Termipillow

 Well, I hate to jinx myself. Hate to walk under a ladder, step on a crack, and have a black cat cross my path....oh and speaking of cats, GC ==Garage Cat===was super jealous, of the whole pup pad, pillow making, just hating the dogs in general...



GC's pillow AND lil lean to, She's still po'd, and refusing to use it. Sick of all these dang dogs and all their cool stuff.


And a moment of silence, We only knew yee briefly

RIP Red Pillow, you were no match for the monsters

Okay, moment over, no on to the Termipillow

I know it's upside down...but you get the picture. 5x5 canvas drop cloth from the depot, 4.42. Super thick, and bonus, Waterproofed. I got 2, one for 2.25 off the clearance rack, to experiment with. Material is extremely dense, and once stuffed, with the recycled polyfill from the dead red, is surprisingly soft. This will be what I make my outdoor pillows with when I get to the 2 pool loungers on my list. Total cost here, 7.50 cents!!!! When I make my pool loungers, add 16.00 to that for 2 new bags of polyfill.

Surprisingly easy to work with. Didn't even have to change to the denim needle either. Score!!! I just folded it in half, and double stitched away!

Sewn into a sleeping bag, with reinforced corners, and a few sprinkles of Cayenne Pepper, just a dash, thrown in to deter the beasts.

At the bottom of your sleeping bag, stuff in some polyfill, to make a lil "pillow" and double stitch a line acrosst it, don't worry about it being perfect, your pup is not going to complain. FYI, if you're not as dog crazy as I am, make it into an outdoor pad for humans. :)

Double stitch an upside down U, making sure to leave a 7 to 8 inch opening at the top, need to be able to fit a king sized pillow in there, folded in half. Stuff the middle, and use the pillows from your bed! It's a great excuse to go get new pillows, and your dogs will love them, they'll smell just like you!

This one's stuffed in the middle with 2 king sized pillows, then I sewed up the 7 to 8 inch opening I left in the U.....Use polyfill to stuff the side tube, making sure to push it tight into the corners.....

When both sides, and top has been stuffed to your satisfaction, close up the outside hole. You can do it by hand, or if you're lazy, like me, and don't feel like trying to find a needle in this haystack of a house...just shove the polyfill wayyyyy down, fold over the edges, and sew a few rows to close it and Viola....Termipillow!!!!

Well, so far, at least. It's been 4 days, no signs of holes yet. and the dogs, LOVE them. If they get wet or dirty, which they have, just wait for them to dry and throw them in the wash. I haven't had to yet, but when I do, I have a brand new squirt bottle with a few shakes of Cayenne Pepper diluted in water, to respray.

And with the other package, cut it in half, and made a Termibabypillow.....

Cute and cuddly and this one's holding up just as well!

Not so white anymore, but Chewy HEARTS his bodypillow!!!!!

.....and then I got wet

Was working on putting the Exterior grade plywood on the pup pad, in 95 degree weather, dripping sweat like a day laborer, and then....

I went to check the pool, my big, strong hubby, JB and I had worked very hard on it this past weekend, just needed to check and make sure the filter we fixed was working, thats all. the crisp, refreshing pool, calling to me....and then I got wet. Clocking out, workday over, no mas trabajo today!
I did an Iced Tea Lipton plunge, and then I was in heaven!

Calgon took me away!

Pillow Fight!

Since it's frowned upon to do construction work after 10:00 pm....really throws a wrench in my plans....I had to find something to do during my long, sleepless nights. Something fun, and just for me. And no, JB, housekeeping and laundry don't count!
I whipped out the old sewing machine, dusted off the cobwebs, and had my mom give me a quick tutorial on sewing. I'm not really a sewer, when I say my "old machine" it's not old from use by any means. I can count the amount of times I've used it one hand.
I can tie a mean knot, hence the many fleece, tied blankets and pillows I've made.
Okay back to the plan. Dog Pillows. Since these dogs chew anything in their paths, I decided to  take a more scientific approach to their pillows. Find the best material,  ( no, I can't figure a way to make them out of wood, believe me, I've thought that one through~) one that doesn't get ripped up in 2.5 seconds.

Aren't they sooooo cute, and comfy too! My mommy sewed the purple one

underneath all this blonde fur....lies the heart of a CHEWER!!!!

First attempt, the mountain of fleece in the hallway/craft closet. After carefully choosing the most dog friendly, heaviest pieces, along with coordinating colors to decorate the doggie den;....The fleece made it through the first night, so I decided to make a super huge one, reinforced the corners, double stitched, polyfilled.....

sole survivors!

