DIY Nerdy Reindeer Ugly Christmas Sweater

Sebastian and I are getting ready for our first Christmas in Seattle.  It took us a little while to calm down from all the excitement of a new city, but we've managed to keep up on our yearly ugly Christmas sweater nonetheless!  Besides, Sebastian wouldn't skip it for the world.

We initially just planned on putting a nerdy reindeer on this sweater as you can see from our original materials photo. But if you've ever made an ugly Christmas sweater before, you probably know one thing leads to the next.  There's no "stopping point" when it comes to these things.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Draw out your pieces on the back side of the felt and cut out.  If you can't draw, there's lots of reindeer and eyeglass images online you can print out.

2. Glue the pieces into place, including your buttons as eyes (I suggest hand sewing the reindeer nose on).

So after the nerdy reindeer was done, Sebastian and I glanced at each other and said, "Nope...not enough."  I started digging through my craft supplies and pulled out my green boa and ornaments.  The gold ornament balls are the mini ones from Walmart designed for the miniature trees - they work perfectly for a small dog like Sebastian.

The boa and ornaments are all hand sewn on.  I wouldn't suggest gluing these items as much as dogs move around.

Sebastian put the sweater on and sat there patiently while I continued to add things.  Such a sweet little dog he is!  (Candy canes are from Walmart mini tree collection too)

At last, we were finished (not really)!  We made a team decision to stop and run down to Kerry Park just a few blocks away to get some photos of the new sweater before the sun went down.

As usual, Sebastian made a scene and impressed the surrounding audience with his posing skills. 

The ornament balls around the cuffs are a must-do if your dog will tolerate it.

And that completes our ugly Christmas sweater for 2014.  Merry Christmas to all of our furry friends out there!

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

DIY Recycled Sock Scarf

No excuses to be walking around naked this Fall.  Here's a super easy scarf you can make in 5-10 minutes!  (Knee-high sock worked perfect for 10lb Sebastian)

Make a yarn pom pom.  We used these simple instructions from Brit+Co:

Step 4: Rock it out!

XOXOXOXO,

Erika and Sebastian

Craft for Shelters Items Ready to be Delivered!

We received all of our pet bowls last night glazed and fired with love thanks to iLovetoCreate! Each pet bowl was painted by a local volunteer at our Craft for Shelters event held on July 20th and we are oh so proud.  

We are now ready to start dropping off all of our crafted items to the local shelters.  Click here to see photos of the other items we made.

We have a box ready for 10 local shelters.  Sebastian and I are feeling very grateful and excited today for all of our furry relatives out there waiting for homes.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the success of National Craft for your Local Shelters Day 2013!

xoxoxoxoxo,

Erika and Sebastian

Personalized Dog Bowl and Placemat

Oh how we love this cute little placemat and dog bowl set that fits right in with our snowflake holiday decor around the house!  Not to mention these items would make great gifts too.

We received an awesome package in the mail from Martha Stewart Paints to make this project.  The paints, brush tools, and stencils make personalizing items easy.  

For this project, we used the following Martha Stewart Paints supplies:

1. Adhesive letter stencils

2. Dauber set (mini sponges on handled tips...love these!)

3. Metallic Glass Paint

4. Snowflake adhesive silkscreens

5. Handled squeegee brushes

6. Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint in "Wedding Cake" white

Instructions:

We added personalization to both the dog bowls and placemat with letter adhesive stencils from Martha Stewart Crafts.  Adhesives make everything better, including letter spacing!  Plus you can reuse them over and over.  Simply position stencils on your item and lightly press small dauber sponge dipped in paint over stencil (shown in above photo).  Let paint sit for a few minutes and then peel off the stencils.

For our placemat, we applied snowflake adhesive silkscreens randomly to a 10.5 X 22" piece of fabric. These measurements were based on Sebastian's eating area.  Placemat can also be square, shaped like a bone, etc!  Use Martha Stewart Multi-Surface Acrylic Craft Paint for fabric application.  Start by squirting some of the paint directly onto the stencil and then use a handled squeegee for an even spread.

Then slowly peel off stencil and let paint dry.  So easy!

Here is Sebastian enjoying his new feeding area.

Instructions for finishing the placemat after paint dries:

1.  Apply an iron-on vinyl sheet to top of entire surface.

2.  Cut another 10.5 X 22" piece of fabric for bottom of placemat.  

3.  Pin bottom piece to top piece with vinyl right sides together.

4.  Sew them with a 1/4" seam allowance and leave at least a 3-4" opening.  

5. Clip all 4 corners.

6.  Turn place mat right side out through 3" opening.

7.  Press flat.

8.  Fold in opening 1/4".  

9.  Topstitch entire placemat in thread color of your choice (we used white).

Check out Plaid Crafts facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for more awesome ideas using Martha Stewart Paints!

Find my post disclosure here.

Cheers to the beginning of Holiday Season!

xoxoxoxo,

Erika and Sebastian