For the past week, we’ve been keeping our friends’ dog, Mocha. Holy hell, what a whirlwind. I don’t know how people with more than one dog do it.
Mocha’s a great little dog. Chipper, well-behaved, friendly, amicable. She’s invited back anytime she’d like to come back. But despite her awesomeness, our beagle Maggie May, could just not adjust to having to share her space. She’s an only dog, you see, and used to being the princess. When Mocha went home yesterday, we launched our Happy Maggie campaign to get her out of the funk. I’m no stranger to parenting-through-bribery. I’ve got a 15-year-old son, after all. How do you think I’ve made it eight years without unloading the dishwasher? Bribery. Suck it, ethics.
When I saw Sonja’s invitation to join the Pintester Movement, I knew I could find a quick DIY or Craft to perk up the pooch, and following in her footsteps to make a Socktopus was my path to salvation. I used bribing helping Maggie to get past her melancholy with Kristofferson Mocha’s visit as my inspiration. I even found an old pair of striped holiday socks like the original Socktopus. And as an artist, I thought my chances of duplicating the perfect Socktopus for my grumpy girl were on the up and up. Sigh … have a look for yourself.
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As you can see, Maggie was unimpressed with my plan. “Stuff ’em back in the sock drawer,” she said.
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I started with a perfectly good pair of Christmas socks, an old-busted pair of white athletic socks we got at the bowling alley one day when we just had flip-flops, and some great naturally dyed orange jute twine I use for wrapping packages. I buried my sewing machine in the spare closet a couple of years ago once I didn’t need to make superhero and knight costumes for our son anymore. Who needs needle and thread when you can tie knots?
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I tied off eyeballs that I thought would be quirky and fun, but turned out to look more like Invader Zim’s crazy-ass eyes.
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Since there’s nothing I can do with one striped Christmas sock, I used it along with the reject bowling socks to stuff Socktopus’s head.
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See, I told you I didn’t need needle and thread. Just tie that jute twine tightly and bingo!
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On a side note, yo … sitting with her and an afternoon nap made it all better. All is right with the world again.
Thanks Socktopus!
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July 13, 2013 at 12:38 pm
Maggie is such a cutie! I am glad she is back to her old self.
July 15, 2013 at 2:19 pm
Thanks Kelly! We have so much fun with her. She has personality to spare.
July 13, 2013 at 3:39 am
Super cute! I’m glad Maggie has come back to herself again!
July 15, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Thanks Kim! She’s back up to no good. Like she’s supposed to be. 🙂
July 12, 2013 at 11:15 am
Cute Cute CUTE!
July 12, 2013 at 5:31 pm
🙂
July 12, 2013 at 10:28 am
Yea, Invader Zim reference. I have had some pets in the past who just don’t like sharing their space, at least this only temporary.
July 12, 2013 at 11:11 am
Maggie’s already back to her old self … whew on temporary! We love Invader Zim.
July 12, 2013 at 10:16 am
Aw, sweet poochies! Glad Maggie liked the socktopus!
July 12, 2013 at 11:10 am
Thanks Sonja! Glad you picked a fun, easy-for-beginner craft to begin with. 🙂
July 12, 2013 at 9:33 am
Your pin came out cute! I’m seeing a lot of socktoctopusses in the Pintester Movement pages. Maybe it can be a dog toy 🙂
July 12, 2013 at 11:10 am
Thanks Ashley! It’s a pretty humble little socktopus, but Maggie likes it. Thank goodness for socks that we already own, huh?
July 11, 2013 at 2:20 am
Glad Maggie is once again ruler of her kingdom. Mocha was a very good guest though and I’ll miss her running to the door (with Maggie) when I visit.
July 11, 2013 at 7:00 am
We miss little Mocha. What a funny little dog.
July 10, 2013 at 10:44 pm
Thanks again for watching Mocha! I hope Maggie has not been permanently traumatized. I think I would have tried the nap first though!
July 11, 2013 at 6:59 am
Naps and sits are our regular MO, so we know they’ll always work. 🙂 But we LOVE Mocha. We were trying to figure out how to keep her. At the beginning of the week, Maggie played Freeze Tag (Mocha would run to her, Maggie froze and fell over). But by the end, they both sat on the couch with us, Maggie approached Mocha and sniffed. Who knows where we would’ve been with another few days. Maybe over the moon!