I have a Cozy Mystery-reading friend who makes a felt ornament for each of her children every year. This inspired me to try making a few holiday-inspired doo-dads.
However, and that’s a very big “however”, for the past two and a half years my husband and I have had an issue with any little thing hitting the ground. You see, that’s the time when we adopted our little puppy – Cocoa. We love her dearly HOWEVER she has a huge problem: any time anything that doesn’t belong on the floor hits the rug, she has it in her mouth, runs away from us, and then swallows it.
Luckily for us, our neighborhood has an emergency veterinary hospital – which we have had to take Cocoa to – three times. It’s not bad when she gets ahold of a napkin, or a sock, but it’s things like part of a mechanical pencil or a small rubber gasket that require a veterinarian’s care.
Getting back to my crafting… I came up with an ideal solution for my “Cocoa-small-objects” (like felt ornaments) problem: I now keep all the little sequins, beads, needles, and felt pieces in a large aluminum roasting pan. I keep that right on my lap just in case I drop anything while crafting. I can’t believe how well it works!
Do you have any solutions to problems you would like to share? If so, please post a comment below. Thank you!
Susy S says
Being vertically challenged, nearly everything is too high to reach. I have several of the assorted reaching/grabber tools, but in the kitchen, the easiest is to just use my long handled tongs that have silicone ends. They will reach the second and sometimes third shelf in the cabinet, and the silicon tends to hold on tighter than any of the tools designed for that purpose.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susy S, I sure wish I had known your tip a few years ago… My mother was confined to a wheel chair and this would have been a terrific way for her to pick up things from not only shelves, but also the ground. Thanks for this terrific tip!
Bek says
I’m going to add one of those to my “MUST BUY” list! With intermittent vertigo, I have no business climbing on step stools!
Elaine c says
I too use my kitchen tongs to reach top shelf items. Grabbing tools often have too long a handle and are harder to use.
Shannon Roe says
Susy S, I use them, too, as I am only 4’11”. I also use them to get clothes out of the washing machine, the ones that are on the bottom. I use a long wooden spoon to, I call it reach and snag, groceries on the top shelf!!.
Susy S says
I also have used the wooden spoon method and I have a set of BBQ tongs that are extra long (but no silicone tips) for things at the bottom of deep boxes and such. I have an inch or two on you, but I am shrinking (sigh).
Carrie Davis says
You can use a product like Plasti Dip coating for your tongs to help with gripping items. It’s not too expensive and really works well, but you probably don’t want to use them for food anymore.
Susy S says
That is a great idea. I will just buy my baby brother (the BBQ KING) a new pair and take his old ones. That way, no one will care that they are no longer ‘food grade’.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sounds like these long tongs with rubber ends are terrific to use for reaching up or down. All of these comments made me think of another long-reaching thing we use to retrieve Cocoa’s balls from under the sofa/tables/chairs: When her balls roll way back under a chair/sofa: we keep a long shoe horn on top of the back of the sofa to help us out. Unfortunately we still have to get down on the floor to use the shoe horn, but at least we don’t pull a muscle in our necks to reach the way-back-there balls and toys.
Zara Pradyer says
Have nothing useful to contribute but just had to thank you for such a good idea.
I don’t have pets, sadly, but I do lose needles, cotton reels down the side of the sofa and discover cut threads attaching themselves to my clothing.
From now on, I shall copy your idea and deploy a large pan.
Thank you!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Zara, who would have guessed these large (turkey) roasting pans would serve a purpose during the rest of the year! I bought three of these aluminum pans at Walmart for the three different crafts I’m doing these days and just stack them one on top of the other >>> they are great for keeping all my crafting odds and ends in one place.
KG says
I have a small yorkie and I have to be super careful about dropping things because she seems to be right under my feet when something drops. I think little dogs have a 6th sense because they are ready to swoop in. My dog, Cookie has eaten puzzle pieces and other small items. The worse being last year when I dropped my antibiotic pill on the floor and she swallowed half of it. I called the emergency vet and he said to give her something to eat and drink and watch her. Thankfully she was ok. He said that in all his 18 years as a vet, he had never had a dog swallow an antibiotic. He said he had to look it up in his medical books!
