Make a Dog Sweater from an Old Human Sweater

We have a long-haired Chihuahua, and even though he's pretty big as far as Chihuahuas go, he's a little dog and gets cold pretty easily. He has made it clear that the past few mornings have been much too cold for his tastes by shivering for several minutes after he comes back in from outside.

We decided to make him a doggie sweater from an old sweater I'd kept for craft projects. It's mostly cotton and not the most attractive sweater around, so I thought it'd be perfect for our sweet little dog.

For a small dog like ours, one sleeve is all that is needed, so there is plenty left over for a purse, hat, or other project.

To get started, measure your dog's neck size and then measure around the small end of the sleeve (stretched) to ensure it will fit over his or her head. Then, measure from the base of the neck (collar) down the back as far as you want the sweater to go. Cut that length of sleeve.

Cut the sleeve open, leaving approximately 3" at the narrow end intact.

At this point, you'll want to do a test fit to double check the neck size and length down the dog's back.

Now, go back to the sweater and remove the rest of the sleeve you've already cut.

This will fill in the chest and upper stomach area of the sweater, so do a rough fit and cut two leg openings in the piece. Try it on your dog to make sure the leg openings are wide enough.

Take both pieces off your dog and sew them together by placing them right sides together, then sew down each side. I used a narrow length, wide zigzag stitch to ensure that the sweater doesn't fray.

Finish off all the edges, including the leg holes, with a narrow length, wide zigzag stitch. You could also hem the edges for a more finished look, or if you're a perfectionist. (I am not, obviously.)

Our dog is a male who squats like a girl when he pees, so I didn't want the sweater to come down very far on his stomach. If you have a girl dog or a boy who pees with his leg up, you could use a wider second piece for more coverage.

It isn't the most attractive doggie sweater I've ever seen, but he definitely likes it. We can just call this his "staying in" sweater, and we'll make him a prettier one for going out on the town.

Getting Rid of Halloween Candy (Without Eating it All!)

The official Holiday Eating Season begins each Halloween. Do you find yourself facing pounds and pounds of your kids' candy? If you want to do something with it that won't add pounds and pounds to you and your family, start a new tradition - the Halloween Witch!

I got this idea from a friend, and I was lucky enough that she told me when my daughter was only 1. If she'd been older, she may not have gone for it. This is the third year the Halloween Witch has visited us, and my daughter, at 4 this year, seemed more excited about being visited by the witch than most of the other Halloween activities.

The day after Halloween, my daughter pulls out the candy she really wants to keep. 

The rest goes into a bag and placed out on our front porch for the Halloween Witch.

The Witch visits at Midnight and leaves something nice for my daughter as a sign of her gratitude. My daughter believes that the witch takes her extra candy and shares it with children who may not have been able to get as much candy as she had on Halloween. 

In reality, my husband just takes the extra candy to his dentist, who participates in the Halloween Candy Buy Back, to send the candy to our troops overseas. 

I seem to be the only one in our house with a relentless sweet-tooth, so not having the candy here to tempt me is worth a little bribery!

Words, Please!

Dear Internet,

I just want to read. I don't want to open a web page and watch a video, listen to a podcast, or navigate an infographic. It's okay if these are offered as secondary options, but not the only content available. I realize that this request is considered somewhat "old-fashioned", but I really just want to read words on a screen.

Thanks, and have a nice day!

Love,
Me

How to Freeze Fresh Apples

Apple season is coming to an end, and if you have a giant heap of apples that are starting to go bad, you don't have to work yourself to death cooking applesauce and canning apple butter. With just a little bit of preparation, you can freeze them for later use - in cooking or (my favorite) cut into small pieces in my microwaved oatmeal each morning!

All you really need are apples, a knife, 1/4 c. lemon juice in 3 c. water, a couple of bowls, a flat pan or cookie sheet, and freezer bags. I used an apple corer/slicer to make the job easier, but if you don't have one, you can just slice and core the apples with a regular knife. The lemon juice is the trick to keeping your apples from turning brown, so don't slice and freeze without it!

Get everything ready by mixing the lemon juice and water and thoroughly washing all your apples.

Core and slice your apples, removing any bad spots as you go. If you prefer, peel your apples prior to slicing. I like to leave my peels on, but that's just a personal preference.

Dunk each slice into the lemon juice mixture, then place it onto a flat baking sheet. Once you have the sheet filled in a single layer, place it into your freezer. Leave it there overnight to ensure everything is frozen.

The following day, place all the frozen pieces into a freezer bag, label the bag with the date and contents, and place back into your freezer. Whenever you need some apples, you'll be able to just take out and use the amount you need and leave the rest in the freezer.

