Haunted Weekend

Holidays Here We Come!

We had a great weekend and we hope you guys all did too! It certainly seemed to go by fast. For the next week my sister and her husband are in town visiting from California and staying at our house. We were able to spend Halloween together which was fun.

For Halloween; remember this guy (If not click HERE)? We made him and won a scarecrow building contest!

We went ahead and set him up in our front yard, with the rain we decided he'd be best underneath the eves of the front porch. We put a battery powered candle into the fake pumpkin head, which is called a "funkin" - and no, I did not make that up. They are hollow and designed to be carved minus the mess - just like a real pumpkin! In our case it was light enough that he was able to hold his head. And we placed a spotlight in the grass to really light him up.

Our original goal was to have a fog machine by his feet pumping out more scary goodness but we couldn't find any I imagine it sold out weeks ago.

Inside the house it was crazy busy! I got home late from picking up my sister and her husband, dinner needed to be made, and a cake baked for a birthday we were going to on Saturday and then the door bell started ringing with little trick-or-treaters!

So my sister helped me by making dinner while I bully wrangled and passed out candy.

For Dante I found a fun kids shirt, it was a glo in the dark skeleton! He didn't mind wearing it at all! 

Dante the skeleton!

And Little Miss Ziva was Tinkerbell!

Wasn't she cute?!

She hated the wings though so they didn't end up lasting long.

Remember me discussing not all dogs like to be dressed up? Ziva hated the wings, so even though they were cute and she had practiced wearing them we quickly ended up removing them for her sake. The skirt however didn't bother her one bit!

Making the tutu was really simple. 

You'll Need:

• Scissors
• 1 spool of 6" tulle
• Sew-In Velcro
• 1" No-Roll Elastic
• A piece of Cardboard - for wrapping the tulle
• Sewing Machine or Tools

Step 1.  

Decide where you want your dog to wear the tutu and measure their waist. We placed Ziva's right before her hip bones. After measuring depending on the strechiness of your elastic, cut it about 1" - 1.5 inches shorter so that it will stretch snugly when you put it on your dog. For example; Ziva's waist 20" cut it to 18.5".

Step 2.

Cut your velcro, I cut it in 3" pieces just to ensure it would stay on better. It is important that when you sew the two pieces onto your elastic band that you sew them on opposite sides of the elastic so that a loop is created and they connect when you bring the side together.

Step 3.

Cut your tulle. Decide how fluffy you want your tulle, then wrap it around a flat object that measures to half your desired finished length. I wanted her to have about a 12" skirt, so I used a 6" piece of cardboard that I cut from an old shoe box.

Wrap it around the cardboard.

Cut Along one edge.

Stack your cut pieces.

Step 4.

Elastic time! Place the band around your leg with the velcro on the underside of your leg - you want the velcro to be tulle free as it will be on your pups tummy.
Find the middle of a piece of tulle, make a loop, slide the loop under the elastic band and feed the ends through to make a knot. Tighten the ends as needed by pulling towards your body. Once you've gone about 3/4 of the way around the band add any extra pieces to spots that you might want more fluff.

Ta Da! The Finished Product!

Things to Keep in Mind.

• As you tying the knots takes up length so account for about 2" more than your finished desired length.
• If you use glitter tulle like me you'll have it ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE! Haha pretty funny by annoying nonetheless.
• Keep the tutu off of your pup's belly for a more comfortable wear (tulle is kinda scratchy!), and to prevent it from getting messy during potty time.
• Remember: Don't force your dog to wear something if they don't like it.

This is not my original idea, but I did love it! Here is the link I used: Pitlandia Tutu with more pictures. I have bad lighting in my living room and so many of mine didn't turn out quite the way I wanted.  

Both dogs did great with all the kids, we kept the leashes on for safety reasons. No need to go bowling for kiddos as it is not a very popular sport with the parents.

Great Obedience Game for Halloween - Click HERE.

We had Dante and Ziva both sit a polite distance from the door when it was opened, this way the kids could see but didn't have two enthusiastic wiggle butts kissing them - it's kind intimidating to be eye to eye with not one but two big dogs!

If the kids wanted to say hi - we have lots of neighborhood kids who know our two dogs, then we would let them.

The only costume Ziva had a problem with, was a good friend of hers - a 10 year old boy in a warrior costume with crazy wig, mask, cape, and sword. He had to take his mask off to make her feel better.