Do you have a stinky smelly dog?   We do!  Does your dog have a stinky smelly bed?  Ours does!  We tried washing the dog beds but the stuffing just ends up a mess and our little pup can't climb into them so easily anymore.  So, we decided to make a washable dog bed cover!  I did a some google searching and found a little how to video from our friend Martha Stewart.  There weren't any written instructions so I've created my own: 

Instructions: 
Step 1:   For this dog bed we will be adding french seams because we will be removing and washing this often.  These seams are much more durable than a straight standard stitch.  For the seams we'll need to add 1 1/2" to the width and length.  We'll also create an envelope for the back to insert the foam core.  To create the envelope we'll add 9" to the length for the back.   Final cuts:  top at 22 1/2" x 28 1/2" and bottom at 22 1/2" x 37 1/2".  ​

Step 2:  Add hem to the back envelope.  Add a hem to the inside edge.  Fold inside edge in 1/2" and then press.  Fold over again 1" and press.  Add a top stitch to close.  

Step 3:  Pin wrong sides together for start of French seam.  Sew 1/4" seam all the way around.

Step 4:   Turn inside out.  Press seam.  Sew 1/2" top stitch seam all the way around. 

Step 5:  Turn right side out.  Press seam again.  Sew 1/2" top stitch all the way around, this covers the raw edges.  French seam complete!

Step 6:  Create Box Corners.  Turn inside out.  Make a triangle at each corner, matching seams in front.  Measure down the width of the foam core.  We'll measure down 3" and mark.  Sew across.

Step 7:  Add foam core and your all done!  

I think this is exactly what we needed and it looks great!  Martha suggests creating an identical muslin cover for the inside that is also washable.  

We really like the wooden chandeliers that we see in some of the lighting sections of Lowe's and Home Depot. We found this really awesome one at World Market, but the price tag was INSANE! The chandelier is about a foot tall and is wood and iron with 4 tiny bulbs for $320! The price drove us to start looking for pieces to make our own wooden chandelier.

We found a light fixture with all of the pieces at Walmart.  It was a single light pendant with an iron cage around is for $10.  SOLD, now we just need to build a wooden cage to put around it.

We picked up a 1"x1", cut four 12" pieces and eight 8" pieces. We grabbed some galvanized steel corner brackets and 3' for chain.  We spay painted the metal parts Soft Bittersweet Iron, but it looked more like Chewbacca Brown.

We made a simple wooden cage, stained the wood and then added the painted metal pieces.  We followed the instructions that came with the light to wire it up.  The first time we installed it the ground wire came loose while tucking the wires.  We re-attached it with the electric twist caps and then used electrical tape to secure it.

It was super easy!  It may not look like a $320 Wooden Chandelier, but its looks way better than a $10 one.  Maybe its worth like $120...  We like and it looked great hanging in the stairwell.

I just LOVE these embroidered jeans!  I saw these at Macy's and thought they were super cute, but pretty expensive!  As always, I thought I bet we could make that!   But.... I also knew I didn't have the tools to do it, but I knew someone that did!  My mother-in-law has the "mother" of all sewing machines, the Baby Lock Destiny II.  She makes some beautiful things with it.  I knew she was coming down soon for a visit and I was able to sweet talk her into bringing her sewing machine with her!  I had no idea it would take 3 suitcase size travel cases to get it, and all of it's attachments here!  THANKS Kathy!!! 

While this machine takes a little training, I was able to fumble my way through the design process.  It comes preloaded with a ton of free images.   Since this was my first attempt at embroidering some jeans, I chose a relatively simple design.  It was still 12,000+ stitches.  The larger the design, number of stitches and thread colors, the longer it takes to make.  This design only took about 20 minutes.   Its pretty amazing, it will tell you how many stitches per color and how long it will take to stitch each color.   Here, you can see the jeans won't easily fit into a standard hoop so we used adhesive backing in the hoop and adhered the jeans to the backing which kept them in place while sewing.

Once the stitching was complete, we switched the sewing decks and converted the machine back into a regular sewing machine.  We removed the excess paper backing and simply sewed the pant leg back together.

​I hope I have the opportunity to make another pair!  I think these turned out great!  Here's the completed project and me all dressed up in my fancy new jeans!