Who doesn’t love a bit of DIY during the holiday season, especially when it’s for your best friend? For most of us, our pets are part of the family and will travel with us on holiday, have a present under the tree and a stocking hung up. Oscar’s favourite morning of the entire year is Christmas morning! He gets to finish off the cookies and milk which ‘Santa’ didn’t finish, and then he gets to find his presents and open them up. He is a real professional at finding which presents are his under the tree. He then takes them to his chosen spot, tears them open and enjoys whatever is inside. He truly is a very happy doggy on Christmas morning! Naturally I love nothing more than to watch this happy moment take place.
Because Oscar is a really spoilt pup, it is sometimes difficult choosing gifts for him, so I often opt for the DIY option. So here are a few of this years DIY Christmas fun…
Homemade candy cane:
We all love our Christmas sweets and treats-which are not pet friendly. But that doesn’t mean Oscar can’t enjoy a bit of candy of his own…
Ingredients
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 cup milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla essence
Red food colouring
Directions
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients (except the food colouring) and mix together. Break your dough in half and add some of the red food colouring to one half of your dough. This may get messy but it’s ok 🙂 Knead the food colouring through your dough until it is the desired red you would like. Break off a small piece of the plain dough and a small piece of the red dough and roll each one out into a thin strip. Then plait the two colours and make a candy cane shape. You can brush with an egg wash if you like and bake at 160 degrees for +-20 minutes or until cooked. Place them on a cooling wrack to cool. Wrap them up and put them under the tree or in your pets stocking for them to enjoy.
Paw frame:
This one is for us humans to cherish our pups forever…
What you will need
A picture frame
A piece of card board
Paint
Your pups paw
A marker pen
A damp cloth or doggy wet wipe
Directions
Write your pups name on the piece of cardboard with the marker pen. Then pour a little paint into a container and carefully place your pups paw in the paint and place it onto the piece of board. Press gently to get their full paw print. Lift and wipe his paw clean immediately, either with a damp cloth or a doggy wet wipe. Wait for the paint paw print to dry, place it in the frame and hang it up on your wall. Just a little something special.
Treat jars:
Christmas is all about over indulging, so why not let your furry love over indulge a little too…
Ingredients
3 cups flour
2 small bananas mashed up
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Directions
Preheat your oven to 160 degrees. Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Then tip it out onto a floured surface and knead until all the ingredients are mixed. You can add food colouring to make your pups treats festive. Roll out the dough and use cookie cutters to cut your shapes. Place them onto a greased baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked. Let them cool, place them in the treat jar, decorate the jar and let your pooch enjoy delicious snacks all through the holidays.
Paw print tree ornaments:
Why not let your pup have his own tree decorations? In our house, Oscar has his very own tree decorated with paw imprint ornaments, doggies that look like him and bones-some are edible and some are not.
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
Directions
Preheat your oven to 80 degrees. Mix together the flour, salt and water. Roll it out and using cookie cutters cut out the shapes you would like most on your tree. Keep in mind your pups paw needs to fit on some of them. Gently push your pups paw to make an imprint into the dough. Use a straw to make a hole to thread some ribbon through and place them on a baking tray and bake for 2-3 hours or until hard and dry. Let them cool, then begin decorating with paint and glitter. Go wild and have fun! Hang them on your tree every year 🙂
Handmade rope toy:
Oscar has loads of toys, but somehow he always knows which ones are bought and which ones are handmade-the handmade ones being his favourite option to play with.
What you will need
Two or three old t-shirts
Scissors
Directions
Cut the t-shirts into 2cm wide and the length of the t-shirt strips. I used red and white t-shirts to keep with the festive season theme. Pull the strips together and tie them at the top, you can either knot it or use another piece of material to tie it. Then plait them all the way to the bottom and either knot or tie at the end. Wrap it up and watch your best friend have loads of fun opening up his gift.
Free gift labels:
You can’t give your furry love a gift without his name on it, so here are some super cute free printable labels you can use for your Christmas gifts this year.
click here to download your free Christmas tags
Most of all, Stylish Paws and Oscar would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Have fun, be safe and enjoy the Festive Season with your furry loves and family.
Thank you for reading
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