This post is #sponsored by Milo’s Kitchen®. I received product and compensation, but all opinions are my own and always will be! Thanks for supporting content that keeps Jojotastic going.
We have a name for my house around these parts, and it’s The McBrawley Home for Wayward Wiener Dogs. Along with our two chickens and one majestic cat, Sean and I are constantly wrangling our two dachshunds: Noodle and Lucy. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes they bark at the UPS man or chase the chickens around the yard and whatnot, but other times I’ll catch them curled up together on the couch or posing for pictures perfectly (ahem, I’m looking at you Lucy) and my heart just melts. Those are the moments that I love to treat them to something delicious.
Just like my yia yia still to this day makes me her signature Greek soup recipe when I’m home and in need of something extra special and crave worthy, I like to treat my two pups to something that’s premium, hearty and made with love. Kitchen-inspired Milo’s Kitchen® dog treats are made with real chicken as the number one ingredient, they’re high in protein and free of artificial flavors —you better believe these wiener dogs went crazy for them! But I wanted to help share our love of the kitchen and take the #TreatingTuesday experience to the next level, so I decided to dress up a simple mason jar in which to store some delicious chicken meatball treats in a way that blends perfectly with my kitchen decor and is pretty enough to keep on the counter. It’s a great way to take treating and bonding in the kitchen to a new, DIY level. Giving Noodle and Lucy treats is one of my favorite things to do – it makes all of us happy. I especially love to treat them in the kitchen, which is the heart of our home and where memories are made.
Now I just have to explain to Lucy that she can’t actually eat at the table with us every day…
Tools
- knife
- rolling pin
- oven
- sanding sponge
Materials
First you’ll want to start by pre-heating the oven to the temperature suggested on your oven-bake clay packaging. While that’s heating up, combine two blocks of white clay and roll it in your hands until it’s nice and malleable and you can form it into a ball.
Use a rolling pin to roll it into a disc about 1/8″ thick. Make sure it’s big enough to cover the lid of the jar with a generous margin around the edges.
Use a knife to cut off little pieces of colored clay. I went with earthy tones and pops of blue, pink and black, but you can choose whatever colors best suit your decor. Roll each little slice into a small sphere (mine were all about the size of a pea).
Once you have four or five balls of each color of clay, use your finger to smash them into little 1/8″-thick rounds. Then, go back in with the knife and trim each disc into random angular shapes. The important thing here is to make sure you’re not left with any rounded edges—they should all be straight and angular.
Next, lay out your little pieces of clay on top of the white disc of clay, paying close attention to placement. Use your finger to lightly press the shapes down.
Flip the white piece of clay over, making sure that none of the small pieces of clay fall off. Roll over the black side gently a few times, until the pieces seem like the have been mostly joined together.
Turn the clay back over so the colorful pieces are once again on top and gently roll over it a couple more times.
Then, flip that puppy over one more time, and place the lid upside down on the clay. Fold the edges over like you would do with pie crust. Make sure that the sides are nice and smooth and you’re not leaving any big air bubbles as you’re doing this.
Use the knife to trim off the excess clay, and remove the plastic inner ring from the jar lid (some lids have this, some don’t) so it doesn’t melt during the baking process.
Place the lid on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake according to the package directions.
Once the lid is baked and cooled, go in with the sanding sponge and buff out any indents or smears or fingerprints that were left behind from the creation process.
Now all that’s left to do is fill that pretty jar with Milo’s Kitchen® dog treats and you’ll have a parade of wiener dogs following you around your kitchen in no time! And I’m more than okay with that. You can find them at large grocery chains and retailers where you find your favorite dog treats in a variety of recipes and sizes!
Back in the day, when I first fostered Noodle, I knew immediately that he wouldn’t be leaving my side. There was something about his pointy snout, big brown eyes and pasta-like body that just spoke to me, and we’ve been best friends ever since. That’s why, all these years later, I still love to spoil him with delicious dog treats to remind him that he’s a very good boy. Sharing kitchen-inspired recipes has made our bonding moments even better.
This post is #sponsored by Milo’s Kitchen®. All opinions are my own and always will be! Thanks for supporting content that keeps Jojotastic going.
photography & styling by Jojotastic, DIY by Hannah Cross.
