Fancy

Re-Make it Monday! DIY Dog Bow Ties!

Its Monday and life is crazy! ICYMI Check out this Make it Monday! post for DIY Dog Bow Ties. I’ll be back next Monday with a new MIM so let me know what you want me to make. 


Happy Monday friends! For years Basil, being the 1st class hipster that he is, has been wearing bow ties. And for almost that same amount of time I have been purchasing him those bow ties. Okay so the cost isn’t that much each time, 1 bow tie retails for about $10-$20 but in the long run, that cost really adds up! So after buying Basil’s 20th bow tie (I know, I’m crazy!!) I figured I could make these, so I did!

Below you will find my simple DIY No Sew bow tie tutorial. Hopefully it works for you and your dog can look like a gentleman without breaking the bank! DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 1Step 1: There is a few things you’ll need!

• Large flat work area
• Hot glue gun
• Double sided Velcro
• Sharp scissors for cutting fabric
• Fabric
• Optional: elastic

The great thing about this project is most people have a lot of these craft supplies already in the their home. If you need anything on this list all of it can be found at your local craft store. I highly recommend using double-sided Velcro and it can be a little tricky to find. I ordered mine online(http://www.etsy.com) at a great deal. I also use a standard hot glue gun on the high setting. For my fabric, I found an amazing deal in the remnant fabric bin at Hobby Lobby. It was 1/8th a yard and only .59 cents! Also, I couldn’t pass up the Elvis in the 50’s pattern!
DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial

Step 2: Cut out a square!

The size I picked was about 6 inches by 6 inches. This bow tie is going to be a little large for a medium size (20 lb.) dog but that how I like it. If you want a smaller tie make the square smaller. DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 3

Step 3: Flip square over and glue edges down!

It doesn’t have to be perfect! I glued the “hot dog” sides first and then the “hamburger” sides. You really just want to make clean edges for the front of the bow tie. DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 4

Step 4: Cut a small rectangular piece for the center of the tie!

I cut a 2×6 inch piece of fabric. Make sure the length is 3 times the size of the width. I flipped the fabric over and glued the edges down like I did with the first piece of fabric. DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 5
Step 5: Pinch to make your bow tie shape!

Pinch the large square that you created, from the back, to make the bow tie shape that looks best to you. When I did this it made Elvis’s face a little weird.DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 6

Step 6: Tie the long rectangular piece around the pinched square. Knot in the back!
Make sure the fabric is laying flat on the front. Knot fabric in the back and glue flaps down. This is also a great time to glue down what doesn’t look right!

DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 7DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 7

Step 7: Measure & Attach Velcro!

I grabbed one of Basil’s everyday dog collars and placed the double sided Velcro on top to see how much I needed. For a 1 inch collar I recommend at least 2 inches of Velcro.

I cut the Velcro and glued the strip on to the center, back of the bow tie. Make sure to place the glue on the soft side of the Velcro! This way the Velcro teeth can grab onto the collar as well as the other side of the strip. If you prefer to use elastic you can glue a loop of elastic band in the same spot.DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Step 8

Step 8: Attach to collar and look awesome!

Wrap the Velcro around the collar in your preferred area. Think about how the collar is going to hang and sit once on your pet.

DIY No Sew Bow Tie Tutorial Look how cute he is! This bow tie is cute, easy, and lightweight. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Show me your pictures of your creations!

Tomorrow is Travel Tuesday and the featured city is San Antonio, Texas! So make sure to check back then!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Wordless Wednesday! Faux Fire Hydrant!

“I’m not sure if I should pee on this, lick it, or both!” 

I think the answer was BOTH!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

BP_Wordless_wed_Hop_Logo_2014 (more…)

Make it Monday! DIY paw print art!

Art is what you can get away with. -Andy Warhol
  Happy Monday everyone! It’s so good to be back and even though we are still super busy it feels so great to be posting and sharing our adventures with all of you!

