GardenMama

.: Puppy Love ~ Homemade Treats :.

.: Measuring out the ingredients to create homemade dog treats! :.

On this day before Valentine's Day we set out to create just one more treat for a much loved furry friend!

We made heart-shaped peanut butter cookies for a very sweet dog in our life. Its fun to create gifts for unexpected friends like the birds and the special pets in our lives during the holidays. 

.: Adding in one cup of water to create the dog cookie recipe :.

To create a jar full of your own dog treats here is a special recipe our dog friend greatly enjoy!

.: Peanut Butter Dog Cookies :.

· 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
· ½ cup Peanut Butter
· 1 cup Water
· 1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
· 2 cups White Flour

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine oil, peanut butter, and water. Add Flour 1 cup at a time, then knead into firm dough. Roll dough to ¼ inch thickness and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Makes 2½ dozen.

.: Kneading the dough in preparation of rolling it out! :.

.: Rolling out the dough that will be cut into heart shaped dog cookies :.

This dough smells good enough to eat! The most fun piece of all was shaping our dough and cutting out each heart shape!

 

.: We used heart-shaped vintage cookie cutters to create the dog cookies :. 

.: Created with love! :.

With vintage heart-shaped cookie cutters we made as many cookies as we could fit onto the rolled out dough. 

We poured much love into the entire process while thinking of our sweet furry friend who will enjoy each and every bite!

.: Having fun indoors while the snow still falls outside! :. 

.: We enjoyed creating many heart-shaped treats! :.

With the scent of peanut butter still fresh on our hands, we placed each carefully created cookie onto a baking sheet and waited for them to finish to a golden brown.

.: A basket full of freshly-baked dog cookies ready to be gifted! :.

.:The children had just as much fun gifting these cookies as the dog did eating them! :.

.: My youngest son shares a special bond with this sweet chocolate lab whom we watch on occasion :.

We enjoy dog-sitting this sweet Chocolate Lab who appeared to enjoy every last crumb of his first Peanut Butter cookie and sat very patiently waiting for his next one!  

.: Transferring Images Onto Stone ~ Mindful Giving :.

.: Stones we created today with transferable images :.

You may notice that the winter months bring about quite a bit of crafting for my family. We try to enjoy creating each and every day.  Many of you know of my affinity for stones! Like some of you I have quite a collection of stones collected from the ocean this past summer...

I am usually one who will use materials found near-at-hand or materials that can be recycled. Today we mixed things we had on hand and something that caught my eye at the craft store!

.: Choosing our stones for the project! :.

We gathered up a few stones from the collection and placed them in a bowl. These stones were chosen for their smoothness and size so that the images we transferred onto them would fit proportionately.

.: The sheet of transferable images :.

I purchased this sheet of transfers from the craft store. Some of the images appealed to me as I imagined them transferred onto the stones.

.: By rubbing over the image it transfers onto the object :.

I started with a few and soon all three children were gathered around to choose their own images and transfer them onto the stones!  The simple process  entails placing the transfer onto the stone and with the stick provided you rub over the image and it transfers itself. 

.: Butterflies hold significant meaning for me, this one is beautiful! :.

.: I appreciate this little bird sitting atop a stone! :.

The butterfly and bird stone are two of my favorites--they make me happy and now live in my kitchen!

.: A sweet pairing of stones :.

The bird and bird cage made for a fun pair! I think these stones would make beautiful Valentine gifts for  friends, or as party favors!

.: These stones are now placed in unexpected spots around the house! :.

I appreciate discovering them in unexpected places around the house. It makes me smile to see their simple beauty paired with nature!

.: Admiring their work! :.

.: My favorite stone which holds symbolic meaning for me :.

Ginny, who writes the blog Sweet Myrtle wrote a lovely post that I enjoyed reading today. She spoke of choosing a word to focus on in this new year.  Ginny wrote a long list of words that bring inspiration to her before choosing one word to focus on.

This resonated with me because over this past year my family adopted the mantra: "Be here now." Many times I have pondered this mantra and it rang true for me in times when I needed it.

.: A warming word bringing peace to my heart :.

I know firsthand that writing a positive or inspirational word on a stone is powerful. Wouldn't this be a great project to create a few stones with life-affirming words on them and place around your home to bring more encouragement, joy, and mindfulness into your day?

.: Wishing you creativity, beauty, and inspiration today! :.