dog on lap

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Pitcher Cover

Hello my name is Cara and I am a caffeine addict. I could drink a pot of coffee in a day. Its true.

So to help enable my iced coffee addiction, I made a cover for my pitcher so the hot coffee can cool on the counter and look adorable doing it.

I used a paper towel for a pattern because originally I was using a paper towel and hair tie to achieve an uglier version. Add a little lace and you're good to go.

Happy caffeinating!

I recently took one of our antique side tables and gave it new life. Using old wine bottles and antique china (Seriously antique. The pattern was discontinued in the 1920's.), I made a really interesting piece that I'm super proud of!

You will need:

Old wine bottles (best to steam off the lables), broken plates, a hammer, brown paper bag, towel, grout (the adhesive kind works best), gloves (optional. get messy!)

Start by breaking your glass. This part can be dangerous. Place your glass one item at a time in the brown paper bag and use the hammer to take a whack at it. Do this outside. Put the broken glass in a bucket or bowl of sorts. Be super careful because wine bottles can really splinter. I used a smaller brown paper back to further break up the bigger chunks of glass. You can do this inside by putting the glass in a paper bag, and then between a towel.

Play around with a pattern. I didn't really need one for this project, but draw one out if needed.

Next step: slather on the grout. Push glass pieces into the grout and be sure to cover the sharp edges. Once dry, you'll sand down the bumpy parts so don't worry if it looks messy or if grout gets on the glass.

Finished product coming soon! Have fun, get messy!

XO
C

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hello, my name is Jenn and I am addicted to rhubarb-strawberry crumble.

Hello, everyone. I am very happy to be joining the Dog On Lap empire. My first recipe is extremely easy to make and even more easy to eat! This recipe comes from one of my friends, Ellen, who is an AMAZING baker. She can whip up the most delicious treats in minutes and this recipe is among her best.
Before we get started, let me make you aware of my cooking/baking way of doing things. I am not one for measuring unless I am trying a difficult, new recipe. Most of how I cook/bake is EYEBALLING. So here it goes...

Ingredients
1 pint of strawberries
4 or 5 sticks of rhubarb
~2 Cups of Granola (any kind that sounds good to you). Use more or less depending on your preference

Step 1. Grease a medium-sized pan. I used an 8" cake pan

Step 2. Chop Rhubarb and Strawberries and put in pan

Step 3. Bake for 30-35 minutes on 3750F

Step 4. Let cool and EAT! I do not have a picture of the finished product, because I couldn't wait to devour it!

That's it! Since the fruit has natural sugar, you do not need to add extra sugar (unless you want something REALLY sweet ).

J

Monday, July 18, 2011

Tiered Serving Trays DIY

Tiered trays fit for a queen! Using mix-and-match plates, saucers and tea cups you can make fabulous trays for next to nothing!

You will need:

Three decorative plates in different sizes (perfect excuse to run to the thrift store)
Two tea cups
Pencil
Gorilla glue
Rubber gloves (as per gorilla glue instructions)

Start by playing around with your plates and cups to see which combinations you like. For extra sturdy towers, stack your plates largest at the bottom to smallest at the top (see above.) Find the center of your plate and following the gorilla glue instructions, glue a tea cup between your two largest plates. Gorilla glue recommends clamping the items your gluing. This is tough to do with china. Use heavy books instead. In about two hours you'll have a beautiful tiered tray! I used mine for jewelry. Enjoy and have fun!

Wait! Useful tip: Always carry your tray from it's base!