dog love // gifts for your pooch

EVERY December my boys and I used to make a little holiday pilgrimage to the local pet shop to pick out holiday presents for our old guy, Murray. His birthday was on Christmas Day after all, so the pooch obvs got double-spoiled with toys and treats. Plus my boys absolutely loved picking them all out; it was kind of our little holiday tradition. We wrapped them all up in paper and set them out on Christmas morning. He somehow knew exactly which ones were for him and as soon as he got wind of them, he tore through the paper like a crazed woodchuck. It was one of my favorite parts of Christmas morning, it was just so stinking funny and adorable. Sadly, we lost our beloved pooch last December, just a few weeks before Christmas and his 13th birthday, but he’s still so in our hearts this time of year and so we’ll have to go on that pet shop mission anyway to spoil our other favorite dogs with toys and treats and love.

IN ALL of the crazy hustle and bustle of the holidays, it can be easy to forget about the furry members of your family. But your fur baby best friends deserve so much love. After all, who else do you know who gets THAT excited to see you?! There are heaps of really clever companies that have jumped into the spoil-your-dog-with-style industry and created really creative, funny and beautiful things that your dog will love AND you won’t mind having as part of your decor. Here’s a little round-up of some of my favorites, perfect for any dog you love or dog-lovers that you love, too! Woof. xo

Dog Toys

1. 100% natural rubber and organic cotton stunning dog toys from Wild One // 2. Cutie Floppy Llamas // 3. Everything on The Foggy Dog’s site is stunning, but these Squeaky Toys are so fun // 4. Woof Clicquot is so chic // 5. Have a box of fun sent to your favorite pooch every month with a Barkbox subscription // 6. This Consuela the Cactus 2-in-1 Puzzle Toy is SO cute // 7. Dog Ness Monster is for serious chewers // 8. Our Murray always loved gutting a good Hedgehog // xo

double maple mummy cookies

SO PART of me can’t believe it’s almost Halloween and the other part is like ‘didn’t we do that 3 weeks ago?’ Maybe it’s because there has been Halloween stuff in the stores since July or because our weather has been so spectacular that it still feels like we’re tiptoeing away from Summer. In any case, my boys had their last Flag Football games of the season yesterday and it felt like treats were in order, so I figured I’d stick with the spooky theme until the bitter end. I saw these Runamok x Lenox Bakery Maple Mummy Cookies the other day and they looked so fun + yummy [and EASY]. And it turns out they are even better [and easier] than I expected, like SO so delicious that we might need to just give them all away. My boys were gushing and my little woke up this morning asking if he could have a cookie for breakfast [um, no, but I love the enthusiasm for my baking]. And if you leave off the goofy eyeballs, they’d be a fantastic treat anytime of the year, like maybe right next to the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.

THIS RECIPE calls for Runamok maple syrup, but obvs use whatever kind you like. I will say, the Cinnamon + Vanilla infusion I used in the glaze was next level and I’m guessing any of Runamok’s Infused [Cardamom would be amazing] or Barrel Aged syrups would be super delicious. I modified the original recipe slightly to accommodate my family’s dietary needs and it worked perfectly. SO, if you still need a fun + scrumptious treat for this season or the next [or the next], give these little mummies a whirl and enjoy eating them with your favorite ghouls + ghosts [or little turkeys]. xo

Double Maple Mummy Cookies Recipe

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE cookies…

• 1/2 cup butter

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup [I used Runamok Sugarmaker’s Cut]

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 eggs

• 2 1/3 cup flour (I use King Arthur Measure for Measure GF)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• candy eye balls

FOR THE glaze…

• 1 cup powdered sugar

• 1/3 cup maple syrup [ I used Runamok Cinnamon + Vanilla Infused]

• 1-2 teaspoons milk (I used almond, but you could probs just use water, too)

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350

• With a stand or hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and light brown sugar

• Add in the eggs, maple syrup + vanilla

• Mix in the flour + baking soda

• Line a baking sheet with parchment and scoop the batter into little ping pong-sized balls

• Bake for about 10 minutes or until they have just started to brown at the edges. Remove from the oven to let cool. 

