For The Dogs!

 Hello readers! TGIF, the weekend is upon us! Today I'm sharing two things that don't really have to do with your house, home decor, or interior design. Rather, I am paying some attention to the dogs today! So, before you start making your weekend to-do lists, consider spending some time with your furry friends, specifically your pups! I try to give my doggies some extra love on the weekends when I have more time with them since they're cooped up in the house alone most of the week. A few of my puppy parent friends have been asking me for the recipe to my homemade all natural dog toothpaste and ice cream. So instead of endlessly repeating myself, here you go! 

All Natural Dog Toothpaste

My dogs go crazy over this stuff! Both myself and the dogs look forward to brushing their teeth now! Most recipe's out there call for some sort of broth (chicken or beef) in the toothpaste. My dogs are more crazy over peanut butter so I came up with this concoction instead. 

What you will need:

1/4 C. Coconut oil

1 Tbsp. Creamy peanut butter

3 Tbsp. Baking soda

1 Tsp. Cinnamon

The easiest way to make this is to just dump all of the ingredients in a food processor. Blend it all together until everything is evenly mixed. Add a splash of water and mix well again until it becomes more of a "paste" and not so thick. If you don't have a food processor, instead, just mix the ingredients well with a fork and blend everything evenly. Add a splash of water and mix again as I explained above. 

Once you think you have the perfect consistency, place your toothpaste in a small jar or something it can be stored in. This does NOT have to be refrigerated 
so you can just store it at room temperature. 

There you have it, it's that easy! And this makes a decently large amount so it should last you a while (unless you brush your dogs teeth obsessively everyday). You can even put some of this on their favorite bone or toy if they don't like the feeling of a tooth brush. The baking soda in the paste will clean their teeth and help prevent tartar, the cinnamon helps remove bad breath, the coconut oil is a natural base for the paste, and the peanut butter is a yummy ingredient that will make them want more! 

Now for a yummy treat they will love...ICE CREAM! My dogs know exactly what the word "ice cream" or "iceys" means because they usually get this as a late evening snack while we're relaxing on the couch. You can reward your pup with this treat after a hard work/training session, if you want to keep them busy for a little while, and especially on a hot summer day to cool them down. You can even eat this with them as its all natural and made with human food!

Homemade Dog Ice Cream

What you will need:

32 oz. Non-Fat Vanilla (or plain) yogurt

2-3 thawed out bananas (previously frozen)

3-4 Tbsp. Creamy Peanut Butter 

3-4 Tbsp. Honey 

First, place your peeled bananas in a large mixing bowl and break them apart with a fork until they are mushy. You don't necessarily have to use frozen bananas but I collect over-ripened bananas at the end of the week in the freezer to use for this purpose. Plus when they are frozen and then thawed it really brings out the "banana" flavor and also gives it a better ice cream consistency since it makes them runny when thawed out. 

Once you have your bananas mushed up, go ahead and add the yogurt, peanut butter, and honey (I just make a big swirl of the honey ontop of the mixture and it probably comes out to be 3-4 Tbsp). Stir everything together with a spatula and mix well. It makes it easier by using a spoon first to break up the peanut butter, but I also leave a few small chunks throughout.  

Now that you have your ice cream mixed, all you have to do is divide it up into portions! I got 3 plastic dishes for $1 at the Dollar Tree, so I spent $4 to get 12 dishes. This recipe makes 10-12 servings depending how full you make them. 

Evenly portion the ice cream out and cover the dishes with Saran Wrap, place them in the freezer and your done! About 15 minutes time and you got your dogs a dozen yummy ice cream snacks!  

I hope all you pup parents can use these recipes in the near future! I assure your fur babies will greatly appreciate it. 

Let me know what you think! Suggestions and comments welcome below, and as always feel free to share away! Sammy and Luna say "Thanks for visiting Farmhouse Flare today!"

 Sincerely,

{Lauren Taylor}

 
 

 

 

Rustic Wood Wall

Hello, and welcome back! There is a project we completed about a week ago that I have been so excited to show off! About 2 months ago when I was away in Philly for the weekend, my wonderful boyfriend decided to surprise me by working on the accent wall I've been wanting to do in our main hallway. Since I wasn't prepared to take this on yet, it took me a little while to finish because I still had to complete the rest of the hallway. If I had everything else done before starting this project, we could've had it completed from start to finish in a weekends time. It turned out perfect and just the way I expected! This accent wall adds a warming, rustic feel to our home and really makes a statement in our house now! If you're looking for an easy weekend project to create and eye-popping display, then read below to find out how we created our rustic wood accent wall!

Before. 

First, we had this ugly brick paneling to remove. Once that was removed and cleaned off, the first step is to measure the space that you're using that way you know how many boards you need. We used about 14 8" wide, pine boards. Once you measure the length you need cut them to size. Since Cody knew I would be staining the wood and not painting it, he laid all of the pieces out to look at the grain and knots in each board to see how he wanted it to look on the wall. He numbered each board so he knew the order he wanted to hang them in. This step won't matter if you decide to paint your wall. Next, you'll want to make any cut outs in your boards. As you can see below we had to make a cut out for our thermostat. 

 

The next step is to find the studs in the wall and mark their place. In the picture above you can see the black lines where Cody marked the studs. This is important because you want to make sure you drill your screws into the studs! After you mark your studs, put your first board in place and drill your pilot holes with a drill bit down the length of the board intersecting each stud. Once you have that completed, then you can drill your screws into the board to secure it to the wall and repeat for each board. It's that simple! Cody worked from the bottom to the top since he was limited with hands, but you can work which ever way is easiest for you! If you don't want to see the screws in the boards then you should counter-sink them and before stain/paint you can fill each hole with wood filler and sand it down. 

Once you have all of your boards hung, the final step is just the finishing touches. Go ahead and stain or paint away! For our wall I used some left over stain I had from our mantle which was Minwax "Jacobean". We sanded the entire surface first to make it more distressed. Then we applied the stain for only about 30-60 seconds before wiping it off well. We only did one coat and we did not apply any type of finish. 

Wall-la! (Hehe)

 As you can see, this hardly took any time at all! Now we have a beautiful accent to compliment our hallway and make a statement from the center of our home. 

I hope you enjoyed this week's project from Farmhouse Flare! Let me know what you think! Suggestions and comments welcome below! Don't forget to share if you like this read!

Sincerely,

Lauren Taylor