Breaking the Stereo-Type: Deputy Daisy

 I’d like you to meet someone very special. She’s incredibly loving, a great cuddler, extremely good with kids and babies, and loves cats.

This is Daisy, Our PITBULL.

Sadly, pitbulls have a bad reputation as monstrous beasts that attack everything that come into their path. Many counties are instituting a ban on this breed, and currently the town I live in is trying to pass it as well.

We got our bully (we named her Deputy Daisy) out in the “sticks” for $50. We met the momma, obviously full bred Pit, beautiful black brindle coloring. Her name was Princess. Sweet as could be! Out of 8 little pups, I chose Daisy because she was the reddest in color and the most affectionate. DH (then my boyfriend, now my husband) and I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home with her to pick up some puppy chow. When we came back to the car… she had puked all over my backseat! Ugh! I spent the rest of the night cleaning out the backseat and picking ticks off her poor little body.

We already had two cats (Koda and Chili) at home and I wasn’t sure how well they would respond to each other. But everything was great! They played chase through the apartment and slept in close proximities to each other. She never snapped at them, and didn’t growl when they close to her bowl at dinnertime. A year later we got another kitten (Daytona) and they slept together in her cage (we were trying to kennel train her, and that just ended up being her "time out" spot)! Daytona was her best friend. We have since had to find homes for the cats because of the upkeep on them and because we kept moving around (I still miss them all the time though).

Here's Daisy and Koda. I always thought Daisy and Daytona were besties, but as I looked through the pictures in my computer, there are a TON of these two chillin' together.

Koda, Daytona, and Daisy watching the field mouse run around outside the door. Oh, yeah, add mouse-hunter to Daisy's resume too!

Chili and Daisy were napping on the bed together, but when I came back to snap a picture, Daisy woke up!

We have also added two little ones to Daisy’s family (our children), and she has always done extremely well with them. When I first became pregnant, I was a nanny to two wonderful little girls, and when I would pick them up from school I would always talk to the other moms. Quite a few of them gave me “Ooh, you have a pit? Better be careful she doesn’t attack your baby” shtick. It really was all I could do to keep my mouth shut and just nod my head at their complete and utter ignorance of the breed.

She took an unusual amount of punishment from my son when he was younger, but all she had to do to get him off was lick his face.

My daughter loves her so much! They are always cuddling and playing together.

Daisy is such a nurturing soul. She ran ahead of me to get to the baby who was crying, she plays on the floor with them, doesn’t snap, doesn’t snatch food out of their hands while they’re walking around the house, she’s an awesome dog.

The kids use her as a horse, a pillow, a chair, a best buddy. All of our friends love Daisy, and our parents (collectively) call her their “grandchild” because she really is one of the family. More people should be aware that the media frenzy surrounding pitbulls is wrong. It’s not “pitbull nature” to be vicious. It’s the people who raise them who decide whether or not the dog will be mean or friendly. My husband and I hold our heads high when we tell people we have a pitbull.

She may be a tad bit goofy, but she's ours <3

Tutorial: Cigarette Box Up-Cycle

Smoking is, indeed, a nasty habit.  With millions of people smoking millions of packs of cigarettes a day, there has GOT to be a ton of packs thrown out everyday, laying in the City Dump sluggishly decomposing. Want to make it a little bit greener?There is a way to make something useful from the empty boxes when you or someone you know is done with them. I’m pretty picky when I choose which box I’ll use to make these little cuties with. They can’t have any dents in them, or folds…I like them to be “just like new”.

*Editor's note: These boxes do not have to be used to keep cigarettes in! I use mine for keeping knick knacks, loose buttons, tiny notes, and miscellaneous little things in.

All you need:

Mod Podge

Cigarette box

Scissors

Scrapbook paper

2 buttons (works better if you use ones that have shanks on the back)

Hot glue

Embroidery floss

Craft knife

Foam brush or paint brush (not pictured)

Take off the clear plastic on the outside of the pack and the foil from the inside. Make sure your scrapbook paper is long enough to cover the entire box. The paper needs to be at least 4inches wide and 12 inches in height.