• Make the glaze by mixing together the powdered sugar, maple syrup and milk until well combined, then drizzle it on the cookies to make the cutie mummies. I started with 1 tsp of almond milk and then added a bit more to thin it enough for drizzling.

• Add the candy eyeballs if you’re making mummies

• Gobble them up with your favorite ghosts and ghouls [or little turkeys]

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gifts i love : that cheese plate

I LOVE to entertain and am also a bonafide cheese lover. And since there’s no better way to get a party started than with a heaping plate of cheese, I am also now a lover of Marissa Mullen and her brilliant cheese-plate-building method. She has developed a sort of paint-by-numbers way to build incredible, overflowing boards of cheese, meat, fruit, veggies, spreads, dips, nuts, herbs… you hungry yet? They’re dreamy and so appealing, but also totally accessible and something you could actually make with her streamlined method.

'That Cheese Plate Will Change Your Life' is Marissa’s drool-worthy book and it’s just fun to look at her dreamy styling and photographs even if you only ever end up creating a mini plate for yourself (aka what I would *like* to eat for lunch EVERY darn day). So, if you love a cheese-lover or a host[ess] with the mostess, Marissa’s book would be a fantastic gift. Pair it with some gorgeous Runamok Honey and a beautiful Boos Board for serving and voila! It just might change their life.

>> If you follow along, you might recognize Marissa from Things I Love // Let Me Entertain You. Check it out for more great ideas.

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gifts i love : bubbles & joy

Bath time can be a bit of a struggle if your babes don’t totally love the water. Enter Bubbles & Joy, THE cutest little box of happiness full of splishy bath time fun to keep your tinies excited about swimming around. There will be no more begging and pleading for them to hit the showers. And in addition to being SUPER fun and exciting, they’ve partnered with top notch brands to deliver the best non-toxic and natural goodies so you don’t have to worry about what else is swimming around in the tub with your little fishies. Everything they send is non-toxic, cruelty-free and has no gross chemicals. Plus all the toys are hermetically sealed so you don’t get that super grody layer of mold that grows inside most squirty kinds of bath toys. Choose from one of their adorably themed Single Boxes or a Subscription to keep the fun surprises coming month after month. They even have a special edition Birthday Box that’s so stinking cute. Bubbles & Joy would be a super adorable gift for any little fishy [enthusiastic OR reluctant] that you love. Now go wash behind your ears.

Use code ALLAFLUTTER 10 for 10% off your whole order (that means if you prepay a subscription you’ll get 10% off the whole thing!)

gifts i love : nopalera

NOPALERA a stunning artisan natural beauty brand designed to celebrate the richness of Latina culture and the beauty of Mexico. The child of immigrants, founder Sandra Lilia Velasquez, was inspired by the nopales that were abundant around her childhood home near the CA-MX border. The nopal cactus is a highly sustainable + resilient crop and super nourishing, making it the ideal foundation for each of Nopalera’s super natural products. The nopal they use is all wild-harvested and the company’s packaging is entirely reusable or recyclable, though I don’t know why you’d want to throw away any of the AMAZING packaging. I want to wallpaper my dining room with it. Yes, I am a bit biased given my lifelong passion for Mexican Folk Art, but I’m pretty sure it’s objectively stunning.

THE DREAMY Cactus Flower Exfoliant is colored with achiote seeds and has a super subtle tangerine scent. It’s gentle and not too greasy and it feels amazing. I also love the Moisturizing Botanical Bar that’s used in place of lotion. The unique ingredients are designed for maximum hydration and literally melt into your skin as you rub the bar across all of your dry bits. And then there are the Cactus Soaps, shaped like the beautiful nopal itself. Any of Nopalera’s gorgeous products would make a lovely gift on their own, but combine them all and you have yourself a REALLY special self-care gift for just about anyone.
GIFT A LITTLE HAPPINESS. xo

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