Either this little dude is a complete goober or he’s brilliant!
Friday Fun: The Intricacies Of A Hamster Wheel
DIY: Over 30 Different Cat Toys To Sew, Knit, Crochet, or Assemble
Here are a ton of DIY cat toys! One of my pet peeves (groan!) is ugly pet toys . I like them to be colorful, cute, and/or funny, and the easiest way to achieve that is to make your own. The great thing about DIY cat toys is they take very little fabric, yarn, etc. and they’re usually quick to make. All of the toys below will make nice gifts for kitties and their people. Have fun!
Adorable hearts, cupcakes, strawberries, roses, & chocolates.
Kitty fortune cookies.
Beautiful birdies.
Easy to sew mouse, fish, & sausage.
Supper fuzzy mouse.
Adorable sushi—nigiri & futomaki.
Felt bird, mouse, & fish.
DIY: Cat Toys To Sew, Knit, Or Crochet
Fun toys for the kitties you know. Mice, olives, & owls—Oh my! Just add some catnip to their stuffing and you’ve got some sweet gifts!
Very dapper mice to sew for the discerning feline. And a great way to upcycle out-of-date menswear hanging in the back of a closet or at your favorite thrift store. You can hand stitch these or use a machine. I wouldn’t use beads for eyes—just embroidery floss. You’ll need:
- Assorted menswear fabrics (such as wool suiting, cotton shirting, corduroy, and cotton velvet)
- Iron
- Fusible webbing
- Sewing machine and sewing supplies
- Loop turner
- Fill
- Catnip
- Embroidery floss
- Embroidery needle
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Festive stuffed green olive to knit for the martini loving cat. (via i-like-lemons) These are super cute. These can be left as-is or you can lightly felt them. You will need:
- 2yds (1.8m) sport weight or baby weight wool. Mary Jane used Jamieson and Smith 2ply jumper weight #83 dk olive, FC11 bright olive, and #9436 Dale of Norway Baby Ull pale olive (Baby Ull, a superwash yarn, won’t felt much, but it will get fluffier)
- 1.5 yds (1.4m) Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumper weight #125 pimento
- 1 set dp needles size 2 (3.0mm)
- catnip
- 1 crewel embroidery needle
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Soulful owls to crochet for the serious cat. You can make him just the size you want. If your cat might eat off the eyes, use yarn instead of safety eyes. You’ll need:
- < 25g of scraps of wool, in at least two colors
- 17mm color safety eyes (x 2)
- catnip
- A 3.5mm crochet hook, a little stuffing and a needle and thread
DIY: Suede & Leather Mouse Cat Toy
Some kitties really like the smell of leather. Here’s a simple suede & leather mouse you can make for your freaky little cat. Download the instructions and template—it’s the grey behind the directions. I’d make the mice out of some fun colors instead of boring brown. (The instructions call for punching the suede with holes and hand stitching, but I think if you have a good sewing machine and the appropriate heavy duty needle, you could sew this on your machine.)
You’ll need:
- about 8×8″ of suede
- some leather lacing
- a few jingle bells
- cardboard
- fiberfill or something to stuff the mouse
- good scissors
- 2 pairs of pliers
- good sewing machine & appropriate needle
–OR–
- sharp, heavy needle
- awl or finishing nail
- hammer
- scrap wood or a few magazines you don’t care about
- tape
- marker
DIY: 3 Easy Cat Toys To Sew
If you’re not totally swamped by holiday preparations, you might have time to crank out some of these cuties for gifts. Here are 3 easy, inexpensive, and fun cat toys to sew.
A mouse tutorial from atinyhouse. You could skip the ears if you wanted.
A fish from Martha. She made a wand type toy with them by attaching them to a pole.
A crackly wrestle sausage from Green Little Cat. A plastic grocery bag provides the crackle.