I’ve learned to grab a treat to exchange for whatever she grabs that she is not supposed to have. Most of the time she will drop what is in her mouth for the treat.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
KG, Cookie and Cocoa sound like they could be identical twins! I would have been petrified (as I’m guessing you were) to see her swallow an antibiotic. I wonder if it’s because we have to limit their food intake so much. We feed Cocoa according to the adult Yorkie dog food – which she chows down in about three minutes. Cocoa seems to be in the same location your Cookie is – right nearby so she can quickly retrieve dropped objects. I have at least two puzzles that are now missing a piece – thanks to Cocoa being faster than I am. We also try to exchange things for a treat – which I know gives her the message that she’s being rewarded. However, the treat usually makes her drop the item we are rewarding her. Good grief! These Yorkies are a handful!
c z says
My tip is not new…however, I find it to be very helpful…when sewing by machine or by hand I keep a loop of masking tape sticky side out handy and stick any pieces of thread that I am going to discard onto it…this helps keep pets from ingesting the thread…you could also stick small beads and such to it for discarding later.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
CZ, I have never heard of this tip! It sounds like a good one that I will try the next time I’m mending clothes. I’ve always been afraid of dropping thread or dental floss pieces on the floor. I think I heard (many years ago!) that pets shouldn’t swallow those types of items since they can cause problems in their intestines. (That could have been an old wives’ tale, but it certainly made an impression on me!)
c z says
It can be a very serious situation if the thread, tinsel etc. is eaten…it can get caught up in the intestine, also if a piece has been eaten and an end is visible from either end of the pet, don’t yank on it…that can cause more problems…each situation is different of course, but err on the side of caution is my thought if something like thread is eaten…I am not a veterinarian…just have animals.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
C Z, we’ve given up on tinsel entirely since getting Cocoa – it doesn’t seem worth the risk, and it’s the hardest part of the tree to clean up anyway so it wasn’t the hardest thing to give up.
Bek says
I cut the bits into half-inch pieces and place them in a small jar. When the jar is full, I tuck it out of sight near the front door. My gran always did that, because the folk-lore was that the threads would confound thieves. Now, I’m not superstitious, but apparently I am a LITTLE “stitous.” It’s a nice way to remember and honor Gran.
c z says
I love this!
Shannon Roe says
I love the superstitions that have been passed down. One, my mother, would eat the point of a piece of pie because if you ate it first it would cause bad luck!
Bek says
~mutters to self~ Well, THAT certainly explains a lot…not counting my waisteline!
Bek says
Thanks! Gran had all sorts of little “folk-lore-ish” things she did. Every New Year’s Day saw a new broom come into the house, and it was always stored with the bristles up, so that the “virtue” doesn’t run out of the broom (rather like hanging a horseshoe). I STILL store my broom bristles up, although I don’t always buy a new one each year!
Susy S says
I also keep a strong magnet by my machine. It helps keep pins and needles from getting away from me.
Wendy T says
I have a similar problem with our animal family members, but mine are cats. They won’t run away with anything, except if feathers are involved, but they do jump on my work surfaces. I’m most concerned with them getting into the pins and other items that may hurt them, so I have learned (I’m more easily trained than they are…) to use plastic storage boxes of all sizes. Small food storage ones for pins and larger ones to hold the bits and pieces of a project. These can be quickly convered when there is a feline in the vicinity. Once they’ve satisfied their curiosity, they usually go to sleep or go off somewhere else.
I like your idea of the aluminum roasting pan, but since my lap is where they ultimately want to land, it won’t work for me! They’ll just climb into it and settle down on the fabrics.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Wendy T, I love that you’re “more easily trained than they are”! It sounds like your cats are little love-kittens! It’s great they enjoy sitting on your lap while you’re working with small items. (I had a cat years ago – but she didn’t particularly want to be that close to me.) Cocoa grabbing things off the floor is bad enough – but cats being able to do that anywhere would be drive me nuts! Thanks for telling us about a cat-proof method of keeping them safe.
Bek says
Wendy, I also have a cat. I have discovered, buried in the back of a closet, a small book entitled, “The Care, Feeding and Training of Your Human Companion” by A. Pussycat. I believe they ALL have a copy of it!
