How to Make Dog Boots

Poor Lacey. Snow and ice get in between her toes when she goes outside during winter. It hurts so much, my snow dog stomps romping and digging and crumbles into a little ball from the pain.

You try playing in the snow with bare feet. I bet it hurts too.

I scoop her up and carry her home. Often we have to go back outside after Lacey's toes are warm to finish what she didn't get to do outside in the snow. Rinse. Repeat.

As much as I hate putting clothes on dogs for the sake of putting clothes on dogs, I bought Lacey a pair of dog boots for Christmas. I'm all for protective dog clothing if the dog needs it but I still felt like one of those people while in the store buying shoes for my dog.

I didn't feel that way last weekend when I tried to exchange the boots for a size that fit Lacey. All of the pet stores had a run on dog boots to prepare for the Polar Vortex Storm That's Colder Than Antarctica (for real. It is summer in Antarctica and 45 degrees warmer in Iceland (36 F) than in Columbus, Ohio today (-9 F. )  It looks like I am not the only crazy pet parent in Columbus putting boots on my dog. Good to know.

Seriously?

The only thing left in Lacey's size in Store Number Three were a set of disposable dog booties made from recycled plastic bottle fabric. I was less than thrilled with the disposable part, but any port in a storm. I hoped Lacey could wear them several times and see us through the cold snap. No such luck. Lacey's dachshund claws started to poke through the second time out.

Time to make fleece dog booties!

How to Make Fleece Dog Booties

How to Keep Ice from Forming Inside House Windows

On cold days like today (it is zero degrees outside with a 23 degrees below zero (F) windchill) I am glad I searched for sealed the air leaks in my home. We can tell the difference because our house was warmer and our heating bill was lower almost immediately.

Unfortunately, if your home is too air tight, it can be just as bad as having air leaks. Jen and Joey Go Green found this out the hard way. If you have ice building up inside of your windows,  her post  Stop Ice Build Up on Windows has some easy ways to fix the problem.

If you live in one of the Arctic Vortex zones, please take precautions against frostbite if you are unlucky enough to be outside.

2013 DIY Goals Wrap Up

I almost always put too many things on my yearly DIY Goal list to finsih by year’s end. I'm the Queen of Overscheduling. *royal wave*

I did something different when I made my DIY Goals List for 2013. I focused on more general/umbrella type goals and limited my list to seven items. It is 2014. Let’s see how I kept my 2013 DIY Resolutions.

1. Concentrate on projects using the items I already have. I really needed to knock the growing list of projects off my Someday list. Not to mention, the offhanded comments Husband uttered from time to time about my reclaimed material stashes. Yes, stashes. I completed 12 projects this year using things I already had on hand. I made Husband happy and cleared a corner of “treasures” from the garage. Bonus.

Big Ten team barn wood Welcome signs. I made these for Christmas gifts.

 

10 more ways to use orange peels because it is a shame to toss a useful Christmas orange rind.

House of Love Christmas House Tour

I'm teaming up with a fabulous group of bloggers to tour how we decorated our homes for the holidays.

I'm trying to balance my desire to run out and buy all new whimsy fun Christmas decor to celebrate how much adopting Lacey has made us smile and laugh again with a potential tirade from Husband about our current state of Christmas tree ornament overpopulation, uh, I mean being green,  having more money to spoil Lacey with on Christmas Day. (Same eco goal, but sorry environment, spoiling our girl is the truth this year.)
To get my idea machine running, I took the decorations out of storage and grouped them on the floor in mixed up combinations  from the way I usually display them. I played with grouping items by color, theme (all snowmen, etc.) as well as things I haven't displayed in a while.

 I realized I have plenty of Christmas whimsy decor if I change how, when, and where I use it. This year I decorated using red and bright green. It really  sings with the red curtains and lime green accent wall in the living room! I clustered snowmen in the bathrooms, wood Christmas decorations on the end tables, and created my first North Pole Christmas mantel.

And glitter.

Lots of shiny glitter! Because we have more girls than boys in this house now and girls like sparkly things (that I already had on hand and never used together until this year.)

Let's start at the top!

19 DIY Dog Beds

Lacey has a dog bed in almost every major room in our house. That way, she has a safe spot to go to if she gets anxious.

Most of Lacey's beds are the pillow type like the Molly Mutt bed (you can learn more about it here)  Her Molly Mutt bed is a DIY bed for nonDIYers. It comes with a interior mesh zippered bag you stuff with whatever you have on hand to make the mattress (we used an old king size mattress pad and my husband's old race t shirts) zipped into a cute cotton cover.

The cover zips off for easy cleaning. Love that!  (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience)

The floor pillow we use as a dog bed in the living room has seen better days. I think Miss Lacey can use a new bed with a little more style. Do I see a fancy DIY dog bed in her future?

Probably.

Let's look for some inspiration!

Pamper Your Pup with a DIY Dog Bed

Wine Crate Dog Toy Box or Dog Bed

Blitzkrieg didn’t know what toys were when he first came to live with us. When he stress chewed his fur, I gave him a toy as a positive distraction. Blitzkrieg would look at me as if to say,” I know this is mine because you gave it to me but what do I do with it?” (It still hurts to type this.)

At the time, I whipped up a quickie toy box from a cardboard box. I took the opportunity to try covering the box with wrinkled brown paper bags.

Eh, not much to look at but it works for now I thought. I fully expected Blitzkrieg to stress chew the box. Then I would  take the opportunity to replace it  with a proper toy box later.

Save this recycled wine crate project to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!