step four: if u get caught, think fast and deflect deflect deflect

hee hee, yeah, and maybe after, we can use it to carve our names on the unknowwhat by the uknowwhere. boy it is taking forever for that thingy 2 heat up. maybe i should go over and check on -

- uh-oh, i hear mom coming. if she finds out we will be grounded forever and not jusy til school starts again. quick turn off the thingy and help me get my safety gl--

oh hello mother. u smell nice today.
did u know we pooped and peed behind the sofa today? i will show u while duk duk stays here and does dukky things. and then maybe after, we can watch u finish our flippy flops? :) (ickqupoopay ukdpoopay ukdpoopay, eanclpoopay pupoopay ilewhpoopay ewpoopay reapoopay onegpoopay).

step three: try not to get caught by your mom using tools u r not allowed to use

hee hee, it may be overkill but finally, we are playing with fire!! well, a really hot cuttermajiggy anyway. or whatever that thingy is. just lemme get my fire goggles on and...

oh yes, dad. do not worry we have watched mom do it a million times. we are practically professionals.
okay, c u later.

hurry, duk duk, we need 2 finish this before mom gets home so we can show her how responsible we really are.

hee hee hee, okay, duk duk, it is time to ignite the flaming sword of poopsilon !...

step two: test your pattern for fit and make a master pattern

hmmmmmm....hmmmmm....hmmmmm..

yeppies, maybe a bit bigger all around so my ferociousness does not frighten the ground and nobuddy accidentally stomps on my toesies.

oh, and while we are at it, we should probably make it a little rounder and wider in the toe box, right, duk duk?

hee hee, okey dokey! now all we need to do is put in our ppe and cut the base out of our flippy floppy material!

but hmmm, this stuff is too thick for us to cut with the scissors mom normally lets us use. hmmmm...

hee hee, o yes, duk duk, i spy them too! r u thinking what i am thinking? let's ask dad. he's so busy he's bound to say yes without asking too many questions. :)

little pink fuzzy wolf secrets :)

well, yes, mom, this one is really nice and i appreciate u making it for me from sleeve u cut from the cashmere sweater u got at the thrift store but...well...hang on...

nopies he's not over there...

...aaaand okay, i think the coast is clear...

so, do u think u can maybe make me a onesie with footies from the pink fuzzy angora sweater that i saw u also got from the thrifty store? and, u know, we can just hide i mean keep it in your and dad's bed and i can wear it when we snuggle in the mornings? :)

a fist full of gummy worms: how to recover a saddle chair in pictures,plus not enough words to really help with that so good luck but key is to hem your edges such that you can run fishing wire thru and pull things tight like a shower cap then u staple carefully

There are some who might think the biggest challenge of recovering a three dollar saddle chair scored from the thrift store is developing a pattern, or redrawing the pattern with completely new seam lines, or picking the right fabric and cutting fit models. Or finding an extra set of grabby hands to help with fitting and futzing and stapling until everything is smooth and taut and ready to begin its useful life anew.  

But there are those of us graced with the joy of living with sausagey boys and girls who know that the biggest challenge of them all, of doing any project really, is trying to do all of that, with a curious and helpful little wolf planted firmly on your lap :) 

oooo recover a saddle chair? no problemo, mom. just hand me the sharpie and some scissors and I promise me and duk duk will have your pattern drawn up in a jiffy. and for just a few gummy worms more, we can not only recover the chair for u but also machine embroider any monogram u would like, so long as your monogram is four letters long and uses the letters p and o. and o and p. :)  

rampy time

A pair of ramps for the little kielbasa have been the priority in makey world, a project that I hope will ease the stress on a tiny ferocious little wolf's body and expand his world while keeping us safe from trips over the gates we would otherwise use to restrict encounters with steps and stairs. The rundown on the pair of ramps goes something like this - 

2 - 3 ft-ish x 11" wood boards from Habitat Restore ($1.50)

3 - 2x2 carpet squares from Ollies ($6.00)

Double sided carpet tape from Lowes ($6.00)

Stuff I already had on hand (misc wood for rails and support joists, primer paint, sanding stuff, random screws)