Jordan Moller says
One tip for protecting the Christmas trees that’s been going around is to put a safety gate around the base of it to prevent entry, at least for dogs. For cats, I’ve seen folks put the tree in an entirely-enclosed cage. There is a product we’ve used with success with our own little canine ninja, that we acquired from a pet store called “Yuck!”, it’s a harmless spray that keeps dogs and cats from gnawing on things, which may also work in case an ornament manages to venture too close to your puppy’s chompers.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jordan, it’s funny that you addressed the Christmas tree problem. Years ago I decided to get a nice pencil-thin (fake) tree – which we enjoyed a lot. It took up a lot less space than our old, fuller tree. With Cocoa being the way she is about small things at her level, I haven’t been able to put that tree up for three years. Instead, I bought a four 1/2 foot tree and have it on a table so she can’t get near it. I have never liked this solution but I know she would not be able to control herself with all the brightly colored things on the tree. We have plenty of gates that we used when she was being pad-trained/house-trained. Next year, I may try putting the safety gates around the base of the tree. Thanks for the tip!
Jordan Moller says
You are quite welcome! Like I always say: “Don’t agonize…McGyver-ize!”
Wendy T says
Oh, don’t get me started on Christmas trees! From plucking off kittens stuck at the top, to cats drinking the water in the stand, to needing to put ornaments at least three feet off the ground (to avoid ornament batting), we finally gave up. I couldn’t enjoy a tree if I had to cage it, and my cats wouldn’t like being crated for the entire holiday season! So, we don’t have a tree anymore, and we don’t have stockings, ever since the crash of I-forget-which-year, in which a cat too big for the stocking insisted she could get into the stocking anyway.
There was a comment above concerning animals eating thread. That reminds me that we’ve stopped using curling ribbon at our house. No ribbon is good for pets to swallow, but I’ve read that curling ribbon is particularly very very bad, as it could cut the intestines. We’ve also stopped candles, glass ornaments, and cookies and milk for Santa. Actually, we leave a note for Santa and tell him the cookies are locked in the microwave and the glass of milk is in the frig! Like we always say to the three, “We can’t have nice stuff because of you!” However, I’d rather have them in my life.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Wendy, it sounds like your cats can be quite the handful! It does give me one thing I’m thankful of – we only have to “dog-proof” the ground level, as Cocoa doesn’t have the mobility to get to much of what you mention. Having to keep counters and such clean sounds like a real hassle sometimes!
Susan* says
I don’t have cats, but if you don’t want the cat(s) around / damaging the Xmas tree, why not spray it / around it with cat repellant? I bought some from a pet shop some years ago when I had a problem with my neighbour’s cats.
It smelled quite pleasant to me – sort of light lemony / eucalyptus scent – but the cats wouldn’t go near it. Don’t know if it would work on a Yorkie, but it might be worth asking the pet shop.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan, it might be worth a try. We’ve had limited success with pet sprays before – she doesn’t like them when they’re fresh, but after a day or so she’ll usually be back at whatever she was doing. But I don’t think we’ve tried the sorts made for cats before, just the ones intended for dogs, so we might give the cat varieties a shot as well.
Susy S says
When my youngest brother was a toddler, my mom put the tree in his playpen and strung bells all around it. If he tried to reach for the tree, everyone in the house would hear it and come running. He had long since learned to climb out of the playpen and was always into something, so this was one of the few workable solutions.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susy S, I’m guessing your brother has been kidded about his Houdini-type antics!
Susy S says
Actually, those were some of his less challenging tricks. He could get out of any room you put him in and was especially fond of running around outside in the nude.
Such amusing old memories. We are now all in our 50’s and older.
Maria (BearMountainBooks) says
Merry Christmas, Danna! I hope you have a wonderful holiday and that Cocoa stays out of trouble the rest of this year and next. We have cats and my only tip is to keep them out of the kitchen when cooking or crafting! They do like to chase any ribbons or thread or stray pieces of fabric or my foot…
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maria, I can see how that might work with cats… I’m afraid that chasing Cocoa makes her more interested in “playing” than anything else!
And Merry Christmas to you as well!
Bek says
For the holidays, I take out my small crock pot, fill with water, and add slices of apple, a couple of cinnamon sticks, and a few cloves, turn it on low, and leave the top off. My whole house smells wonderful. I just add water as needed, and replenish the fruit and spices every second or third day, as needed.
For my cat, I keep a few plastic ornaments that I wire securely to the very bottom of the tree. It gives her something to focus on and bat at without damaging the rest of the tree. I’ve found that with pets AND kids, a “not this, but THIS” works better than just a “not this.”
