& our 3rd & final new pattern is...

MIDNIGHT TRAIN (aka "about today"* **!)

we had so many vote correctly, we had to pick TWO winners! emily f. (posted on facebook) & veronica (posted on the blog) are winners of this, our last round! please email us at help@mollymutt.com to redeem your prize.

thank you SO MUCH to all of you for taking the time to vote. we love you!!

*we had to change the name, because as you know all molly mutt patterns are named after songs...and we couldn't have 2 out 3 new summer patterns named after songs from the same band ("conversation 16" & "about today" are both songs by the band the national!)

**we were clearly missing a song by gladys & the pips!

new pattern #2 is...

spitting fire!

the lucky winner is: tori h! please email us at help@mollymutt.com to claim your prize!

one more week left...hopefully the one you are rooting for is coming up!

have a FABULOUS 4th of july!

new pattern #1 is....(drum roll, please)

conversation 16!!

thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. our first randomly selected winner is ... perry ann a.! congratulations!

don't be discouraged if you didn't win this time-we have 2 more rounds to go (& then the new patterns will be here!)

see you next week!

foto friday: meet monti

aaaaaaaand, who doesn't love a french bulldog?!

monti is just ridiculously adorable...so much so that we had to ask him to be one of our molly mutt models for a new pattern we are announcing next week!

stay tuned! (& monti, seriously-we just CANNOT get enough of you!!)

(**thanks to nuena photography for introducing us to him!)

diy tuesday: may flowers

san francisco is not known for it's "friendly spring weather" & it can get pretty freaking gloomy. where we live, april showers definitely do not bring may flowers (or june flowers...or july flowers....you can see where i'm headed with this.)

soooooo, because we need a little sunshine, today's craft is fabric flowers! i've probably made 12 dozen of these-mostly because they're awesome. if you are new to a sewing machine, this is a FAB starter project. it takes more skill with scissors & hot glue than anything else! (it's also a great way to use scraps instead of throwing them out)

here's a link to the tutorial (tip #1-rickrack stitch. get into it. my only other tip would be don't freak out if you break threads or your petals aren't perfect-because honestly, most of my best flowers came from giant mistakes. see? i'm already sounding optimistic & poetic!)
*skips into the sunset*

we are two years old!!

thank you for making this possible-all of you!! xoxoxxx

(for more opinions than you need on chocolate chip cookies, see yesterday's post-which talks of little else!)

a love affair

*warning, post is not about dogs...but so close to my heart i just couldn't help myself from writing about it!*

i've been madly in love with chocolate chip cookies (ccc) ever since that first bowl of raw dough i stuck my finger in.

growing up, we only ever had the toll house variety-and i continued to make these until a few years ago. i realized all the chocolate chip cookies i really craved from bakeries & restaurants were better than those toll house ones...but i couldn't put my finger on what it was (it wasn't rocket science, i know-but i was new to the baking world then!)...and made it my life's purpose to find the PERFECT recipe.

(ps, now pretty much everything i bake inevitably turns into a taste test. i can't just try one recipe for red velvet cupcakes, i have to try FIVE. it's gotten out of hand.)

sooooooo....after probably 13 different takes on this illusive, yet epically classic cookie, i have narrowed it down to 2. *please note, all technical, dweeb information is small, so if you don't care about the details, just skip it!*

(and yes...if you are a baking nerd like me, you have read the 476 times that people have written about this very same taste test...but again, the truth has to be known, people!)

*alton brown's "the chewy"
this is my go-to, easy & standard-issue amazing cookie. it's the one i make when i just want a good cookie...NOW. it's meaty, but not cake-y (puke) & works every time. (if you've made toll house cookies, remember how sometimes they would be sponge-y & sometimes they would be all thin & crispy...even when you followed the recipe the same way every time?! yea, that doesn't happen here.)
ps, don't be cheap on the chocolate (this sounds bourgeois, but it makes a difference)-and also, don't sub all purpose flour for bread flour...they come out weird if you do!

