DIY Water/Pee Resistant Furniture Pads and Dog Bed Toppers

As shared last week, senior dog Oli's increasing issues with bladder leakage have lead to us upping our game on making his favourite places around the house more pee-tolerant so he can continue to enjoy his golden years (pun totally intended...hehe...) in comfort.  I spent so much time looking for suitable bed sheets and protectors that Facebook and Google ads started serving me targeted ads for incontinence products.  There are some great products out there, but I couldn't find the sizes/shapes I wanted to suit Oli and his nesting places. So I decided to make my own by adapting some simple ready-made products to perfectly sized (and styled) custom water/pee resistant toppers for the sofa and our two non-waterproof dog beds (pretty, but vulnerable). 

DIY Reversible Cotton Flannelette Absorbent Dog Blankets

This post is the second of today's special flannelette DIY double-up, first with a simple single layered flannel blanket and now our reversible double layered blanket . The same techniques can be used on very small pieces of cotton flannelette (or other absorbent material) to make washable reusable cosmetic wipes, "non-paper" towels, etc. or upsized for bigger sheets/blankets. These special blankets were made to be cute and cosy (of course!) but specially sized and created to use as a topper on our senior dog Oli's nightime bedding to help with moisture control.

DIY Single-Layer Cotton Flannelette Blankets and Dry Cloths

We've shared our snuggly fleece dog blankets and stylish layered fleece/microflannel blankets, and now here are our comfy cotton flannel (flanelette) blankies. Our cotton flannelettes, unlike our quick dry synthetics, were made to  be cute and cosy (of course!) but also to help soak up moisture as a layer in Oli's bladder leakage bedding and to help get the boys warm and dry after wet winter walkies. Today's post is another special double-up, first with a simple single layered flannel blanket and then a reversible double layered flannel blanket, which I would argue is actually quicker and easier than edging a single layered blanket. The same techniques can be used on very small pieces of cotton flannelette (or other absorbent material) to make washable reusable cosmetic wipes, "non-paper" towels, etc. or upsized for bigger sheets/blankets.

DIY (Cosy Quick Dry) Layered Dog Blankets with Bound Edges

This is the second part of today's snuggly double post, showing how basic bound edge DIY blankets can be easily adapted to layered blankets and much more. It is winter in our part of the world, and I've been busy replenishing our (ripped, smelly, worn out) dog blankies with lovely new blankets that are easy care and look great around the house. As shared in our previous post, making blankets is an easy DIY and a great way to customise the size, materials, and style of pet (or people) blankets.

DIY Fleece Blankets (Single Layer) with Basic Bound Edges

 

Snuggle up, furfriends! This post continues from last week's share, where we showed the prep work for a custom fleece blanket that can be kept as-is for a ridiculously easy no-sew blanket or fancied up with layers, edging, binding, or other trim. We're adding binding to the edge of our blankets today for an easy but attractive finish on our single layer blankets as well as sharing a special second post showing how to do this in two (or more) layers. 

Ridiculously Easy DIY No Sew Dog (or Anyone!) Blanket

It is mid-winter here in New Zealand and July is typically the coldest month of our year. I'll be sharing some snuggly sewing projects here on the blog including some easy winter warmers for pets (or people). Great for nighttime or camping cuddles for summer folks as well! Buuuut since some of you aren't into sewing, I thought I would start by sharing the absolute easiest way to make a custom-sized blanket. No sewing and almost no work/effort required!

DIY Faux Fire Hydrant Garden Pee Post for Dogs

One of the things we wanted to try at the new house was teaching the dogs to use a designated location as their preferred toilet area, which for our dogs would require some sort of potty post. A fire hydrant would be perfect: great for any dog, but even more so for Dalmatians. Unfortunately, New Zealand doesn't use that style of above-ground hydrant, so buying an old/surplus hydrant, while a cool idea, wasn't an option. We decided to make one. 

DIY Woven Fleece Double Loop Dog Tug Toy

Love is in the air! Humphrey has a new puppy pal (they are so cute together) and this toy was created for some wild tug toy playtime. It may be a bit strange looking, but was created for function and fun - which is what matters most, right? With two loops and two straight stick "handles" there are tons of options for multiple dogs and humans. Humphrey has even figured out how to play tug with himself by using a paw with one loop and his mouth with the other - quite hilarious to watch. 

DIY Blue and White Hanukkah Spiral Fleece Dog Tug Toy

As promised, it's the bonus bonus post!  We were asked for a blue version of our Howliday tags for Hanukkah and decided to treat you to a Hanukkah tug toy DIY as well. We love our furfriends of all shapes and spots, and it's pawesome when you send us a request to create something special for your holidays and events that we might not be celebrating ourselves. No matter what the reason or season, did you know that blue is a great colour for dog toys?  One of the things we learned while trying to support senior dog Oli with his declining vision is that most dogs see on a spectrum of blue-yellow unlike our human red-blue-green, so blue and/or yellow toys are the dog version of "high-vis" fun!

