Decorating Around Pets

    
  I posted this on my other blog, phoenixnfriends.blogspot.com and think it is relevant here too. I am a pet mom, and an animal lover down to the deepest part of my soul. Keeping pets, home, and sanity is part of my daily routine. I know that this applies to many of you too so I thought I'd share :)

     Do you love your furbabies, but hate the mess? I have one fun tip for you:

Thrift stores!

Seriously, though. If you can find something cheap, AND pretty, use it! I fell in love with this beautiful white chenille bedspread that I found at Habitat for Humanity Re-Store for $5.

Shasta the Australian Kelpie

     I love chenille and I told myself that I would purchase it if I ever came across it. Five bucks can't be beat! It protects my "good" bedding underneath and I just fold the chenille down at night to keep any pet hair contained and off of us at night. If the dogs and cats ruin it, it was only five bucks.

     I have other decorating around pets projects in the works that I will share as I finish them :)

   

     What do you do to protect your furniture? Let me know in the comments!

   

English Mastiff Embroidered Portrait

My sister has two english mastiffs. She also has a townhouse. And a small yard.
That . Is . A . Lot . Of . Dog . Together they probably weigh as much as a family of four. But they are two of the sweetest dogs you could hope to meet. Below is a photo of a random mastiff, not one of my sister's dogs. Still, impressive right?

English Mastiff

So this inspired me to embroider a mastiff portrait for her. I like it so much, I might do my own puppies next. And my kitties. And my parrot . . and turtles . . . . throw some horses in there . . . . .

English mastiff embroidered

I did the entire thing in a backstitch.

English mastiff embroidered

Except for the eyes, I did a satin stitch. And a french knot or two in white for the sparkles.

English mastiff embroidered

A large, playful mastiff will always have expressive, sparkly eyes, right?

English mastiff embroidered

I backed it in plain white. I didn't think it needed much else.

English mastiff embroidered