nutro Pawty Gear photos and more info on Nutro products.

xoxoxoxo,

Erika and Sebastian

Disclaimer:  All Nutro materials provided and sponsored by the Nutro Company.  All opinions expressed on this blog are of my own

Sebastian Gets Pumped up for His Nutro Party

'"You are what you eat' is true for pets too."  - Nutro

The Nutro Company is a leading manufacturer of natural pet food products and have been dedicated to pet nutrition for more than 80 years.  They have a brand new "Small Breed" line, which Sebastian is sooo excited about!

The Nutro Natural Choice Small Breed line is formulated for small breed dogs 11-25 pounds.  It features a unique kibble design to naturally reduce plaque and tarter buildup and also has real chicken as the #1 ingredient.

  Source of facts: Nutro

Come back this weekend to see all of our photos from the Paw-tay!

xoxoxoxo,

Erika and Sebastian

Disclaimer:  All materials provided and sponsored by the Nutro Company.  All opinions expressed on this blog are of my own.