 Today on Make it Monday! we got a little creative, Basil and I did some custom paw print art work. It was super easy and we had a lot of fun. I seriously love the 2 pieces we made and can’t wait to hang them in our new home!

What you need

  • Blank Canvas (Any size. I used square)
  • Non-toxic water based acrylic paint (I used Crayola washable kids paint)
  • A plastic shower curtain liner or painting drop cloth
  • Wet wipes

 I found all these things at Target at a great price. I was surprised to find the canvas but I guess Target is getting pretty artsy. That worked in my favor! I decided to use the shower curtain liner as the floor covering and I couldn’t be happier. I purchased the cheapest one they had, $2.49, and it worked like a charm. The magnets those things have weighted down the sheet so when I throw it out on the lawn it stayed put, even with a bit of a summers breeze.   Next all I did was set out the canvas onto the shower liner, poured out a small amount of my desired color onto the shower liner next to the canvas, and let Basil walk through it. Then I had Basil walk directly onto the blank canvas. He wasn’t super into that part but he put up with it! You can also apply paint to 1 paw and press that paw onto the canvas. We did both.

After its all said and done the clean up was a breeze. I used the wet wipes to clean the paint off Basils paws and to clean the paint off the shower liner. I thought about just throwing the liner away but we really didn’t make that much of a mess. If you have a larger dog with bigger paws I would recommend a large wet wash cloth and maybe just saying good bye to the liner.

Once back in the house (We did this all in the front yard. I’m sure my neighbors and the UPS guy were all very curious as to what was happen!) Basil got a short little puppy bath with our favorite Burt’s Bees Apple & Oatmeal dog shampoo and is now happily napping.

Here is what our final creations look like. Once they’re dry I’ll add Basil’s name to the corner. He did do the majority of the work after all!

 What do you think of our art? Do you love it? I think it’s so post modern.

Let me know if you try this project and how it came out. I would love to see it!

A big thanks goes to Treats a la Bark for the original idea. I saw their take on this fun little art piece on Pinterest and had to give it a try.

Tomorrow is Travel Tuesday and I’ll be posting about Leavenworth, Washington. Make sure to check back then to learn about our favorite dog friendly spots in this little Bavarian village. Xoxo

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

We’re back!!

Our feet (and paws) have hit Pacific Northwest soil. We are back on the west coast!

A Taste of Basil's time on Lake Chelan
A Taste of Basil’s time on Lake Chelan

After a long cross country move and a crazy family vacation, we are finally getting back to the swing of things. I’ll be back to posting about our adventures and just the the silly things that happen in the life of Basil, Willow, and Sebastian on a daily basis.

Our first official post back will be a Make it Monday. I have a few ideas in the works but if you have something you really want me to try let me know in the comments.

Until then make sure your following us on Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/basilstravels) for even more Boston terrier fun!

Thanks everyone for sticking around through this little hiatus. We all really appreciate you!!

Now on to seeing what kind of trouble we can get into in the land of fish, trees, rain, and the 12th man! Xoxo

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

We love FreshPet! 

Hello Monday people! How was your weekend? Around here we are having a “heat wave” or it’s just the Deep South and this is what June is. Who knows! With temps at almost 100 degrees and high humidity it’s really hard to get out and leave the comfort of your air conditioned home.

We’ve been hanging around the house getting ready for our cross country move and enjoying each other’s company. And let me tell you, being stuck in the house is so much easier when it’s not smelling like puppy toots! I owe this clean air to FreshPet

FreshPet Baked Kibble FreshPet Baked KibbleBasil, Willow, and Sebastian have been on FreshPet Select for about 3 months now. You may have seen it in the fridge in the pet section of your local Target or grocery store. Recently the fresh pet food experts released a new baked kibble recipe.

Basil had the pleasure of trying this recipe this last week and he loves it!

This first thing I noticed when receiving the bag is how it looks almost identical to the fresh from the fridge variety. You can really see the dehydrated carrots, oats, and other superfood right in the kibble. This was very encouraging knowing we hadn’t even opened the bag yet.

