As much as I try to deny it, my dog is getting old. In fact, she just turned 13. She’s in pretty great shape, but is starting to show signs of arthritis in her back legs. My vet recommended I switch her to wheat and corn-free dog food. Apparently, the grain contributes to inflammation. But when I went on the hunt for grain-free dog biscuits, I found the prices were kind of crazy – upwards of $5 for a seriously small bag. I decided there had to be a better solution. Enter Google and this really inexpensive recipe for a biscuit made from banana, egg, garbanzo bean flour and oats.

Recipe and adorable puppy pic via A Cozy Kitchen.

The Corner Blog has a straightforward-looking DIY for this beautiful braided fabric basket. She made her out of old T-shirt, but you could use any scrap cotton you have laying around. The only part that looks a bit daunting is the whole stitching the braided fabric into a basket part.

But, I think I’ve got the braiding part down. Probably.

I’ve always dreamed of having a hammock inside. Right now I don’t really have room for one, but maybe in my next apartment. If you are lucky enough to have the space, here are a few great options.

Handwoven Saya Hammock, $98 at Anthropologie.

Romantic White Hammock, $80 from Veronica Collindres.

Blue Sky Hammock, $80 from Veronica Collindres.

I had never heard of the game Bananagrams, but Wikipedia tells me that it is similar to Take Two (a variant of Scrabble I’ve also never heard of – seriously, I’ve been missing out!). The gist is that you have a pile of letters and you arrange them into a word grid. The first person to deplete their pile of letters wins. Usually the word tiles come in a banana-shaped pouch, and are, you know, small. But these are made from cardboard and designed for play outside. Sounds like my kind of summer fun.

For those of us who suffer from hangriness (hunger-related angriness), this is kind of a must. In fact, considering I’m trying to cut back on sugar right now, it would probably be good idea if Print Smitten started selling these in bulk. “I’m Sorry” card, $4.95.

There’s something about spring/summer that puts me in the mood for pink. I’ve never had the nerve to make the leap to pink walls (though I’ve often thought about it). But I do try to work a little in whenever I can.

Images moving clockwise from the top right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.

I’ve been looking for a bench / catchall to put in front of a floor-to-ceiling window in my entryway. I found this hall tree from West Elm, which manages to provide storage and a coatrack without blocking light. Of course, at $500, I’m wondering if I could make this myself for less. I may have to pay a visit to Home Depot.

These DIY marbled gift tags are fantastic. Even more fantastic, they were made with nail polish and water. You can get the full instructions at Design Mom. Oh, and she didn’t stop at marbling tags.

This month’s Bon Appetite featured a recipe for gluten free griddle cakes. I’ve been searching for a g.f. pancake recipe for awhile, so I gave it a try. The recipe uses oat flour and buckwheat flour, which you can get at your local health food store. You can also make your own oat flour by pulsing rolled oats in a food processor.

I have to say I had some trouble with dough thickness and crumbling. The recipe states that you should “pour” the dough into the pan. My dough had to be scooped and then spread. This kind of stuff is par for the course with gluten free baking, but I would probably experiment with adding a bit more buttermilk next time. I would also advise you pour the pancakes no larger than your spatula as several of mine fell apart on flipping.

Below is the photo from Bon Appetite. You can see their griddle cakes were a lot prettier than mine. I also topped mine with baked apples just to get a little “healthy” in there. The cakes had a great texture and were nice and fluffy, so despite my problems, I will definitely give this recipe another try. If you aren’t gluten free and like the idea of oatmeal pancakes, you might try substituting wheat flour for the buckwheat. That should help with the crumbling.