Now, you can enjoy your fresh, local apples any time of the year!

Crock Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal

If you're still looking for new recipes for your freshly cooked pumpkin, you might want to try out this yummy pumpkin oatmeal. It's creamy and savory, and an easy dish to make in your crock pot. It's high in fiber and very filling, so I even like to eat it as an afternoon snack to keep me from getting too hungry before dinner. I also like to add sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top, and add 1 tsp. crunchy Almond Butter to give it a little more protein. This has become one of my favorite Autumn dishes!

Ingredients

2 cups Old-fashioned Oats 

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, plain, fat free 

1/2 cup Egg Beaters or Just Whites 

1 cup pumpkin puree 

2/3 cup Ideal brand sweetener (I prefer the brown sugar variety in this recipe) 

1 1/2 cups nonfat milk

Directions

Add the first 4 ingredients to the crock pot and stir to combine.
In a medium bowl combine the remaining ingredients, pour over oat mixture and stir just until everything is moist.
Cover and cook on low 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until desired consistency.

Serving Size: Makes 8 1/2 cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 129.6

• Total Fat: 1.4 g
• Cholesterol: 0.9 mg
• Sodium: 118.7 mg
• Total Carbs: 35.1 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.6 g
• Protein: 7.2 g

Cakester Spiders

Are you looking for an easy Halloween treat? These cute spiders are a tasty and so easy to make, even the youngest trick-or-treaters will be able to lend a hand. Better yet, if you're having a Halloween party, just put everything out and let the kids make them!

What you'll need:

Oreo Cakesters
Pretzel Sticks
M&Ms (Any round variety - I used the White Chocolate Candy Corn flavored ones...So yummy!)
Black Cake Icing

Unwrap the Cakesters, then break 4 pretzel sticks in half. Stick the pretzel sticks into the cakesters, 4 on each side, so that they resemble spider legs.

Then, just add small dots of icing where you'd like to place your eyes, and stick the M&Ms onto the dots. Add a bit more icing on the top of each M&M to finish the eyes, and there you have it!

I'm making these for my daughter's preschool Halloween party, and she and I made these two for a taste test. They're really delicious!

Pumpkin Chili Recipe

Now that you have cooked your fresh pumpkin, you might be looking for new and creative ways to use it. This pumpkin chili is a delicious way to warm you up on a crisp, Autumn day. It's full of fiber and antioxidants, and the pumpkin gives the dish a little sweetness to balance the spices. This recipe is vegetarian, but you can substitute 1 lb. of your favorite ground meat if you prefer.

Ingredients

1/2 c black beans, dry
1/2 c white beans, dry
1/2 c pinto beans, dry

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 Green pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups vegetable broth

  1 can red kidney beans, drained

1/2 c Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

2 c pumpkin (or 1 can)

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons chili powder

1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon tumeric

Directions

Precook all dry beans until soft. Rinse and drain cooked beans. In a skillet, saute the onion, pepper and garlic in oil until tender. Transfer to a 5-qt. slow cooker; stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until heated through. If you prefer not to use a slow cooker, add all ingredients to a large pot, heat to a low boil while stirring, then reduce heat to Low. Cook on Low for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.


Serving Size: Makes 10 1 Cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 10
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 197.2

• Total Fat: 3.4 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 649.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 31.4 g
• Dietary Fiber: 10.1 g
• Protein: 11.5 g

Roasting Pumpkin Seeds

In my last post, I mentioned that you might want to roast the pumpkin seeds that you removed prior to cooking your fresh pumpkin. It's easy to do, and fun for kids to help (and eat)!

First, separate the seeds from the pulp as much as possible. Then, place the seeds in a strainer and rinse them in cold water, removing any remaining pulp as you rinse.

Next, spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray (or coat with olive oil if you prefer), and spread the seeds in a single layer on the sheet. Add salt and pepper and place into a pre-heated 325 degrees F oven.

Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, stirring with a spatula every 10 minutes. The pumpkin seeds will be done when they're light brown and crunchy. Store them in an airtight container until they're all gone. Enjoy!

How to Cook Fresh Pumpkin

It's Halloween, and pumpkins are everywhere. After Halloween, don't just toss your pumpkin into the compost heap - cook it and use it in recipes for a delicious, healthy and inexpensive treat. Once you taste your recipes with fresh pumpkin, you'll never use canned pumpkin again.