Stuff I thought I had on hand but had to buy (wood putty $3, finish coat paint which was sadly $17 bc I couldn't find white high gloss at the Restore and store samples are only offered it seems in satin finish)

Cutting and building Labor from tiny chumley's Unkie D who happens to be visiting us (priceless)

With any luck, these ramps will be of good use for many years to come, once tiny chumley is completely healed from his most recent bout with pain and other things that keep a wolf from feeling completely like himself. :) 

ooo mom, I know I am still healing but maybe this weekend me and duk duk can still use my new ramps and we can play poopsie daisy on them? :) :)

pee-on-mees

Here's a peek today at a special little project tiny chumley helped me with, some time before he was sentenced to county jail and subsequently sprung free on Friday.  They're peonies for a friend, made from coffee filters, and a generous helping of makey luck.

wait, mom, r u sure they are pee-O-knees? because, well, maybe miss marene better not smell the one we sent her, if u know what i mean :)
 

blah blah blah axe and light saber :)

  A nicely fitted sleeve has been my makey moby dick for ages now as far as tiny chumley's wardrobe is concerned.  Each year, I find myself pulling out the pattern I yearn to perfect, and refine it more, redrawing the shoulder line and adjusting the armscye and sleeve cap, sewing fit model after fit model to test my tweaks and futz some more.

 Late last year, the sewing gods finally saw fit to allow me achieve to my goal of sleeve nirvana.  But the irony, of course, is that I now realize that sleeves, even nicely fitted sleeves that highlight a magnificent shoulder ham, are hardly something a little wolf wants or needs when he goes on his walkies.  A little wolf needs freedom of movement when he goes out in the world, an unhindered ability to move his shorty legs upwards and downwards and every which way in between, so he can be ready at a moment's notice to chase bunnies, or run away from big noisy dogs.  Sleeves are great for jammies and dress up, but not so much for a wandering weenie wolf's walkie wear.





















With old man winter finally making an appearance, this week's makey project for tiny chumley was two fold - make a simple sleek winter thermal hoodie that would allow him to walk unencumbered by bulk, and, rusty though I have been in this department, make him a new super cool winter harness that he could wear over his new cashmere duds.

 Today, a peek at part 1, Baxter's cashmere hoodie, which I made from a sleeve of a thrift store sweater for the main body, and part of the sweater's body for the hood itself, plus double fold bias binding cut from fabric I had scored long ago in the NYC garment district.  The basic concept is fairly simple and, since there are no set in sleeves, no pattern is required.  In fact, the basic concept is simply to find a cashmere sweater whose sleeve is slightly smaller in circumference than the tubular size of your pup's body.  I wanna say maybe 10-20% smaller for a nice snug fit.  Cut the sleeve off at the shoulder seam.  Then cut two slits where the arm holes should be (just cut slits, not circles else the arm holes will stretch too big).  Consider making one release cut into the cuff ribbing if the neck is tight - this will also allow for a cute turn down collar as well.  Then cut for body length as needed, and  bind all the cut edges, or leave them unfinished as I did in his first sleeve based blue sweater .
Add a hood if you'd like using a stretch stitch on your sewing machine and voila, instant winter jedi viking cashmere hoodie! :)

ps - It was cloudy all day yesterday so in the next post, a hopefully much less wordier peek at tiny chumley's awesome part 2.

hee hee, mom, speaking of jedis and vikings, next time u make me a hoodie can u please add loops so a wolf can carry a light saber and an axe? otherwise this patttern is pretty much perfect and thank u so much for making it for me:)

il bassotto flatulento aiuta suo padre a rendere mozzarella

...hee hee, okay dad, now that the curds have formed the next thing u have 2 do and this is very very important...


(pfweeoooOOoOOoot!)

hee hee hee, u have 2 cut the cheese!!  :) :)

 

we built an outdoor sink :)

A few months ago I was wandering around in the Habitat for Humanity Restore, minding my own business, when right there before my eyes was a Kohler stainless steel drop in sink.  Not just any sink, mind you, but one where one of the basins actually looked long enough to accommodate all of tiny chumley's enlongated cuteness without him having to curl into a donut.   And, it was only five dollars. Five dollars! Clearly, this was a message from the shopping gods. All I had to do come up with a plan,  wait for all the other stuff I needed to show up at the Restore and blammo, tiny chumley's make shift paw washing station would be upgraded to the ergonomic outdoor sink of my dreams.