4 hours of work down the drain.The big, luxurious fluffy red pllow didn't even make it through the night. Like a bull in a ring, Obie couldn't stand that bright, beautiful red. Looked like a fluffy blanket of snoww all over the yard.
So fleece is out. Buying five new pillows for these heathens is also out.
Will continue trying....

Pup Pad day 2

very successful weekend, boys had a great time in Vegas for Anth's 21rst, home safe and sound. Anth's out in a bar with his cousin now....hello 21~~!!
Back to the Pup Pad, Sunday came and ith it, a sore back and legs. I really had a very hard time getting moving. The Foundation needed to be moved out of the driveay, but first, leveling out the area it was going too. Stole a few pavers from around the pool, and after 2 hours had a level spot for it to go too.

Sandy sitting on her new porch

The Foundation was inredibly heavy...thank G my neighbor Stevo and his son Sky were willing and able to help move it to its new home.

Accidentally, drilled my finger at this point, if you look closely you can see drops of blood on this wall, no bueno.

All 4 walls together, in the garage, waiting to be a pup pad.

Can you see the door? the window? They are there, I promise.

This was a one chicky job, should have been a one chickadee, one hubby job.

Went to Ace,  picked up Lag screws and some whatchamaccallit....a ratchet. Tommorrow, Tuesday, after Bre's doctor's appointment, these walls WILL BE ratcheted in place, and fingers crossed, roof beams in place. :)

I've finished all four walls, Some things just don't want to be square....and these walls were one of those things. It's not a simple thing framiing, and anyone that tells you it is....hasn't done it.

Pup Pad

Gonna need a bigger boat!

Picking up the lumber. Pressure treated for the subfloor. Incidentally, if anyone is thinking of building a playhouse shoot me an email. I did a comparison shop, Lowes VS Home Depot, where I went on both sites, Added everything I needed to each cart, exactly the same items, and HD won on this one. Ended up saving 87.00 just by doing a little research pre. One of the hardest things for people to do when gettting started in woodworking, is buying the actual wood....I have the shopping lists with the sku numbers, whereby someone can walk in, grab a cart, and even hand the shopping list to an employee and they will know which is the exact right wood needed for the project. I'm going to by price comparisoning on each project from now on. Sidenote: As I said, HD was cheaper, EVEN though I used my 10% coupon!

I've been looking at dog houses online, and very few, if any, meet my requirements. Yes, there as sites that will customize a gnormous doghouse for me, to the tune of 3,000 smackolas. Yikes. Too too much. I started looking into building, a mini house basically, and initially it was going to be a backyard shed, with pillows on the ground. Not good as heat rises, the dogs would be freezing, so I needed to lower the ceiling. While browsing KOW, genius that I am, I came across the playhouse plans. Perfect! roughly 6 ft high, and between her plans, and BuildEasy.com, I've come up with the perfect design for my dogs.
Total spent so far.....280.
The Pup PAD!!!

Trying it on for size, ball included

very roomy, even with a razzberry, Chewy has loads of Elbow Room!

Ms Standoffish Sandy in the background, don't know why she's even being measured, she's sleeps in the house ALWAYS!! standoff and selfish

First wall ever!!

hgtv'd my living room

HGTV'D MYSELF!!!! this is what you call the DEAD SPACE, things went here to die. They'd sit, sadly forgotten about, collecting dust, tangling up with all the other odds and ends, until they'd end up in the trash. You can't see the TV from here, so a chair was out of the question, awkward space to fill, til I came upon KnockOffWood.com, and saw the plans for a storage Daybed!! That was my goal! only problem was I'd never built anything in my entire life, let along a whole bed, well a Daybed, that people would be sitting on, and Heaven forbid laying on, well I didn't want to be responsible to any broken bones. So I had to start from scratch, working my way through pallet shelves, beginner benches, until finally I was ready.......

Thanks Ana, for helping me go from this.....

TO THIS!!!! So proud of myself, did this all on my own. Of course, still need to add the bed part, haven't sewn in years, but Ana's site really motivates you, makes you believe in yourself again. So, at some point my to do list will get down to a to done list and this will be a spot for visitors, family, and hell even the dogs, to rest their weary haunches on. Take a walk with me down memory lane as I built this beautiful piece......

sanded wood, my helpers,

First Kreg Jig joints, very tired after all the sanding, but so proud of myself......

Didn't like the way the plugs looked, so filled holes myself, sanded, filled again, worked out well,