Halloween Mummy Recycled Paper Tube Treat Holder

There's definitely nothing fancy about these Halloween mummy treat holders, but there's tons of riptastic fun! They're free, recycled and recyclable (depending on your local area recycling programs), and very simple to make. Our boys LOVE ripping and puzzle opening, and a cardboard tube, empty box, or egg carton can compete with the fanciest of dog toys. The empty white cardboard tube was just begging to be mummified. Woofs!

DIY Spiral Dog Toy in High Visibility Colours for Dog Vision

Well hello there, beautiful blue and yellow tug toy!  As detailed in our post about the differences between how dogs see things vs. how humans see things, blue and yellow are the two "true" colours for a typical dog's vision so we combine those with high contrast white and black in this special spiral tug.  This combination is my new version of doggy "high vis" for maximum colour and contrast, as shown in the side-by-side simulation below:

DIY Custom Iron-Ons with Two Colour Shadow Effect Lettering

This post has been created in collaboration with our partner blog Creativity Unmasked.  With Mother's Day coming up in a few weeks and Father's Day not long after for those of you up north (it is in September here), we're sharing our custom heat transfer vinyl pet parent t-shirts. I made these first when I got my Cricut as a test for cutting size (little Dalmatian dots) and iron-on resilience. The bright blue shirts were bought as part of our dog vision walkies wardrobe changes, so they were the perfect target for some pet parent territorial marking. 

Senior Dog Love - DIY Emergency Dog Mobility Support Sling

This is not the most exciting or glamorous DIY post, but if it helps another dog owner at some point then it's totally worth it. As shared in our post cataract surgery summary, Oli's temporary vision loss meant that we needed a pet sling urgently.  We have steps at both entrances, so no matter what, potty time would require assistance and there was zero chance of finding one in our small city nor time for a special order. Oli is a big boy and lifting is no easy task. So I quickly made one with materials on hand while they were on the drive home from surgery.

DIY Chinese New Year Dog Bandana (Free Cut File Download)

Year of the dog? Every year is the year of the dog! This DIY dog bandana uses lucky red along with accents of gold and black for a festive colour scheme.  The bold colours work beautifully together and the bandana looks great without the added iron-on embellishment, but we've also create a custom design that can be used to create an iron-on design with heat transfer vinyl using a Cricut or similar. Here's the DIY details including options for adapting the bandana to your own style and free cut files if you'd like to use our design.  It used to drive me crazy when DIY posts only suited people with cutting machines, so even though I am now a very happy Cricut owner, I will still try to ensure that the DIY posts we share here on our blog have variations that work for people crafting without cutters. 

DIY Giant Lips Squeaky Softie Valentine's Day Dog Toy

Smmmmmmoooch! Young master Humphrey-Hot-Lips is loving his newest squeaky toy. This Valentine's Day DIY dog toy was a quick and easy craft - much simpler than some of our fancy embellished squeaky toys, but still tons of fun!  The centre seam really completes the lippy look, and the toy looks exactly the same on the front/back.

Easy DIY Howliday Treat Bauble Christmas Ornaments

These howliday dog treat ornaments are easy to make and they're pawesome inexpensive little gifts for furfriends, takeway gifts for holiday pawty guests, or a little take along pressie for the furbabies of your host/hostess.

DIY Squeaky Stuffed Christmas Tree Dog Toy

This DIY squeaky Christmas tree softie dog toy is part of our three-piece set of Christmas triangle toys.  Triple the squeaky holiday fun!  There are no doggy play pictures in the post as Humphrey is counting down the days until his Christmas morning squeaker fest. :)  Here's how it was made:

DIY Squeaky Stuffed Christmas Elf Dog Toy

This DIY squeaky Christmas elf softie dog toy is part of our three-piece set of Christmas triangle toys.  Triple the squeaky holiday fun!  There are no doggy play pictures in the post as Humphrey is counting down the days until his Christmas morning squeaker fest. :)  Here's how he was made:

DIY Dog Treat Jar {Guest Post} + Treat Jar Tips and Freebies!

We've helped the pet-loving team at Blog 4Knines share a VERY easy holiday doggy DIY for creating your own custom treat jar, no special skills or materials/tools required.  Visit the guest post for the scoop on how to make your own oh-so-fancy but oh-so-easy DIY dog treat jar. Shhh...nobody needs to know it only took you a few minutes to make! Create one for yourself or a whole batch as holiday gift jars for special animal-loving family and friends.

DIY No-Sew Ugly Christmas Sweater Dog Bandana

Let's face it...this handsome spotty little elf would be cute in anything, even an ugly Christmas sweater, or ugly Christmas sweater bandana as the case may be.  In our part of the world, it's far too hot for a holiday jumper and even in colder areas it's expensive with big dogs, like ours, to buy or embellish a doggy sweater for the once or twice a year that they might wear it. This no-sew DIY doggy bandana is an easy and inexpensive way to rock the holiday ugly sweater party. Bonus points if you make yourself a matching t-shirt. Please share photos with us! Hehe!