Of course, it didn't quite work out that way.  Research and planning took forever, and apparently treated wood doesn't show up that often at our Restore, or galvanized pipe for that matter (though ebay does so, yay for pipe fittings by mail!).  And amongst other things, I learned you sometimes have to go to three different Lowes on three different days to find a working pipe cutter machine, a Kreg Jig really is handy, and friends with drill presses are indeed very valuable friends.  Yeah, the shopping gods didn't exactly give me a simple quick and easy project,  but what a super cool project it turned out to be. And yes...just in case you were wondering...

tiny chumley fits perfectly. :)

 

hee hee mom, since we are outside and all, after we wash my paws do u think it would okay if me and duk duk filled the sink all the way to the top and played 20000 poops under the sea? :) 

fun for a boy or a girl: ezpz doxie sleeve sweater makey project numero dos

Why hello my friends, it's me, Baxter, your roving rover reporter, reporting to you today about a very special and ez pz weekend project.  You see, even though winter will be over in no time, it still seems spring is pretty far away. And if where you live is as cold as it has been here, then u just might want 2 try this too.  Because today's project is the ez pz sweater numero dos.  To do this project, all u really need is a sleeve from a very nice and soft cashmere or merino wool sweater that u can get for just a few gummy worms at the thrift store.  Make sure the sweater has a sleeve that is long enough and wide enough to fit your sausagey body.

Now, u can measure to make things more exact but if u want to spend more time playing on your wii and less time, u know, measuring and stuff, u can do like me and mom did and just eyeball everything.  Cut the sleeve longer than u need, and, with help from your mom, stuff yourself into the sleeve and have her mark where the arm slits should be with a sharpie.  Take off the sweater and cut the slits, then retry on the sweater. Mark the length of the sweater u want, cut that, and voila. 

For this particular sweater, the knit sleeve binding was a little tight on my neck meat, so we cut down the seam and looky, the binding turned into a really cute collar. 

And that's pretty much it, eyeball, fit, snip snap and you're done!  But, say if u want to go the extra mile..











Here is what me and my mom did with my friend Hank's turtleneck sweater.  It's like mine only the edges are finished with doublefold bias binding. 
   

And the best part about this project? If u mess up, u still have one sleeve left to work with AND u have enough sweater to make the original ez pz tube sweater I reported about this same time last year! So really how can u go wrong? 

Anyhoo, I would give u more details but I sort of ran out of time bc I am helping mom pack for one of her adventures and so if u have any questions please feel free to comment and I will try to answer them as best I can while she is gone.  This is Baxter your roving reporter wishing you a very happy makey weekend! :)

thursday was another snow day :)

hee hee now remember, mom, our foothold in the north is severely threatened by the early onset of winter. our men have only three weeks rations and a raven from castle black has indicated trouble is coming from beyond the wall.  our negotiations with little miss julia targaryen are critical and the utmost of secrecy and privacy must be upheld here in our camp. no one must know she is talking with us.

 oo, i think she is here.  will you please show her to the lovely heat cave we just finished for her,  whilst duk duk and i finish our nice cup of hot monkey chow cider? i will be along in just a minute...

mmm that's good chow...

 

 


















remember, mom, do not under any circumstances listen in on our conversation.  the fate of two houses depends on the success of our negotiations.
 












...hee hee hee! no hit the right button and then hit the left button and..jump! juuuuump! ooo now dash..nice! oh u missed the golden ring but that's okay the giant should be along any minute and if u dash him u get like way more tear drops than...eeek - no, u fly by holding down on the jump button until u -
 

ummm, well mom, we plan 2 start our negotiations like, after we earn enough teardrops to buy the pink robot unicon attack armor.   does she really have to go home now?  :) 

winter is coming

hee hee hee, hooray - phase two of our heat cave project is now finished, duk duk! i am sure glad mom figured out how to make everything from our drawings.  especially this supercool awning, right?  no medieval tent is really complete without one. the starks had them. and i sure bet the lannisters did too. 

only i bet theirs did not retract!

last one in's a rotten poopie snake! well, a more rotten one anyway.

