Eightymillion

A DIY craft and photography blog. Dogs included.

Top 10 Halloween Treats for Your Dogs

My three dogs and I will be celebrating Halloween this year by baking some homemade treats. It’s Fall so turn on the oven, roll up your sleeves, and dig out the cookie cutters.  In other words, make a mess in the kitchen.  Trust me, your four legged friends will thank you for it.

If your passing out candy this weekend package up some of these treats as well.  That way you’re prepared if anyone shows up with their beloved pet by their side.  Here’s a free printable treat bag label for those baked goods.

Below is ten recipes to spoil your pooch(s) with.  Keep in mind that these work great any time of the year, not just Halloween.  (hint: stocking stuffer)

1.  Banana Carrot Dog Treats

2.  Homemade Dog Treats

3.  Mint Buckwheat Dog Biscuits

4.  Healthy Homemade Dog Treats

5.  Frozen Peanut Butter Banana Coconut Oil Dog Treats

6.  Dog Cookie Recipe That Makes Dogs Go Squirrely

7.  3 Ingredient Vegan, Grain Free Dog Treats

8.  4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Dog Treats

9.  Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats

10. Homemade Sweet Potato Dog Treats

AND, my personal all time favorite, Two Ingredient Organic Dog Treats.  My boys LOVE these!

Looking for even more treats to make for your pup?  Try these.

 

National Camera Day 2015

Happy National Camera Day! Truth be told, I’ve never heard of it until a post showed up in the Facebook feed this morning.
What better reason does one need to take some pictures.  Adam peeked inside my closet and came up with an idea for a photoshoot using my personal collection of vintage cameras.
Twenty nine images later…  Ironically, that’s the number of images we ended up with in the end. Read more here about this awesome day.
Photographer:  Eightymillion Photography
Wardrobe/Stylist/Model:  Adam
Props:  Jennifer’s precious collection
Audio Producer/Videographer:  The Mixologist DJ AA
Track Title: Flash

Quick and Easy DIY Flower Pots Using Crocs

Pull out that old pair of Crocs, from the closet, that you don’t wear anymore because I’m going to show you how to recycle them into flower pots.  An easy DIY that takes less than ten minutes from start to finish.
I scored this pair at a second hand store for $1.  Last week I planted some annuals into cement bricks and had four leftover plants.  This project will use up those four so that there’s no waste.
Supplies needed:
*tarp (easy clean-up)
*annuals
*pair of Crocs
*top soil
*twine or fishing line
Pack a nice amount of top soil in the toe portion of the shoe.  Place the annual inside the shoe and add some additional top soil around the top and sides to hold them in place.  Attach a piece of twine to the strap and tie it into a knot at the end.  Once you hang it up give the plants a good drink of water. Some dirt will seep through the holes of the shoes, but don’t worry about it.
Use the fishing line, in place of the twine, to create a floating effect.
Find a location in your flower garden to hang the new planters.  That’s it!
Mine have had a nice little home on these doors.  I adopted this vintage door display from my Mom and they already had the hooks, so I just needed something unique to hang there.
As you can see from the photo below the doors are definitely due for a fresh coat of paint.  Next year is what I tell myself.  It’s been five years and I keep saying that.  Although I kinda like the distressed look.

Quick and Easy DIY Flower Pots Using Cement Bricks

Here’s a DIY project that anyone can do.  Give those cement bricks a new life by recycling them into flower pots.  It’s easy and inexpensive.  If you don’t have any laying around you can buy them for around $1.75-$2. each.  Every year I always use annuals because I like to experiment with different varieties.  This year is my favorite combination. Fibrous Begonia and Celosia.
This is my fourth year using these bricks.  For a step-by-step tutorial click here.  Feel free to check out the previous years here and here.
Here’s a few additional tips that I discovered along the way to save you some time.
Right before the snow arrives, pull out the dead plants from the bricks.  No need to cover them or change the dirt from season to season.  Just let them sit as is.
Use a tarp.  It saves on cleanup time.
If you have dogs, keep them away from the bricks.  My three loved to “mark” one brick in particular. So much that their urine was trapped in between the spaces of the bricks.  Gross right?  I ended up switching out that one.
Don’t worry about the excess dirt.  As it rains it’ll wash away.
Easy right?
I had four leftover plants from the flats I purchased for this project.  I’ll share another easy project tomorrow on what I did with those.

DIY Landscaping Tips & Ideas: Dealing with muddy paws

There’s been a lot of rain recently here in the Midwest.  Three dogs mixed with a good thunderstorm means muddy paw prints everywhere!  They track it in through the backdoor, past the kitchen, and now in the livingroom and perhaps even on the couch.  Enough already!

I know that some people keep rags at the door to wipe their paws as they enter back into the house. Sure this method works, but with three dogs it’s not feasible for my house.  Here’s what I do.  And best of all it works like a charm.

Purchase a bale of straw and spread it all over the muddiest areas in your yard.  For me that’s the area right around the deck especially at the base.  One bale is enough for the space I’m covering. That’s it.  Your done and no more muddy paw prints marking up the floors. You can also use cedar chips but if you have a big area to cover that can get costly.

As far as the grass growing back in those high traffic muddy areas, no worries.  I usually go through two bales of straw throughout the Winter to Spring transition and the grass always grows back.  You can always throw some grass seed down.

So, are you willing to spend roughly $6. for a little peace of mind?

DIY Garden Inspiration Tips & Ideas (Spring 2015)

Our vegetable garden is planted and it’s thriving on all the rain we’re getting here in the Midwest. Usually the seeds and starter plants go in the ground on Mother’s Day, but this year we were able to plant a few days earlier, on the 8th of May.  My boyfriend and I love to recycle.  Last year we recycled two pallets for the leafy vegetables and they worked so well that we’re using them again this year.  The dog kennel we are using is still standing strong.  Read more here about how we came across that treasure and put it to good use.
For a more detailed “how to” tutorial using the pallets read back on last year’s post here.  They held up well over the Winter months.  They weren’t covered or moved during the off season.
This year we decided to go back to using the black fabric landscaping and garden pins for weed prevention. Using the newspaper and straw worked well, but it made for a lot of clean up at the end of the season.  If you prefer the straw method here’s how we applied it last year.
So, what did we plant?  Collard greens, mesclun (greens mixture), baby spinach, kale, green onions, green peppers, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, grape tomatoes, mountain fresh tomatoes, and watermelon.
Now, let’s get started.  Enjoy the post and I hope it inspires you to plant one of your own.
Along with the seeds and starter plants we always mix some miracle grow in when they first go in the ground (and pallets).  Just to give the dirt a little boost.
Five days after planting the vegetable seeds, they popped right up!  Notice the pallet with the kale and green onions.  Place your taller vegetables in the smaller slot and save the leafy vegetables for the larger section.
The cages were placed around the plants right away.  Once your vegetables start to grow they may need a little additional support.  Read here for additional tips in that area.
Red bricks were lined along the side of the garden that faces the yard.  They work nicely as a stepping stone when entering the garden and they prevent the dogs from reaching in and grabbing any of the fabric material.  Bonus, they look nice.
As you can see from the image above everything is doing well.  This photo was taken on the 27th of May.  A little over two weeks from when we first planted it.
More garden updates are coming along with some additional tips.
The dogs did quite well during this whole process.  Usually they try to get inside the garden and grab a plant or two and run with it.  A fresh bone will distract them for hours.
So, what’s in your garden?

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