So I drew my coworker's name for the gift exchange at workplace, and I'm a little stumped. I would like to do something crafty for the final big present, but not sure what to do. She is really into quilting, and makes beautiful quilts but doesn't really buy them for herself since she can make them. She also likes music, reading, and cats (just LOVES her cat).

 I can't be really crafty on her smaller presents during the week, because I had her last year too, and she found out how crafty I was  due to that. And I don't want her to guess it is me and take all the fun out of it. But the end thing I can craft up a storm with. I'm not very familiar with quilting though, so I don't know what sort of things a quilter would appreciate...

Any ideas? Thanks so much in advance!

I waffled (ha! food joke!) between posting this here and in the cooking section, but it's really more of a pet thing.

We've been trying our Cane Corso mastiffs out on a corn and wheat free diet recently because of some tummy issues. Each time they go into their kennel (we built one indoors in our sunroom for them) they get a treat. So we go through a lot of treats, but the corn and wheat free ones are way more expensive than the ones we'd been giving them.

So I decided to make doggie meatballs. They are made from the frozen logs of turkey meat we get at the grocery for about $1-$1.50 depending on whether they are on sale. I chopped up green beans (you can use canned or frozen - just watch the sodium) to add, and also cooked up some minute brown rice (generic brand, also about $1) to put in, and added shredded cheese as well. I think I used one egg to to bind it all together. Basically, like making human food meatballs, but with some different ingredients.

And they love them! I use a small ice cream scoop to keep them uniform, and bake them at about 350 or so. Sometimes I'll finish them by broiling though. Them I keep a bag in the fridge, and freeze the rest. A quick zap in the microwave heats them right up!

Here they are - I forgot an after picture, but they look like regular people food meatballs really.




Next weekend I'm going to try beef and chicken jerkey for them because I just got jerky racks!

Total: $4.76

I had seen the smaller plate at this particular G-will about a week ago and really wanted it, but couldn't justify buying a single plate with no real purpose. But today when I went back I happened upon a larger version, and then found these awesome mug type things. One has "1975" stamped on the bottom and the other has "1978" and they are heavy, kind of like milk glass. We're working on kind of a modern-eclectic-country-nature theme in our home, so the leaves and branches thing works really well.

I like having just two plates, because frankly, I would break it if it were any heavier and more cumbersome, plus now I can put dip or cherry tomatoes or breadsticks in the top glass.

I know I've seen these around, probably here on Craftster, but I'm not sure who to credit with the inspiration.

Without further ado!

Okay, or just suggest colors. Unless you really want to come over and paint in this heat for me...

I have been stumped on this for two months.

Here is the house when we bought it recently -



It hadn't been updated since the 80's, but is in a really nice neighborhood so we got it for a steal. I really love Craftsman style homes and was hoping for one as our first home, but that will come someday...

Here's a closer look so you can see the ugly, but supposedly only 3 year old roof (read: so can't justify replacement due to ugliness) and the brick colors



We tore down that deck, by the way, because it was gross and the teething mastiff puppies were gnawing on it anyway. We're re-seeding as soon as it's cooled off.

Here is the house after I started changing things and then got frustrated by none of my ideas working -





(in the last image, you can see the old brown, and the new brown. Also, we haven't removed all the adhesive yet from the astroturf that was on the porch)

If helpful, here is the window problem -

And here is our newly stained privacy fence we put up three months ago -


So I know the new brown is too dark, unless I just use it for the gutters and garage door so they blend into the house. But I cannot for the life of me figure out

1) What lighter color to use that would match the roof and the bricks but is NOT a rusty or red color

2) What to do with those large spaces on either side of the windows now that I took all the ugly diamond trim off.

Your ideas, please! I'm begging!

I have nerdily named the two "rooms" the Vanilla Tower and the Chocolate Cave, due to their paint colors. I don't think I got a picture from behind, but you can see that paint color in the first picture.

Hubby and I did this almost entirely from scraps of wood we found at construction sites and materials we already had like carpet tacks and nails. The only exception was the $6 roll of sisal rope, but we need another roll to finish the back legs.

Oh, and we bought some wood glue. The carpeting is from several  large scrap rolls I bought about a year ago for $10 for another project.

Lola, the little dark kitty, loves it, but Dave isn't yet so intrigued. The chocolate brown box faces the opposite direction of the white one, so they can get into that from the back side.

Inspired by this month's Readymade, I decided to make my own version of the suitcase shelves. I actually put mine up on the wall though.

Here's the really grody suitcase from G-will for $1.39.


After I gutted the thing, I used the old fabric pieces as patterns for the new ones.


It didn't take too long to redo the inside, and all I used was spray adhesive, a hot glue gun, and the original band that went around the inside to cover the rough edges. Here it is done and up on the wall! I just stuck a couple random things on it to show it's shelf-like qualities. I'm still decorating the room it's in.





Easy as box cake! I'm hunting for a brown, yellow, or red one to do on another wall. And this time I'll avoid the horrible hot glue gun burn I got on the palm of my hand. Youch!