Once the fresh seal was opened Basil was hooked. He doesn’t know what makes good dog food, but I do.

Photo courtesy of FreshPet Facebook
Photo courtesy of FreshPet Facebook

FreshPet is a made in the U.S.A, natural, no artificial preservatives added dog food. This kibble is made with 100% fresh chicken, whole grains, and essential vitamins. Chicken is the main ingredient listed and I can actually read (and understand) the remaining ingredients. This makes a good dog food!

FreshPet Baked also comes in turkey and grain free chicken.

Also, you know how I mentioned our toot free air. Well, FreshPet is the first pet food Basil has tried that stops all that stinky tooting! This super common Boston terrier problem which is caused by sucking in an excuse of air while eating or by digestive issues has become a thing of the past. Although Basil is very excited by his new food he seems to enjoy it at a reasonable rate and its easy on his sensitive tummy. Basil loves FreshPet Baked Kibble!

We highly recommend this new baked kibble recipe for all dogs. You can find it exclusively at Target stores.

Make sure to also check out all the other FreshPet products like their straight from the fridge food for dogs and cats and treats.

Let me know if you have tried FreshPet and if your dog loves it just as much as Basil!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

 

“What do you call a blind dinosaur’s dog?”

“A Do-you-think-he-saurus Rex.”  – Jurassic Park (1993)

 Today is the day! We are going to see an early showing of Jurassic World. 

In this house we are huge dinosaur fans. Nate has collectables from the original movies and we have seen the 3 previous movies more times than I would like to say.

I had Nate create me a little preview of what it would look like if Basil had his own Dinosaur movie. I think this is so cute I may have him make an animated short of this!

So excited about tonight! I’ll let you know what we think!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Parting is such sweet sorrow! 

Hello friends! In a couple short weeks we are off back to the West Coast so today we spent visiting with friends and hitting up some of our favorite spots!

First stop, Sycamore Brewing Company. We hung out with friends, fellow pups, and some good beer. Today was the day Basil had his first taste of beer! (Dogs should not have alcohol. It can cause liver damage or death! Please do not give you dog alcohol. It was only a taste and it was given to him by a friendly stranger who only had good intentions in mind.) It was a great time!

 Next we hit up Vin Master Wine Shop. For good wine, more friends, and air conditioning! Basil got to weigh himself on a vintage scale, he weighs 24 lbs, and got a ton of treats!

    We are currently enjoying some wine and relaxing. Basil, Nate, the cats, and myself will cherish the remainder of our time here in Charlotte, North Carolina.

C’est la vie!

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! 

Waking up this morning we still can’t believe it! Saturday night, at the Nose to Nose awards for the BlogPaws conference 2015, we won the best pet photo award for the picture below.

 We were up against some hard competition but Basil’s cuteness prevail! Although we were unable to attend the conference this year we were able to watch it streaming live on YouTube.

I want to thank BlogPaws for this award and everyone that reads this blog and loves my dog, we are truly thankful!

Now to start planning for the 2016 BlogPaws conference being held in Phoenix, AZ. Xoxo

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

Throwback Thursday – BlogPaws Conference 2014

Today all of our fellow pet blogger friends are gathered in Nashville, TN for the 2015 BlogPaws conference. We really wish we could have been there this year but the cross country move just didn’t make it possible.

For throwback Thursday I thought I would post a few of our favorite photos from last years conference in Las Vegas, NV.  BlogPaws 2015 Las Vegas, NV BlogPaws 2015 Las Vegas, NV BlogPaws 2015 Las Vegas, NVAlthough we are missing the conference this year we will still be able to watch the Nose-to-Nose award show online, which we are nominated for an award in the Best Photo category. If you want to watch the award show along with us you can find the live stream here, https://www.youtube.com/user/BlogPaws starting at 7pm CST on Saturday May 30th.

Hopefully we will be able to attend the conference next year to learn a lot and see all our friends!

Now back to packing up our entire life! Washington State, we’ll see you soon! Xoxo

Travel well, nap well, live well!
-Abbey & Basil

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