  It’s important to the way the paper lays to start with the top flap of the pack! Make sure the paper hangs over a little so you can Mod Podge it under afterwards. Brush on the Mod Podge and center the flap on the scrapbook paper.Make sure to rub it down for maximum “stick-age” J

Apply Mod Podge to top and back of the pack next and press the paper over it. Make creases at the folds of the box and use the craft knife to make slits (or scissors).

Next, open the pack and make slits from the back where the paper creases.  Now here comes the tricky part….Are you ready? Apply Mod Podge to the sides of the flaps and press this paper slat on it.

 Apply more MP on top of the first layer of paper and press down the paper from the top of the flap. Apply more MP to that paper and press down the last bit of paper on top of that. It should look something like this now:

 Break out your craft knife again! We have to get rid of the paper that’s hanging on the sides! Lay the pack on its side and cut first the corner at the top of the pack and then the paper at the diagonal.

Apply MP again to the inside of the top of the pack and press the paper to it.

 MP the bottom and the front of the pack but just to the top of where the top flap will meet.

 Make your creases again on the bottom and cut the slits.

 Somewhere along the line I messed up and now it’s crooked, but that’s okay! Brush the Mod Podge onto the bottom flap and press paper onto box. MP the side of the pack (just to where the top will meet at the diagonal) and press the paper from the back onto it. Do you see where the point is on the side of the pack? Cut the paper on the front side at that height then fold down.

 MP the sides again and press paper flaps to it. Now it should look something like this:

If you have paper hanging off the sides, just lay your box down and use your craft knife to clean it up. For this next part, you’ll have to just feel around to cut off the diagonal side so that way your box can close. Fold down the paper on the front of the box again so it just hits the top of where you stopped Mod Podging, and cut at the crease.

 Now if you were straight with the placement of your box, the pattern on your paper will line up. Obviously mine didn’t!

You can now either Mod Podge the outside of your box or leave as is…I like to make it shiny, so I MP it, then let it dry. Get your glue gun ready folks! Cut off a piece of embroidery floss, about 8 inches. Apply a little glob of hot glue on the top flap of the box. Place the floss on top and then press into it with one of your buttons.

 Attach the other button directly below onto the front side of the box. Let the glue dry! Then you can wrap your floss around the buttons to close the box.

After you've mastered your first one, make a whole lot more!

Happy Crafting!

Project Level: Moderately Intense

Why I Can Never Be A Vegetarian

One awesome smelling word: BACON!
I tried once in High School to become a vegetarian because I was on a "save the animals" kick. It was very short lived, and here's why:

A few days before my brothers and I were going to my Dad's for the weekend, I proclaimed "I shall not eat another animal for as long as I live! They have feelings too!" Or something like that. The first night at my Dad's house I let him and my StepMom know about my decision. She wasn't too happy with it because she didn't want to have to cook a separate dinner for me whenever we were there. So I think all I ate for dinner that night was a salad I had to make myself while everyone else cruely stuffed their faces with dead cow.

My journey into vegetarianism lasted only until I got up the next morning....My stepmom was making bacon and potato breakfast burritos. Oh, how I love bacon! I couldn't resist!

With that being said, a week ago my husband decided to shake things up a bit and wrap our hotdogs in bacon. I know, it's not a new concept, but it's new to my stomach.
I will NEVER go back to eating regular non-bacon-wrapped hotdogs ever again! They're so delicious! I made one for lunch...wanna see?

Made on my handy-dandy George Foreman Grill :)

I think bacon makes everything better. I put it in my clam chowder, my salads, my sandwiches, my greenbeans. I may possibly die from over-comsumption of bacon, but at least I'll die happy :)

One bacon-y food I haven't yet had the courage to try is the bacon brownie...

(Photo courtesy of www.examiner.com from an article by Donna Diegel)

Anyone try this yet? Or how about the Bacon Sundae at Denny's as they celebrate "Baconalia"? What other odd combos have you heard about/tried with this delicious meat?

Here Goes Nothing!

Ok, this is my first time ever making a blog, so we'll see how it goes! Hopefully I'll be able to figure this whole thing out and show you crafts I make, maybe some tutorials, and definitely linking up some of the super awesome blogs that I follow on a regular basis! So here goes nothing!