• 0 items$0.00
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

  • BLOG
    • Knitting
    • Crochet
    • Latch Hook
    • Macramé
  • ABOUT
  • Shop
  • Studio
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

The Mobile Living Room

October 22, 2013 4 Comments

Kia Logo
The Mobile Living Room - Hands Occupied

Keeping two dogs happy on a road trip is no easy feat!

Being from North Dakota, the most important car lesson I learned growing up is winter travel safety. A survival kit including food, water, jumper cables, snow pants, and more is essential. With both sides of my family living a 12+ hour car ride in opposite directions, my husband and I have developed our own survival kit of sorts for when we bring the dogs for the long haul. Our survival kit helps make our dogs feel at home in the back seat of our Kia Optima, our mobile living room.

The Mobile Living Room - Hands Occupied

A shot from last winter’s drive home to North Dakota for the holidays. Brr!

Our doggie car trip survival kit:

  • seat belt harnesses – Ours hook into the human seat belts in the car, and we can clip their leashes to the harnesses before unhooking the harness from the car. That way, there’s no risk of them jumping out of the car in a strange area.
  • leashes & poo bags – The potty break essentials.
  • an old sheet – To simplify car cleanup.
  • a foam dog bed – The better for them to sleep!
  • 1-2 favorite toys per dog – Help keep boredom at bay.
  • rags – Keep snow and dirt out of the car.
  • food & water bowls in the trunk – A dog’s gotta eat!
  • treats in the cab of the car – For 2/3 to 3/4 through the trip when the pups really need a bit of something good to power through to the end.
  • a paper cup in the cab of the car – It’s easy for dogs to get dehydrated on long road trips. My dogs will barely eat or drink among all the distractions at roadside gas stations. The paper cup in the car trick is a necessity in my humble opinion. Pro tip: If you stop for some human sustenance at a drive thru, save your cups. You can tear the top 80% off by hand and fill it with some water (or snow!). Your dogs might think it’s a fun treat and not just water.
  • doggie booties (optional) – If you’ve got a dog with particularly sensitive-to-cold paws like my bearded dog Storm, you’ll want to remember to toss in dog booties. Nothing’s worse than the guilt of hearing your dog shriek in pain when ice gets in the pads of their feet.

The Mobile Living Room - Hands Occupied

This post is sponsored by Kia.

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored Tagged With: cars, dogs, keep dogs happy on a road trip, kia, road trip, sponsored, the mobile living room

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

Previous Post: « How-to: Faux Bois Sweatshirt & Tree Costume
Next Post: Style this DIY: Louise Belcher Hat »

Reader Interactions

DID YOU LIKE THIS POST?
Visit similar articles...

  • How to Survive a Long Road TripHow to Survive a Long Road Trip
  • How I Decided on a KiaHow I Decided on a Kia
  • New Year Cards New Year Cards
  • How-to: Back Seat Pet Protector How-to: Back Seat Pet Protector

DON’T MISS ANOTHER UPDATE

Comments

  1. Lael

    October 26, 2013 at 10:53 am

    You’re not stoking up Storm on a latte–are you?

    Reply
    • Heidi

      October 26, 2013 at 3:58 pm

      It’s just water, I swear! :)

      Reply
  2. Chrystal Johnson

    November 4, 2013 at 12:16 pm

    We also include a “Doggie First Aid ” kit . You never know when you may need one while traveling or even out for a day trip to the dog park or beach.

    Reply
    • Heidi

      November 4, 2013 at 4:08 pm

      Good call!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

work with heidi

UPDATES BY EMAIL

Get a free pattern + biweekly updates sent to your inbox.

Let’s be friends!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Latch Hook by Heidi Gustad

Footer

INSTAGRAM

handsoccupied

Craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. / #latchhookbook out now!
.
knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé

Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes me so happy! Even more now that it’s helped me connect with fellow crafting & wrestling crossover fans. ❤️ 
.
On the blog today - link is in bio, you can take a look at a bunch more process photos that didn’t make the Design Diary video. For maker-designer types in particular, the post has detail shots & a full supply list. I’m so happy with how the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes colors worked out combined with some neutral handspun! ✂️🧶
.
.
Pictured: A close up of a smiling woman with a punch needle version of a wrestling title belt on her shoulder. 
.
#punchneedle #handsoccupied #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #wooloftheandes #knitpicks #rugmaking #heidigustad #universalchampion #titlebelt #wool
Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
.
.
Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
.
This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
.
.
#ipnrhd #punchneedle #wwe #wrestling #championshipbelt #wool #yarn #handmade #universalchampionship #universalchampion #rugmaking #wrestlingfan #wrestlemania37 #wrestlemania
A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
.
Pictured: The back of an in-progress punch needle project. A wooden punch needle tool sits on the work.
.
#punchneedle #woolrug #rugmaking  #kpambassadorsapr21 #sponsored #griefproject #handsoccupied #wrestlingfan #universalchampion #yarn #yarncraft #wool #needlepunch
Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
.
Pictured: A blond woman sits, smiling and holding an in-progress punch needle project inspired by the Universal Championship belt. Houseplants are in the background and there’s lots of sun. 
.
#punchneedle #griefproject #handsoccupied #heidigustad #wrestlingcrafts #wwe #universalchampion #universalchampionship #wool #wooloftheandes #primarycolors #oxfordpunchneedle
I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
.
I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
.
.
Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
.
#handsoccupied #seamedsweater #kpambassadorsmar21 #sponsored #knitpicks #waldo #waldosweater #wip #yarncraft #yarn #knitting #knittersofinstagram #heidigustad #vintageknitting #sweaterknitting
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2021 / Foodie Pro Theme On Genesis Framework / Branding by Ink + Mortar
All Site & Shop Policies / Privacy Policy / Cookie Policy