The Pitty

My posts have been so far and few between since I had my neck fusion. I thought I would tell everyone that The Pitty is alive and well and still as spoiled as ever. She has taken a notion to sleeping on moms special 150 dollar gel pillows. I guess you can only sleep on one Right?? I have noticed she is sleeping more and more each day. She gets a bit grumpy if she doesn't get her naps in now.... I try to let her sleep...... I don't want one of the seven dwarfs looking at me all grumpy. 

My expensive pillows are to help keep my neck flat so there is less pain... at night when I sleep. LOL some days they feel like a big brick.... but other days they seem to help. I know one thing for certain.... The Pitty really likes them... if she likes them then they were worth the money :O)

She wants it her way... the pillow must be long ways running down my back as I lay on my side... she then snuggles down into the edge of the pillow and my back... if I move the pillow she is walking all over me until I fix her pillow right.... its like no mom the bed is wrong... fix it!!!

If I turn toward her and the pillow, she will snuggle down under my arm and put her nose on my face to go to sleep.... I have to admit...... I quite like this way of sleeping ... except the hot little dog breath... which by the way most of the time has that faint odor of Gingerbread cookies on it... :O) I wonder if that has to do with... they are her favorite snacky bones.... next to her fried banana snackys.

Its hard for me to believe she will be 10 years old this spring.... it seems just like yesterday she came into my life all small and sweet, needing to be fed every 4 hours... So small she was about 1/2 lb in size and fit right in the top pocket of my shirt... which she was immediately dubbed the pocket pup.....

She was so small she would play on the couch.... that little stripped toy on the left is a baby rattle... you can see how small The Pitty was next to it....  She came to live with me when she was 12 weeks old. The breeder did not want her or her siblings to go any sooner because they were so small.... LOL people use to laugh at me...because the baby had a diaper bag for all her needs when she was small. I use to get up in the middle of the nite to feed her. The vet said that she was so small she needed to eat about every 4 hours to keep her from having hypoglycemia... which could cause serious health problems for her.... yes she was spoiled then and still spoiled now....

The Pitty has lived like a queen with me .... I personally don't know any puppy that has been as loved and as spoiled as she has been in my life.... I know I will continue to spoil and love her until the day we must say goodbye... but for me I am hoping against hope there is another 10 wonderful years with her....

A fun PinKeep/ Thread Catcher

I think I want to make myself one of these :O) Here is the link to find this fantastic thread catcher... it has a pinkeep and also a place to hold your tools. What fun :O) I found the photo at Miss Sews it all :O) She did modify the pattern to meet her needs. Run over to the link to find the pdf to make your own thread catcher ;O)

http://www.sewmamasew.com/2009/03/elizabeths-fabric-focus-3/

Straight Pin Happiness

A very long time a go..... I was a participant of a pin-keep swap, we were to decorate and fill up a baby food jar with old buttons. My partner made me the cutest little jar with the most awesome topped straight pins.

I have been searching for tutorials on how to make these very fun shrinky dink toppers, for my pins since the swap.

I was very surprised to find there were very few tutorials out there for sewing pin toppers.

There were more for making beautiful hat pins, but I was looking for Dressmaker straight pin tutorials.

I will share some of the tutorials that I found.......

Photo found on Pinterest. 

No link for tutorial.

Found at Thoughts of a Card Making Scrapbooker. 

These are very fun shrinky dinky pin heads. Found at Miss Sews-it-all

Found at CraftSanity

I found these cute ones with a tutorial :O)

Most of the cute ones I found were for sale on Etsy.

***Not a complete Tutorial***

What I have gathered from the limited tutorials that are out there on the web... 

First you purchase the longest sewing pins you can find. 

Then you either purchase shrinky dinky plastic or use the top and bottom of a salad container that you purchase from your local deli. This container must be a #6 to shrink properly. 

* If you use this #6 you must lightly sand it on one side. *

I found a fantastic tutorial for this at: Curbly

You can either hand draw or use a rubber stamp to make your designs on your plastic.

After your designs are complete, you pop them in a 350 oven on a tin foil tray.... and watch them shrink. Some of the ladies use a heat gun.. but we used an oven to shrink ours when I was young. That way you can watch them shrink and make more than one at a time. 

Here is another fun idea how to decorate the top of your sewing pins.

Glue bits and bobs on them using: E-6000

Here are a few photos of pins that I found on Pinterest.

I like the pins with glass beads and bobs.. if you are not careful, you don't leave any room on them to really use as a pin. I guess mostly you would use these just for decorations in you lovely pin-keeps.

There is another method that I would not recommend with small children. 

This includes using a Bic Lighter. Here is the link at Cynthias Handiwork.

You use cute...very small buttons. Cut off the back loop of the button. You also cut the top off of the straight pin. Hold the straight pin with the pliers and heat one end up with the Bic Lighter until it is glowing red. Then insert the red hot end into the button before the pin cools.

Here is even fun ones that you sew and glue from Mel's Own Place. 

Please share with us if you know of any tutorials or have your own way of making these very fun and adorable stick pens.....