*jacques torres ccc
this is my fancy ccc. the one i make for parties & baby showers & any time i need to present my baking (perfectionist & super overachiever that i am...this one satisfies on all levels)
it is more involved-in terms of ingredients & chilling time (you really REALLY should wait at least the requisite 24 hours before baking them...which can be so tedious & annoying! especially because after you do all the work, you want to eat them...NOW! if you can wait 48 hours they really REALLY are even more delicious, if that could be possible.) they also look absolutely fabulous. they are giant & gorgeous & i've been accused TWICE of buying bakery cookies when bringing these somewhere.

would love to hear if you have a favorite cookie recipe or if you have tried either of the ones above (or *gasp* have an even better one!)

thanks for letting me get that out of my system. (i need to go eat some cookies...!)

happiness!

yes, unrelated to dogs or dog beds...but this commercial just makes me happy. i got all gooey on the inside imagining something like this happening where i live. *shuts door and hides in apartment*

have a gorgeous weekend

this picture just makes me want to be glamorous...she's like a younger, more attractive cruella de vil (one of the best villians of all time-she really was the best part of that movie...but strangely enough looking back, she kind of seemed like a cross between joan crawford & bette davis-who are both malevolently magnificent.)

and on that strange note...
"i'd love to kiss ya, but i just washed my hair." -bette davis

my kitchen needs a makeover

seriously, i still love the colour, love the idea...but i HATE this big ikea cabinet that's taking up like half the walk space. AND because the kitchen is my cooking/sewing room, i need to fun this place up a teense. (i'll post pictures & ask for ideas later this week...i need your help, minions...please, pretty please!

in other news, while perusing the interwebz for ideas, i came across these can-i-have-them-right-now...



bottle screws - $12.99, butterfly can opener - $25 (though not sure how you use it or can i imagine spending $25 clams on a can opener...) pacman potholder - $14.99, memo dinnerware - $12.95, cafeteria tray & cup - $13.50

what is this dog?

she's an alien, that's my best guess. (i should have cropped this & edited it all pretty-but alas...)

pictures of you

phuntastic photography

these pictures made me smile this week (yep, more dogs...design-y people, i will get to more of that soon!)

(from top to bottom) "go ahead, punk, make my day" by maggie duvall. 2009 a space ottosey by dustin weant. running puppy by michael szydlowski.

new flickr favorites

trolling flickr recently for design inspiration, and ran across these gems. thank you artists & illustrators for being nifty.
(lightening cloud by tamer koseli, talk nerdy to me by constantinexgraphics, ice cream truck by haunted house of projects, "never put a bullet in a deer with a mullet" by the amazing kali meadows)

mystery...

san francisco, 24 august, 1933

dear murray,
received your letter to-day & was surely pleased to hear from you. sorry we could not meet here. we leave to-morrow & i don't know where we go next.
best wishes
ray

(a lovely friend gave me a postcard recently, one she found on ebay...so mysterious. i mean, who is murray tyson? why couldn't he meet ray" & who was ray? the possibilities are endless.)

meet my dogs, episode 2 - rebel

aka reb, rids, nancy, nance-o, yellow dog, chodo baggins

reb is the dog of the three. he has all of those fabulous traits writers love to wax poetic about - loyalty, obedience & charm. that & the classic sad-lab-face-that-melts hearts...well, needless to say, he's a ladykiller.

he is the only male in a house of strict alpha-females. this has made him into a bit of a pushover & a little bit of a scaredy cat. san francisco is a huge tourist city. this means we encounter tons of random people on our walks. reb is that quintessential american dog-the one people from all of the world want to stop & pet.

my new favorite vector ninjas

love these illustrators. vector art makes me happy.gloome.gloome.

bubble friends. fred siebert.

the dogs of the molly mutt family LOVE cheengoo collars!!

check out bella's new cheengoo collar! so freaking cute (& ps, who doesn't love birds on stuff...?!) bella loves her new collar so much she couldn't even keep her eyes open all the way. best purchase i've made in awhile. made in san francisco & designed by the very talented liz paik, i'm going to buying more for the other 2 dogs, as soon as their collars wear out.