My dog, Finn, is an extremely messy eater and drinker. He eats mostly dry food and along with the crunch, crunch, slurp, slurp comes the sound of him spitting pieces of food out onto the floor. I don't know why. All the food pieces are the same. It's not like some are steak flavored and, oh so, yummy and some are ginger flavored, which he hates and will bark and snarl at me when I grate fresh ginger for my tea. But whatever the reason, I'm always stepping on pieces of spit-out food. Sometimes, they are just pulverized under my foot, but sometimes they slide underfoot and I end up doing the splits across the kitchen floor. That is not pleasant, as my body is no longer built to perform such acrobatic acts and I often limp for days after doing myself a mischief.
After my last unintended acrobatic feat, I decided to make him a place mat. Not that it will stop him from spitting out food but hopefully, I'll take more notice and avoid any further mishaps.
So here's my tutorial for Finn's Favorite Place Mat.
Materials
29" X 17" piece of canvas
Metal yardstick
Artists Acrylic gesso
Base coat color(I used an ugly green that I had on hand. But once I added the copper glaze, it kind of looks like copper with a green patina.)
Metallic acrylic paint (Folk Art copper, plum, emerald green black, champagne, taupe)
Sea sponge
Assorted brushes
1 1/2" tall Alphabet stencils (You can purchase them or make your own, like I did, out of ordinary card stock)
pencil for tracing
MinWax Polycrylic sealer
Step 1: Cut out a rectangle of canvas measuring 29" X 17" or the size of your choice, making sure to include a 2" border on all 4 sides.
Step 2: Using gesso, cover the surface of the canvas. Allow the gesso to dry according to the directions between coats. I gave each side 2 coats of gesso.
Step 3: Paint the entire surface, with base coat. Let dry.
Step 4: Mix copper metallic paint with a glazing medium. Paint a thin coat over half the canvas at a time and pounce over surface with the sea sponge, to create the textured look surface. Be sure to blot the sponge on paper towels occasionally to remove excess paint and glaze. Repeat with with the other half of the canvas. Let dry and repeat on the other side of canvas.
Step 5: Using metal ruler and pencil, draw a two inch border around all sides of the canvas. With either purchased stencils or hand made stencils trace the saying"EAT, DRINK, AND BE FURRY", along the top and bottom of the place mat. Also trace the paw print in each corner.
Step 6: Using black metallic paint, fill in the letters and paw prints.
Step 7: Using a bowl with a larger circumference that your dog's food and water bowl trace two circles in the center of the mat. Trace a smaller circle inside those circles. Although it's hard to see that's what I did in the picture below.
Step 8: Paint the outer(larger) circle with emerald green and the inner (smaller) circle with plum. Also trace and paint the bone motif on either sides of the circles.
Step 8: After everything is completely dry, coat the front and back of the place mat with the polycrylic sealer. Give each side 2 coats and let dry the recommended time between coats.
Once you're through, you'll have a wonderful washable doggy place mat for your furry companion!
This mat should not be immersed in water. Just wipe it clean with a damp cloth.
Fantastic design, Nancy. I really like the message on the mat ;) Are you sure Finn will not just eat the mat? My shepherds always chewed on their food bowls. I am sure they would have done the same with a mat. Since they ate like wolves, there was never a crumb left anywhere. Finn must have a more refined palate. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnna, Finn's not a chewer, at least not on floor mats and the like but give him a tennis ball or an antler and watch out!
DeleteThe mat is cute and certainly eye catching! I wonder if the bowls will stay nicely centered in their spaces. Hopefully the spit out food will stay on the mat and you can easily pick the whole thing up and give it a good shake outside. In any case, no more leg splits allowed! :)
ReplyDeleteI hope so too. I'm getting too old for those. As to his messiness, so far so good and the added benefit is I can wipe the mat clean with a damp cloth!
DeleteWhat a fun project! I don't think I'll make one for Cleo though. Sometimes she thinks it is fun to flip her food bowl over and then eat the food (which she kicks all over the floor lol). So although she doesn't normally spit her food out, she does spill it at times just for fun like I said. Plus the cats like to try and play with the food then so yes, I know what you mean about stepping on the food! :)
ReplyDeleteShe also has this pet waterer thing (replenishes water as she drinks) and she has taken it upon herself to tap it just right with her big ol' paw so that it will flip over (usually right side up, so that it won't spill, but not always).
I love the idea though and i think that it might work for a lot though :). Love how it looks!
Great idea! Won't work for our cat though. He eats too much and then he goes somewhere on the carpet to barf it up!
ReplyDeleteSound like my daughter's cat. He always looks for a nice, soft, hard to wash surface, just to make sure everyone will remember where he barfed!
DeleteOh boy, Roxanne, that's exactly what our old cat used to do. Alas, she is no longer with us and we have a very neat and tidy - more cat-like - dog in our midst. However, our Sophie dog is getting old and I've been thinking about building a raised feeding station - I might use WyvernDesigns' mat as artwork inspiration. I hope you don't do anymore splits in the house now.
ReplyDeletePamela, go right ahead. I've heard that raised feeding stations are better for any dog. I bought some plywood a while ago but never got around to building one, Maybe, YOU'LL inspire me!
DeleteLove your design...and great how to project!
ReplyDeleteThanks Valerie. Writing this type of post helps with logical thinking, something I'm not usually guilty off. And it helps step the steps in my mind for my next floor cloth project. One for my back door.
DeleteHahahaha . . . Finn and Seamus must be related as far as to messines at both the food and water bowl. Am forever stepping on bits of kibble, especially in the middle of the night when he gets me up outside. Not pleasant stepping when you're still 1/2 asleep. A small rug is used where his bowls are but that doesn't seem to stop the spillage. LOVE Finn's new mat.. Hope it helps in stopping your unexpected calisthenics!
ReplyDeleteFinn is still messy but the food is staying more on the floor cloth than the floor, so I haven't done anymore unexpected splits!
DeleteLooks like a fun tutorial! I had to laugh about Finn. I could only imagine as my dog, Mocha, is pretty good when it's about eating. He finished the whole thing and seems that he never is full.
ReplyDelete