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Bek, that’s a great tip for some home made scent rather than having to buy something more expensive and complicated. And I wonder if a similar trick to the carefully secured ornaments would work with Cocoa, though I’m a bit reluctant to let her near the needles either honestly…
Bek says
Dunno. I have an artificial tree that I paid way more than I could really afford for, but until you actually touch it, it looks real. LOL, I get the smell out of a can.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Bek, our tree is artificial also, but I don’t think that would stop Cocoa for chewing on the needles…
Shannon Roe says
What fun it has been to hear all the things that people do. I do have one–When you are working with the sequins, beads and such I use a prescription bottle that my meds come in to store these. It is a way to use these containers, since you can’t recycle them and I hate to throw them away.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Shannon, that’s definitely a great way to re-use something that you might otherwise just throw out without thinking about it! I used to save a lot of margarine containers and similar small plastic containers for similar purposes, after careful cleaning of course.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Shannon, also >>> I bought a few of the baby food 2-container packs that are little, tiny plastic boxes. I use these for storing Cocoa’s treats on the counter and also for little items around the house (paper clips, etc). They are the perfect size…
Bek says
Shannon, I love Altoids, those “curiously strong mints.” I save the tins that they come in to hold all sorts of bits and pieces of things. That might work for you, and THEY STACK!
Susy S says
I use one for pins and I glued a magnet in the bottom of the tin. If I can get the pin close, it will usually end up in the tin (though not all pins work with magnets -whose bright idea was THAT?).
I also use those tins for paper clips and all kinds of small desk stuff in the office.
Bek says
Are we related? I begin to think we must be!
Susy S says
Sounds like we were separated at birth!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
My husband loves Altoids… What a great stackable idea!
Bek says
Tickled to be of assistance!
What a wonderful thread this has turned into! Not only am I getting great tips, but I’m getting to know the members here in a wonderful way!
Shannon Roe says
Yes, I have been thinking the same thing!! We see names and we love our Cozy Mysteries!! and it is great hearing all of these suggestions!!
Diane DJ says
Ha ha – speaking of turkey roasting pans – I use a shallow one for my rabbit’s littler pan. When I tried using a plastic cat litter box, she chewed on it and swallowed little pieces of plastic. This works great, although I cringe when someone sees her in it for the first time, before I can explain what it’s really for!
And here’s how I have handled the no-time-for-exercise-AND-cooking/cleaning issue. I put on an exercise video on Youtube and run and jump and wave my arms in place while cooking and cleaning up. I get it all done and exercise, too!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Diane, I can see how people might get the wrong impression by you using a turkey roasting pan for your rabbit! I suppose rabbits are more likely than cats or dogs to be compulsive chewers. I can also see how Youtube would be a great solution for exercise videos, and doing chores at the same time must be a time saver!
Paula Catherine says
Too funny reading about dogs and cats and Christmas trees!
We have always had dogs, our tree has fallen twice and a dog was not even near hem, so we now tie the tree to a nearby shutter.
We still “try” to dog proof the area. We have the coffee table pulled up, a spinning wheel guarding one route, a ceramic gingerbread house in front of it, and the trusty vacuum cleaner to finish and she still manages to sneak in ringing the jingle bells hanging on the lower branches. Sadly they are smarter and more clever than us. Our little Yorkie avoids it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Paula Catherine, I wish “our little Yorkie” would avoid things! Your dog sounds like she is pretty smart >>> that’s quite an obstacle course you have! Leave it to our pups and kittens to figure out ways to get around the rules.
Michael says
Just a suggestion; make your ornaments out of rawhide and decorate them with candy cake decorations. That way if Cocoa gets hold of an ornament, it will be a treat for her and no trip to the vet…
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Michael, Cocoa would absolutely LOVE this type of ornament!
Glen Day says
We have a cat, and a tree he’s not too interested in. Thing is, there are no intriguing ornaments cuz it’s a revolving, LED lighted tree. The needles light up! Don’t know that it would stop yorkies, or other young pugs from chewing, but the cats are definitely not much interested. No smalls, no batting around bits, but still lit up and pretty!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Glen Day, I have a feeling our dog would be happy grabbing on to one of the lit branches. She is truly not like any other dogs I’ve been around. I’m surprised your cats aren’t interested in the branches. A friend of mine has cats, and she has to hang a wire from the ceiling to hold her tree up so her cats don’t climb up the tree and make the tree flip over. You have trained your cats well! (I had a cat and I think she trained me!)
Suranjana says
I do not have any cat or dog but I read the whole thread because it was so good reading the comments. This is real, honest interaction and not something I see in social media. Lovely site you have Danna. And Cocoa is amazing. ?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Suranjana, I’m glad that you can enjoy the conversation even if you don’t have a pet yourself!