Chia Pet Kitai.... A Custom Halloween Dog Costume

Introducing the Original Chia Pet Dog Costume...

Meet Chia Pet Kitai. Classic. I've been thinking about making this costume for a couple of years. I started making costumes for Kitai years ago when we used to go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. Our neighbors would give him dog treats, toys, lunch meat and hot dogs. Score!

I'm always trying to dream up costume ideas that have never been done before. How I test out my ideas? I go to Google Images and enter the idea and add "dog costume" to the end. If no images turn up in the results I proceed...

Kitai is such a good sport. He really doesn't mind wearing his costumes and eagerly hops over to me for fittings because he gets a cookie every time he does. He also loves wearing his costumes because it means he's going somewhere fun :)

I love this shot taken from above. He's so big and green!

Because I make the costume in several parts the pattern allows Kitai to stand, walk, sit and lay down. It's pretty darn comy for him.

Here's how I did it. I used plastic aquarium plants that you can buy in pairs that are square mats. The only problem was that I needed 5 and apparently each Petsmart stocks 3 sets. So I had to make two trips to different stores to find enough of them.

I pulled all of the foliage off the mats. Then I made a horse blanket out of green felt and strategically cut holes in the felt using an x-acto knife. I pushed the prongs of the grid through the holes and reattached the foliage alternating the two different types of leaves. I then lined the entire costume from the back so that none of the plastic could poke him or make him feel uncomfortable.

Around his neck I hand stitched the leaves to cover the felt. Here's a close up of how the foliage was attached.

His terra cotta legs were made of cotton fabric. There is a liner pant leg that fits his leg and the larger pot shaped leg that went over the inner casing. The legs are all held in place by suspender style straps that span over his shoulders and back. The green cross strap down his back is to keep the rear pant legs from slipping down off of his back.

Here's a little tutorial about how I made the terra cotta pant legs. More in depth details are at the following blog post: CLICK HERE

It was a lot of work! It's always more then I anticipate. But somehow it all seems to come together in the end.

Anyways, I hope seeing his costume makes you laugh because it's all in fun!

2004 - Spider Bait

2005 - Sake Nigiri (sushi)

2006 - The Dog Whisperer has been Kitai's most famous costume. Read all about his trip to NYC to be on the Today show on Halloween morning  2007.

2007 - Pupcorn

2008 - Mounds Mutt Size Candy Bar Costume he wore it to the Silicon Valley Fur Ball a black tie fundraise for the shelter I adopted him from.

Kitai's new Pro-Neuter costume! Get it? No Nuts!

2010 - Sea Otter with a real dog/otter tail!
On The Flirty Blog a "how to" post for Kitai's 2010 costume:
Cutest Dog Ever Sea Otter Halloween Costume!

2011 - Homage to "The Woz"

Kitai plays Segway polo on his own miniature Segway:

Click Here for more details on The Flirty Blog

If you want to see more photos of Kitai's past costumes just visit his Costume Page on his website www.CutestDogEver.com.

We had a Happy Second Anniversary!

Yesterday was a special day. It was our second anniversary and it was a happy one! Here we are over the years. Well there haven't been that many so we kind of look the same in all of them. LOL We're still having a lot of fun because to a certain extent we share the same, silly, sense of humor.

For instance, one day we were driving down the street and saw this huge branch had broken from this tree...

So of course we pulled over and hubby crawled under the branches and sprawled himself out on the sidewalk so that we could make a photo that looked like he had been struck by the falling limb...

LOL! Because that's what everyone does when they see a broken branch right?

This was another fun moment this past year. Hubby hates it when he goes to someone's house and they ask you to remove your shoes. He complains his feet get cold which I believe because he keeps his shoes on at all times at home. Even if it's 100 degrees outside he keeps his shoes and socks on. One day he stated that he wanted a pair of bunny slippers, like the kind little kids wear. He wanted to bring them to people's houses so that he can take off his shoes and still keep his feetsies warm. Lo and behold, did you know you can order adult, male, bunny slippers online at, get this, are you ready for it? www.BunnySlippers.com! I ordered him a pair for his birthday. He loved them and he's already used them once this summer.

One year I got him an arial fruit picker so he can steal oranges from over our neighbor's orange tree at night. LOL Technically it's not stealing because some of the branches hang over the fence and property line but it's still pretty funny. He'll go out at night and pick us nice, cold, fresh, oranges off the tree to eat while we're watching tv. Which reminds me, orange season is coming up. They ripen in the winter so they should be ready in just a couple more months.

So to celebrate our anniversary we went to The Left Bank for lunch, which is where we had our first date. Since it was a special occasion I even put butter on my bread. Woo hoo. Normally I don't eat butter on bread even though I love it. It's one of the trade offs I make so that I can have dessert when I go to industry events.

