It's Art Gone to the Dogs

Did you know that my dogs are artists? Can't you tell? Maybe I'm a little biased since they are my kids.

That's Paris on the pillow and Baby is asleep.

In the ugly bench post there was a picture of my girls' artwork. Yes, artwork made by my dogs. Why artwork made by the dogs....because it is almost free! I love free!

I got the idea of doggy made art when refinishing my hardwood floors. I let the girls outside and upon their re-entry, they left wet footprints on my stained, but not yet polyurethaned, floor. Yikes! And if any of you have a Pomeranian, or know a Pomeranian, they are hyper...all.the.time! Like this:

Proud of my Southern accent and excuse the talking bird in the background.

It is like that everytime she comes inside. The footprints looked like she had done the salsa with a little square dance thrown in for good measure - not the look I wanted on my hardwood floors...but cute for wall art! I had to mimic the paw pattern that was on the floor, onto the wall. Here's how-to...

The necessary supplies for this project: paint, paper, cheese, and a dog...or dogs if you have two.

Behold the power of cheese.

Step 1 - load paint on your dog's front paws. 

Putting paint on Baby's paw, using an old lid to hold the paint.

Step 2 - use the cheese (or whatever your dogs favorite treat is) as bait and coerce them around the paper. Or if you have a hyper Pomeranian, just hold the cheese up and she'll start prancing her feet and jumping.

Step 3 - clean up and let the art dry

Step 4 - Frame and enjoy

Baby's on the left, Paris's on the right

Project cost breakdown:
Paint          $0 - already owned
Paper         $0 - already owned
Cheese      5 cents....maybe, already owned
Frames      $24 for two @ Target
Dogs         Priceless
Total         $24.05

$24 for two pieces of art. And, if you had extra frames laying around, it would be free art! What do you think? Do y'all have any artwork made by a pet? Have you ever considered your dog as an artist? Or does your dog think it's an artist by tearing up paper or leaving paw prints on the floor?

Me Woman, You Man Cave - Part 1, Art

Man Cave. I think it's every man's dream, and my hubby's got one. It's the extra bedroom and it is his place to store and stash his many, many hobbies and deconstruct bicycles....not for my touching. I have touched and remodeled everything else in the house, the way I wanted it. I thought the least I could do was have a dedicated space for the hubby, the Man Cave.

We have lived in the house over a year and I have held true to the "no-touching-the-man-cave" policy I set in place.......until now. It's like an itch you have to scratch or shaking Christmas presents.  I just couldn't wait any longer. And does the hubby know that I touched the Man Cave? Heck no! He's off at deer camp again which equals an entire weekend that I could be in the Man Cave, with free reign. He he he!  Basically - I'm like a little girl, giddy with anticipation.

Let me remind you of what the room looked like for an entire year before I entered it.

Where to start? I want to hang curtains, add pillows, and the room is in major need of something on the walls. Let's start with the something on the walls. And in the spirit of DIY, we need to make the artwork, of course! Since it is a Man Cave, I want the art to be simple, yet graphic and "manly"....but not dead animal-ish.

Needed supplies for graphic/simple/manly artwork: canvas, spraypaint, and masking tape.

To make the pattern, add strips of masking tape in no particular pattern to the canvas. Be sure to extend the strips onto the edges so the pattern continues. Here is what mine looks like while adding the tape.

After you get the tape on the canvas, it's time for spray paint.

Give the canvas two coats of spray paint and let it dry. Then the fun part, peeling off the tape.



Looks great! Yipee! Hang on the wall and enjoy. This was almost too easy; hardly took any time to make. Double yipee! 

Project cost breakdown:

Canvas                  $6.30 (30% off)

Tape                     $1.99 on sale

Paint                      $2.40 on sale

Total                     $10.69

I love it...especially for $10. And when the hubby got home, he loved it too - the entire room. (I'll post about the other projects I did in the room - no sew curtains from sheets, no sew pillows, and asymmetrical wall art grouping.) He thought the artwork was inspired by Van Halen's Frankenstein guitar...which it wasn't, but it does look similar. So now the artwork is extra great for a Man Cave.

Have y'all made any artwork lately? Ever made any artwork inspired from a guitar? What are your thoughts on a Man Cave? Should it be a no-woman / don't touch zone? Or is a little woman-design-touch okay?