We Call 'em Dog Towels

When you wake up in the morning and walk to the coffee pot barefoot and step in the water that your dog has so energetically splashed every where in the name of fun, what do you use to clean it up?

A. An entire roll of paper towels

B. Your sock is soaked, might as well use it

C. One of your kitchen or bathroom towels.

D. A Dog Towel

If you picked B, head straight for the coffee pot and join the discussion in a minute. But if you asked, what's a dog towel, then you are missing out on a great clean up tool. A dog towel used to be the towels that were hanging up in our bathroom until we replaced them with brand new ones. They are also the ones that my Mom and Grandmother have sent to me as they refresh their linen closets.

Once you have a set of dog towels you can easily dry the dog off after swimming, clean up any accidents that would normally call for a roll of paper towels, or use it for a towel they wipe their feet on when it rains. And of course the best part, if the mess is too gross, clean it up and throw the towel away with the mess!

Once you set aside "dog towels" you can literally throw in the towel every time your dog throws you a mess!

Making your own dog beds

Ashby is on a two standard size pillow bed.

Ah, Spring is in the air and it's time for a bit of spring cleaning and a refreshing change to all the linens. Do you go out and buy new pillows for your bed too? If that's in the plan and leaves you to throw out a couple of pillows, keep them instead for a new dog bed!

My kids love the designer dog beds, but we are in constant need of changing the beds in the crates around the house and buying them at $60 a pop is just not an option. Instead I take a trip down to the local fabric store to find some cute fabric for the dog beds.

Now, I have Golden Retrievers, so when I plan out these beds it will take two standard size pillows to make one bed and usually a yard of fabric to cover them up. If you have small dogs you might consider recycling your couch accent pillows into beds for them or you could cut the covers of pillows off and divide the stuffing. If you are a person who likes the cedar shavings bed, then add some cedar shavings to the mix of stuff and fluff from the old pillow you are using!

Once you have all your supplies gathered all you really need to do is sew a square. For those of you who are domestically challeged such as I am, here's the break down. Lay out your fabric, doubled over, and then put the pillows on top and next to each other. Now adjust the pillows so that there is about a 1/4 inch border around the pillows and cut the fabric.

On to the sewing machine... Before you sew, you want to fold your fabric so that the pretty sides are facing each other on the inside. Take the time to pin the side you are going to sew, this will make sure you stay matched up. Once you've done that fire up the sewing machine and stitch two sides (three if you didn't keep the natural fold), remember we have to stuff the pillows in! Once they are in you can sew up the other side.

This is a one pillow bed, which my goldens don't fit on, but actually like to lay across while chewing a bone. It would be a suitable bed for the smaller dog or cat!

This is our only girl, Casey on a pink one specially made for her! It is the same size as the blue one and fits nicely in a 400 size crate.

Remember, these are just dog beds, so they don't have to be perfect, just useable and sealed! Get in touch with your inner seamstress and recycle your pillows giving your dogs some great new beds for less than a bag of their dog food!

Here's Duncan on the same bed you see above, but it's in a 400 size crate. As you can see he is quite comfy!

This is a view of our "dog room" it is where the kids stay during the day. They are quite good at the piano! Actually, they love the bed under the piano, it is a 1/2 crate and makes lovely decoration when company comes over. (yeah right) However, it is their favorite, so we just can't seem to take it away. The blue one in the corner was supposed to be temporary, but they seem to like it too.