Oh my gosh, my lunch was so delicious! I had "Salmon Hash" which was hash cut potatoes with salmon, diced red onion, diced fresh tomato, a poached egg and hollandaise sauce.

For dinner we went back to the restaurant of the hotel we were married at. I was going to order the "Sweet Corn Ravioli" because it was one of our buffet choices at our wedding. But the waitress informed me that though it was on the menu they had recently changed the ravioli to apple. Mmmm Hmmm, apple. She assured me it was good so I tried it. And it was good. There was a hint of fresh apple flavor to the filling but it wasn't too strong. The ravioli were served with shaved ricotta cheese and sprinkled with fresh parsley, chives, tarragon and sage that had been fried to a crisp. It was yummy.

Hubby had the "Chicken Ratatouille" which was chicken on a bed of squashes and eggplant with a tomato saffron sauce. He liked it but I think it was kind of fancy for him.

But the best part of the meal was the dessert. This was a "Brioche Bread Pudding" with caramel and a whiskey sauce and vanilla bean gelato... *Drool*

*Nom, nom nom*

I seriously have to go back and have this again. Well right now I have half of it in my fridge to eat for breakfast this morning but after that, I have to go back and have more. Let me know if you're ever in the mood for an excellent bread pudding and I'll meet you there.

BLOOD & BONE MARROW DRIVE TODAY in HOUSTON, TX.

Please help our friend Roger, help others.

TODAY!
October 24, 2009
11:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Questions? Call (786) 281-8316

Location: Gabby's
4659 Telephone Road
Houston, Texas

Roger will be hosting his first Blood & Bone Marrow Drive. The Gulf Coast Blood Center will be collecting the donations. They will be giving away free shirts. You will also be able to purchase the "Cancer Sucks / I Have MDS" wristbands for just a few dollars. "I Have MDS" is the name of Roger's cancer blog about his experience. Or you can CLICK HERE to order a wristband through Helping Tami.org. All proceeds go to Roger who has been unable to work since his transplant in March. He uses the money to help pay for parking at the hospital, pills and meals.

In the past 10 months Roger has received over 200 units of blood to keep him alive before and after receiving his stem cell transplant. He has been traveling down the long road of recovery since I met him earlier this year.

This is Roger losing his hair post-chemo to prepare for his transplant.

While Roger was more fortunate then Tami in that his sister was a perfect match, as a plumber by trade, he was uninsured when he was diagnosed delaying his treatment for a year until the transplant hospital was able to take him in as a patient in a special program for those without insurance.

After being the beneficiary of such generosity from the hospital and all of the people who had donated the blood and platelets he has used the past year, he wants to give back and help others. Will you drop by Gabbys and help him to make his drive a success? You can give blood or register to join the National Marrow Donor Program. Or do both!

Joining the marrow donor program takes about 10 minutes to fill out a registration form and to swab the inside of your mouth with a cotton swab. It's that easy!

A Unique Favor Idea for a Dream Wedding

The Bride asked for a favor that can be given away at the reception with the theme of the wedding being "Dreams do Come True."

Here is a the Flirty Idea I came up with, a Sweet Dreams Sachet. There are several variables that can help keep the cost and effort down or if the budget and time allow, the finished favor can be more detailed and quite elegant.



Once I decided to create little pillow sachets the idea of how to present them immediately followed. A napkin folded into a little bed and the pillow tucked in appropriately.

The sachet can be filled with a floral scent like roses or lavender for the women and cedar for the men.

Here are two more variations of this idea presented on The Flirty Guide in the Flirty Idea Gallery.

CLICK HERE to view them in detail on The Flirty Guide.

I hope you find this DIY idea fun and inspiring!

Flower Flour *nom, nom, nom*

I can't believe I didn't know about this place! Flower Flour is right in Willow Glen and is a combination of a flower shop and pattiserie that has beautiful pastries! I had a late morning meeting there today and had the organic lentil soup. YUM!

While there I also had this chocolate and raspberry mousse dessert with chocolate cake on the bottom. Yes, it tasted as good as it looks!

I brought home this bread pudding...

And a Pear Frangipane Tart. Oooooh big dilemma. I want to eat one right now but can't decide which one! Maybe a bit of both? That sounds like a good plan :P

Chinese and Asian Americans Please Help Me to Help Janet

People this is the real deal. Twenty two year old Janet is a patient in critical need. She was diagnosed just months ago with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (bi-phenotypic).

This is Janet's desperate truth, her plea to help her save her own life that I read last night in her most recent blog post. Many of the people who she thought would reach out to help her have not:

"I became distraught because an urgent email was sent from a coordinator at Asian Miracle Matches to 70 of my closest friends in Southern California that I was willing to burden. Only 2 of them replied. No, I’m not popular at all."