I like to cook 7 - 8 pumpkins each Fall, and what isn't used immediately gets frozen in plastic freezer bags. I have used it up to a year later without any freezer burn. This cooked pumpkin can be substituted for any recipe that calls for pumpkin - canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree. I have used this to make pumpkin for everything from pumpkin cheesecake, muffins, bread, to soups, and everyone always loves it! If you use this cooked pumpkin for a pie, you'll want to drain the liquid from it prior to using (see note at the bottom of this post).

Many people also think that you have to use a "pie pumpkin" to cook fresh pumpkin. This isn't true! I always cook our large and small pumpkins this way, and they always turn out great. Don't waste those big pumpkins - cook them!

First, thoroughly wash the exterior of your pumpkin. Cut it open and remove the seeds and pulp that are inside. If you're interested in roasting the seeds to eat (they're yummy!), separate those from the pulp as much as possible when you're emptying out the pumpkin.

Once you have cleaned out the pumpkin, cut it into smaller pieces (no larger than 3 - 4") and place them in a single layer in a microwave-safe dish. It's best to put the exterior side up.

Put 1/2" - 3/4" of water into the dish, and microwave for 10 minutes. Check the pumpkin by poking the flesh with a fork to see if it's soft. Be sure to test pieces in difference sides of the dish to make sure they are all done. If not yet soft, continue to microwave at 3 minute intervals until all pieces are soft. Be sure to add more water if needed - you don't want to let the dish dry out.

Once the pumpkin pieces are soft, set the dish out and let the pieces cool. You can speed this up by draining out the water, and even placing the dish in the fridge if you want. The pieces don't have to be completely cooled, but you will want them to be cooler for the next step since you'll be handling the pieces.

When they're cool enough to handle, scoop out the cooked pumpkin flesh with a spoon and discard the rind.

Place the cooked pumpkin into a pot. If you want, you can continue to cook the pumpkin by adding about 1" of water into the pot and cooking, covered, on medium heat. The pumpkin will continue to get darker and less pulpy as you cook it longer.

Honestly, though, I normally don't cook it much past this point...I just go to the next step.

Drain the excess water and use a potato masher or electric beater to smooth out the cooked pumpkin. You can continue to cook it and beat it to make it smoother, but I normally just beat it once and it works fine for me.

And there you have it! Go ahead and use for your favorite recipes and freeze what's left. If your recipe calls for 1 can of pumpkin, use 2 cups of this fresh, cooked pumpkin.

To drain excess liquid from the pumpkin, line a large strainer with cheesecloth (double thickness), coffee filters or a clean dishtowel (that may turn orange). Place the strainer into a bowl, then pour your pumpkin into it. Place it into the refrigerator overnight, and the liquid should drain out into your bowl.

Make a Neck Warmer for a Little Girl

Now that the weather is getting chillier, my 4-year-old daughter asked for a tube scarf of her own. I have a pretty decent stash of felted wool sweaters, so I let her pick out the colors she wanted and got to work.

Here is the finished product, modeled by the cutest cowl scarf-wearing girl this side of the Mississippi:

To make the felted wool, pick up a pretty 100% wool sweater at a thrift store or yard sale, then wash it, with regular detergent, in your washing machine using hot water. Dry it in the dryer until it's dry. It should shrink considerably, and that shrinkage will felt the wool and give you a nice, tight weave that won't fray. It's important that the sweater is 100% wool, and that it's washed in hot water, not warm. If the sweater isn't 100% wool, you won't get as much shrinkage and it won't felt properly.

I started with a purple sweater, and since this tube scarf is for a little girl, I simple cut one of the sleeves straight up from the armpit, then made another parallel cut a few inches below that.

Hang on to the lower sleeve, you'll need it later. At this point, I made my daughter try on the upper sleeve piece, just to make sure it would fit comfortably over her head.

For the lining, I picked out an old beige long-sleeved t-shirt that once belonged to my husband. The knit was nice and soft. I used the sweater scarf piece to cut a similarly-sized piece from the upper sleeve of the t-shirt.

Now, place the two pieces right sides together, matching up the seams.

Sew them together at the top using a mid-length straight stitch. Stretch the fabric as you sew to ensure the scarf will have enough stretch to fit over the wearer's head without breaking the thread.

Once that stitch is done, flip the scarf so that the wrong sides are together.

Now stitch together the bottom, using a zigzag stitch along the edge while stretching the fabric to create a lettuce/ruffle edge.

This is the finished plain tube scarf:

My daughter wanted something a bit snazzier, though, so we decided to add a ruffle flower to the front.

Using the lower sleeve, cut three circles - one large, one medium-sized, and one small.