(shuffle shuffle) (shuffle shuffle) hey hey, pheeeeeeeew! duk duk, didjoo just..oh nevermind i just did one too so we are even.

okay,  maybe at in phase three we ask mom for a pull cord so we can pull george over whenever we wanty want. :)

some behind the scenes stuff and a doot doot dooty doot for know, a supercool print poster and my 2015 desk calendar

When a happy go lucky dachshund stands at the cusp of turning eight years old,  I like to think that his tastes begin to evolve. Boy adventurer detectives and blue boxed time travelers, though still very much close to his heart,  now give way to more complex characters who more often than not, ask questions and delve into topics that an eight year old imaginative dachshund has yet to fully comprehend. And so it seemed only natural that Baxter and his toyfriend duk duk, who by now would have exhausted all the G, PG, and PG13 offerings on Netflix,  would have refined their tastes and discover indie geek classics like the movie Donnie Darko.  And, even though some of the darker aspects of the movie would go over their heads, a movie as engaging and unsettling as Donnie Darko would still be something tiny chumley and duk duk would pick to serve as the awesome inspiration for this year's halloween trick-or-treatery.







I'd like to say it was purely Baxter and duk duk's inner geekiness that motivated their Halloween attire, but truth be told, the makey challenges also piqued my interests greatly.  I mean, it's not like there are many swell instructions out there for this for humans, much less for dachshunds, or for one winged duks.  The challenge would not only be in replicating the Frank the Bunny and Donnie Darko look, but also in adapting it for the actual head and body shapes and imaginative perspectives of an odd but perfectly matched pair of friends.

Today, finally, after months of off and on makey, a peek into the work that went into their costumes, and a link to Baxter's new super cool poster featuring it, that asks what we should all probably ask ourselves at one time or another, why are you wearing that silly human suit?

Happy Monday, friends! :)

PS if you missed the doot doot dooty doot yesterday, here is a link for our super cool and always budgety 2015 desk calendar too! https://www.etsy.com/listing/209493886/dachshund-desk-calendar-2015-tiny?

 

  

heat cave for two :)

There are a few things yet to be completed on the heat cave I started to make for tiny chumley late last week, but try and tell that to a shivery little boy and his duk, on an ever so slightly chilly morning in autumn.  :) 

hee hee mom, we know it is not done yet but our new heat cave is still so very comfy and can you please turn george up to 80?  low breeze please. oh, and a hot cup of monkey chow cider would be nice too :)

etsy fresh: you are invited to our Top Secret Halloween Club :)

Hello my friends, it's me, Baxter, your roving rover reporter, reporting to you today about a very important invitation me and duk duk would like to make to you, to join our Top Secret Halloween Club.  Do you remember seeing some top secret things about our Halloween costumes every once in a while say on our Instagram or our Facebook or on Twitter or maybe even here?  Were you like, hey, when are we ever going to see the results ? Well, ever since our mom finished our Halloween costumes a few days ago, we have been really wanting to show you as much as you have wanted to see them. We even dressed up in our costumes and made Halloween cards that turned out super cool. But then we were like, hey,  Halloween isn't til Halloween and top secret is top secret, right?   But, if some of our friends like you really want to see our costumes early,  or say you need a really super cool Halloween card that will totally be like nothing you have ever seen before,  well, how can it happen and not spoil the surprise for everybuddy else?

Well my friends, that's how me and duk duk decided to form the Top Secret Halloween Club.  If you and your friend can keep a secret and want to send or get our super cool - but kind of SCARY!! - Halloween card now,  you can do so by clicking here, to get the card from my mom's kalyxcraftopia etsy shop.  Oh yeah, did I mention it was kind of scary?    

This is Baxter your roving rover reporter hoping you will join us in super cool halloweeny weenie top secrecy! :)

PS - this is not the actual card although the actual card is sort of on there but like, so pixelated and covered up that u know, it may as well not be the card. :) #topsecretSCARY

https://www.etsy.com/listing/207763820/baxter-duk-duks-top-secret-halloween?ref=shop_home_active_1

PPS (10/22/2014) Wow me and duk duk sold out! Please be patient my friends as we will be ordering more the next time mom places a print order so stay tuned! :)