I am hoping that all of you will reach out to help her. There is something you can do. You can join the registry or if you already have I implore you to reach out to anyone you know who is of any Asian ethnicity (particularly if they are Chinese) and ask them if they have joined the registry.

Janet's match could be anyone you know and of any Aisan ethnicity whether they are a friend, family or extended family member, a colleague, neighbor, or anyone you might happen to meet in your day to day life. The base requirements are that they are 18-60 years of age and in good health.

If they say they are not in the registry please direct them to any of the following websites to learn more about the pain free registration process and the donation process that is not, contrary to popular beliefs, excruciatingly painful. Most people who donate their marrow or stem cells suffer from relatively little discomfort if any at all. Nausea and a bruised sensation is usually the worst of it. They can learn more about the donation process on the HelpingTami.org website by CLICKING HERE.

They can also learn where live drives are held nationwide or how to order a home test kit at:

Live Drives Nationwide Using their Zip Code Locater
The National Marrow Donor Program website: www.BeTheMatch.org

Southern California Live Drives
Asians for Miracle Matches website: www.AsianMarrow.org

Northern California Drives
Asian American Donor Program website: www.AADP.org

More words from Janet:

"There’s an overwhelming amount of guilt I feel and frustration, because all I can do is keep asking and begging. That’s all I’m good for these days with no guaranteed promise of the ability to return your favors. I also understand that many of you have fruitful, promising lives/futures and are extremely busy. All I can really tell you is that I have about 3-4 months time to come up with some kind of bone marrow donor match. That is nearly impossible. The pressure is on, as my doctors and bone marrow transplant coordinator continuously remind me of the time-sensitive nature of treating this disease. If not, they’ll continue to drag it on and on, keeping me alive with one chemo round after another until I become resistant to it and there’s no other alternative except an umbilical cord transplant, which will buy more time and is currently in the research/experimental stages."

Our WUWT Bone Marrow Episode is Now Award Winning TV!

I've received fantastic news!

Do you remember when I was a guest on the KMVT public access tv show "What's Up Wit' That?" I was representing www.HelpingTami.org to help spread the word about why ethnicity is so important when it comes to locating a life saving marrow match for patients in need and why the National Marrow Donor Program needs more people to join the registry.

CLICK HERE to View the Award Winning Episode Online

I was asked to be "the" guest but asked Loretta Beavers, the show's Producer, if I could invite a representative from the AADP.org and another patient's advocate. Loretta said yes and the pieces fell into place when Carol Gillespie, Executive Director of the Asian American Donor Program and James Nguyen, a representative from Team Matthew.org both agreed to join me on the show with host Andrew T. Willyoung.

So here's the great news... Drum roll please... The “What’s Up Wit’ That? Bone Marrow” episode was a BIG WINNER at the Western Access Video Excellence Awards!

It was entered in the new category:

Free Speech TV Community Activism Award - NEW:

Programming that encourages people to get involved in positive social change. Winner will receive a national broadcast on Free Speech TV reaching over 30 million U.S. households, and a special award from Free Speech TV. Submissions of all lengths, genres, and experience levels will be considered. The winner will demonstrate outstanding storytelling skills, exposing arguments for community engagement so powerfully that television viewers will find them irresistible.

Free Speech TV is the community access channel on the Dish satellite network.

As award winners the show receives a plaque AND the our Bone Marrow episode will be aired to a national audience of 30 million households on Free Speech TV!

Is this great news or what? Loretta and John the co-producers of this episode are very excited about the win! I would like to thank them for thinking of my cousin and inviting me to appear on the show. I had no idea when we filmed it that it would even be submitted to win any kind of award. It was just another step in my efforts to figure out how to help my cousin. And now since more people will see it, it will help to support donor recruitment nationwide!

CLICK HERE to view the episode online.

James, host Andrew T. Willyoung, Stacie and Carol

Please share this episode with anyone you think might be willing to join the marrow donor program if only they understood how vast the problem is. The episode dispels a lot of myths about the donation process including one of the biggest obstacles to recruiting new donors: That donating marrow is excruciatingly painful. It is not. The worst discomfort some people feel is temporary nausea for a few hours or mild pain that feels like a bruise. And seriously, isn't a little discomfort a small price to pay to give another person their life back?

Anyone who is between the ages of 18-60 years old and is in good health can become part of the solution and can help to save the lives of the 6000 Americans in need if a marrow/stem cell match can be found in time. To learn more about the donor program you can visit:

www.HelpingTami.org
www.BeTheMatch.org (The National Marrow Donor Program)
www.AADP.org (A Minority Ethnicities Recruitment Group)