Using the same stretch/zigzag edge stitch, sew the edge of each circle so that it has a ruffle. Stack the three with the large circle on the bottom and the small on top.

I then hand-stitched the three onto the front of the scarf, with a small button in the middle and top. 

And there you have it! It was quick to make and should be snuggly and warm for my daughter this winter!

If you wanted to make a larger one, you would use the same techniques, just make a larger tube out of the main sweater (and a t-shirt) rather than using the sleeves. 

The great thing about these tube scarves is that you can pull them up over your face when it's extremely cold, or use them as a large headband/ear cover. They're very versatile, and so easy to make!

You'll want to hang on to the rest of the sweater, too. It's big enough to make a felted wool purse, a hat, or several other projects that you might see here soon!

How to Jazz Up a Plain T-shirt

It's really easy to turn a plain t-shirt into something special. I love orange, and an over-sized orange T-shirt recently caught my eye in the Men's section of a local thrift shop. I picked it up for $1.99 and brought it home. It was bulky and had gray layered trim:

The trim was first to go. I cut the edges above the seams, leaving them raw with no more gray. I was interested in a more fitted and contoured look, so I turned the shirt inside out and used pins to fit the shirt to my hips, waist, and underarms. I removed the shirt and sewed new seams up each side, where I'd pinned. I tried on the shirt to make sure the fit was right, then trimmed the seams (down to 1/4" to 1/2" - to remove the bulk). If you don't want to try pinning the shirt while you're wearing it, use a T-shirt that you already have that fits well and has the same silhouette you're after - just turn your new shirt inside out, lay your existing shirt on top, and pin your new shirt to follow the seams of your old shirt.

I didn't want to leave the edges raw, but I also didn't want to go to the trouble of hemming all the edges. So, I decided to do a lettuce edge using a zigzag stitch along the edges. The trick is to set your machine to the widest zigzag, a short stitch, and then stretch the fabric as you sew. Sew this zigzag right on the edge. The more you stretch the fabric, the more ruffle you get along the edge. I personally like a contrasting thread for the lettuce edge, so I just used an off-white thread for my orange shirt.

Finally, I wanted something to do something to make the T-shirt prettier. I had some beautiful fabric that matched the orange shirt and also added a splash of vibrant colors. I sewed a few pieces together, forming a narrow tube scarf. You could also use an existing scarf, a ribbon, or any piece of narrow fabric. I started in the middle back of the shirt and cut two holes in the shirt, roughly an inch or so apart from each other, and a couple of inches down from the edge. I then cut pairs of similar holes every few inches, going around the neckline, each pair a couple of inches down from the edge. My motto is that I avoid measuring whenever possible, and most of the time it works out fine. I like to just use my fingers to do a rough measure to try to evenly space, but if you're more of a perfectionist, you could measure the neckline to ensure your cuts are evenly spaced.

Once I had my pairs of holes cut, I wove the scarf through the holes and gathered it gently to pull in the neckline. Since I'd cut the neckline away, this pulled it back up to avoid the Flashdance off-the-shoulder look (fine for many, just not for me). The T-shirt material shouldn't unravel or tear where it's cut, but if you have a particularly fragile piece of fabric and are worried about fraying, you could finish the cuts with Fray Check prior to adding the scarf.

The scarf can be tied in a knot, bow, or just left hanging, to change up the look a little. If your scarf is washable, it can be left as is for laundry. If not, just remove it prior to washing.

I really like the end result. Here are the pictures!

Fix Your Jeep Wrangler Soft Top with Fishing Line

We have a Jeep Wrangler. It's great, but it has a little age on it. It has a soft top, and the back window zipper broke. The weather was warm at the time, so my husband just drove it without a back window. That was fine, except when it rained. The air conditioner wasn't very effective on really hot days, either.

A new top for the Jeep would be really pricey, and my husband didn't have a need to remove the window regularly. So, I picked up some fishing line and used it, along with an embroidery needle, to sew the window onto the Jeep top.

I started in the lower right and worked my way around, just looping the line/thread around the zipper to hold it.

It doesn't look great, but the outer flap covers it nicely, so it really doesn't matter:

However, we did want the ability to open and close the left side so we could add and remove larger things from the back of the Jeep. So, I stopped sewing in the upper left corner, and picked up some black velcro.

The velcro is officially "new sew," meaning it is self-adhesive. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't stick very long on the back of a Jeep, out in the weather, though. So, I used the fishing line to sew the velcro pieces down the left edges.

Again, it isn't the prettiest job around, and it doesn't really have to be: it gets the job done. The flaps cover the velcro and stitches nicely, and so far it's working great!