Happy Birthday Month, to Everybody!

September is a big month for Birthdays in my family. My Mom turns 48 on the 25th. Wes turns 31 on the 16th, while I will only be turning 27! (yep, we have the same Birthdays!) And my sweet little puppy turned 4 yesterday! 

Because I didn't get labor day off we celebrated on Saturday instead. When I say celebrated I'm not kidding. Roxie had presents and we feasted on hot dogs and German beer in her honor. Rox even had a Happy Birthday Doggie Cupcake that I made at home! 

Before, I'd always gone to 3 Dog Bakery to get her little somethin' somethin's every year but this time I looked up recipes online and was surprised to see that they were not only easy but really inexpensive too! For those of you who think I'm crazy for making my dog cupcakes and having a party, I get it. But I'll take any excuse to bake and drink, and to me, turning four is a pretty big deal. 

For those of you who like to throw parties for your dogs birthday, I have a step by step recipe for yummy pup-cakes.

Here is what you need:

Cake:

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil 

• 1 cup shredded carrots 

• 1 tsp vanilla 
1/3 cup honey 

• 1 egg
• 1 cup white or whole wheat flour 

• 1 tsp baking soda 

• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• Dog biscuits for decoration
• Optional: Banana, more peanut butter

Frosting:

• 18oz low fat cream cheese such as Philadelphia
• 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• Dog Biscuits for decoration

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Mix together flour and baking soda

add remaining ingredients 

and mix well. 

Place into muffin cups. Or if your dog is big, a small cake pan.

Bake 20 minutes if cupcakes and 40, if cake.

voila!

While cake is cooling, combine the cream cheese (at room temperature), honey and yogurt until smooth. I started in a regular bowl but decided it would be easier in my mixer. 

I also added a little bit of food coloring to my mix for fun.

I checked online to see if sprinkles were safe for dogs. They seemed to be, so I added those too.

You can't even tell those are't regular cupcakes! I tried a little bit here and there while making them, and while they weren't bad. They weren't real good either.

For dinner, we made hot dogs. I saw this cool tutorial on Pinterest for spiraling your hotdog and tried it. I like them way better spiral cooked than regular now! When you put condiments on them like ketchup and relish, they get in the spiral crevices creating extra yummy goodness. No more dog sliding out of the bun this way!

(Photo Cred: Wes.) He insisted he get credit for taking this picture. 

After dinner and presents, we got out the cake. We didn't sing 'Happy Birthday'- I'm not that big of  a freak, but I did light a candle for the camera.

As you can see. Roxie really enjoyed her birthday cake.

Once it got cooler outside, we went to the park to play some ball.

This pic is my favorite!

It was a good day. Hard to believe another birthday has come and gone! Hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend as well! 

Oh Pinterest!

My favorite boards to look at on Pinterest are the "do it yourself" posts. Here are some of my favorites as of late.

Create a moving coffee and storage area table with crates found from Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

Create a Vase by cutting a wine bottle. You're probably thinking to yourself. "You can't cut a wine bottle you dumbass!" Supposedly you can. 

Soak a string in nail polish remover. 

Wrap string around bottle.

Light string on fire, over sink while rotating the bottle.

And that's it! I'm interested to try it.

Stain a world map on to 2x4's. This would be awesome to have on a living room wall. Or a game room! So cool.

Make lights that glow patterns by wrapping a doily around a light bulb and spray paint. Some how I don't think this will turn out as well as the picture, but it would be so cool to have those lights in the back yard.

Take caulk from the hardware store and run lines down the back of your rug to keep it from moving/slipping on hard surfaces.

Drill holes in your fence and stick marbles in to create beautiful lights when the sun hits. I would love to try this!

When I try these ideas myself, I'll let you know how they turn out. Happy Friday!

Household Tips and Tricks

I am an over obsessive googler who likes to do things around the house. Whenever I need a good clean-up tip or have a question, I go online and see what can be done about it. These are some of my favorite useful tips with household items:

1. Eliminate the sticky residue from a hot iron by running it over plain paper sprinkled with salt (don’t use steam!)

2. To prevent rust stains in your shower, coat the bottom of your shaving cream can with a layer of clear nail polish.

3. Sanitize a chopping block by rubbing it with a slice of lemon.

4. Or take 1/2 cup of lemon juice and add it to a load of whites to get them extra bright!

5. Ripen your tomatoes quickly by wrapping them individually in newspaper and letting them sit at room temperature overnight.

6. Unstick a fussy zipper by putting olive oil on a q-tip and running it along the metal.

7. For you artsy types, use a coffee filter to diffuse the flash on your camera and create soft lighting for close-up shots.

8. Use a post-it note to clean your computer’s keyboard by running the sticky side between the keys.

9. Get candle wax out of carpet by placing a brown paper bag over the melted wax and carefully running a low heated iron over it. 

10. Use a can opener to open those pesky plastic packages

11. Use a wooden spoon to prevent water from over boiling from a pot.

12. Candles will last a lot longer if placed in the freezer for at least 2 hours prior to burning.