I made Christmas Gifts for Kitties! « Daily Kitten Chat Forum

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I made Christmas Gifts for Kitties!

(28 posts)

Started 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie
Latest reply from Nirmal

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Today was a slow day, and since I have no school til Jan, and Christmas isn't too far away, I decided to make a cat bed and some toys for the cats on my list.
First off, I grow catnip, and crochet, although I cannot even make an oven mit because it always comes out uneven, so I make cat toys! (Cats don't seem to mind that they're always different shapes and sizes)
I made one out of three today for my cousin's cat Whiskers. I started the second one, but stopped because it gets boring after a while.
I don't have a pic of the one I made, but I have a pic of something I did make!

This is a picture of a catbed I made out of a $3 blanket from Deal$
I first cut out a circle from a stiff material found in my craft room, then cut out a "tube" for the sides.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/121108_125400.jpg
^shows the outline of it while I did the perimiter of a circle formula in my head (no calculator, so had to round pi [don't know how to spell it])

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/121108_192600.jpg
^and that's the finished bed.
My mom helped with some sewing, but she had to leave, so when I finished it, I had to connect the tubes, and did it backwards, so you can see the stiches!
oh well, it's for my friend's cat Rascal. I really hope he likes it!

And since I was uploading my cell, I put a few of Charlie up!
(they're poor quality, I appologize)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/112008_204100.jpg
^Charlie's the small one and Tiger's the one looking the other way

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/120608_170900.jpg
^Charlie went to see Santa!! (it was super hot in the store and I felt bad for the guy, he was miserable!) The thing on the right is Charlie's First Christmas Ornament!
Even though Charles looks terrified, he had a super time while everyone told him how cute and pretty "she" was with "her" markings. Charlie told me it upset him that people think he's a girl... hehee, i don't care though, because he's a sweet heart!

Is anyone making anything special for their kitty friends??
I would love more ideas!

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
Awesome job on the cat bed ! And your kitties are beautiful !

Posted 1 year ago by 2 Popoki #
That's a pretty awesome cat bed you have made there N&C, and without breaking the bank too. You are quite talented with a sewing needle. Don't worry about the stitching showing on this one, you'll do it differently on any others. Lucky cat who gets to sleep in this one though. Charlie is a very lucky cat to go and see Santa. He's rather cute and cheeky looking. I'm not making anything for the cats this year but I will buy my daughter's cat Ruby something and Airy is sending some gifts over for Shadz. I must think of something for Shadz from Mummy and Daddy.

Posted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
That looks awesome!!!
I was thinking of taking my guys to see Santa, but I figured it would freak Milo out - and probably Bobby, too!

Posted 1 year ago by GreatDane #
Thanks guys!
I'm thinking about possibly heading back down to Deal$ and seeing if they have any blankets left. I bought it a while ago, and I don't know if they restock things or not.
I'm not talented with my mom's sewing machine. It's from when she was younger, and it always seems to jam or the needle breaks when I'm working it. Maybe if I get more blankets, I'll eventually get better at it!
I think I'll go finish the toy for Lily while I watch television

Oh, we've taken our dog and cats since 2005 to see Santa. I've taken Stinkey twice, Tiger Once, but Mylo and Panda freak out if we hold them, and I think Panda would have a heart attack if he was around people.
Luckily, Charlie loves attention and enjoys the harness. Hopefully he stays this way forever!

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
Wow Niki I think your bed is awesome and I love the colors. Great job. I made a place mat for my cats food dishes. It isn't a Christmas one since it will be down all the time but at least it keeps food off the floor. I will take a picture and post it.

Posted 1 year ago by petpntr #
I would love to see the place mat!
We used to have some for the dry food, but that was back many years ago.
It could be fun to make something for the food now though!

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
Becareful what you wish for Niki :) Here are a couple of pictures. I don't know if I did it properly I have never used Photobucket before but I think I got them on so you can take a look. There is only one but it is long maybe 20 inches. I have 2 bowls out all day with dry and water but then I need to put down 2 more when they eat breakfast and dinner so the length is perfect for that.

http://s372.photobucket.com/albums/oo168/petpntr/?action=view&current=Floormat2F.jpg&t=1229053173174

Posted 1 year ago by petpntr #
Great kitty bed. That Charlie is one brave kitty, I can't imagine any of mine being too thrilled to visit with a perfect stranger, Santa or anyone else. There was just a story in the news about a kitty who bit Santa multiple times at one of those pet photos with Santa events. The lady had to return with her vaccination records!

Posted 1 year ago by Tigerlilly #
super creative with the cat bed! nothing is better than handmade gifts for Christmas, way to go!

Posted 1 year ago by skirty #
Wow,great kitty bed,Charlie and Tiger are so pretty.

Posted 1 year ago by Buttercup #
Awesome job on the bed Niki! And your cats are gorgeous!! I would love to take mine for a photo with Santa, but there is no way...except maybe Buster..he's really a little hellion..I'd have to warn Santa to wear extra thick gloves!
And Petpntr, what a gorgeous mat! There's so much talent in this family; puts me to shame!!

Posted 1 year ago by sullis #
Wonderful bed, it looks soft and snuggly and a real Cat Magnet!

What a cutie little Charlie is! I love orange boy cats, they are the absolute BEST.

Posted 1 year ago by Siobhan #
I'm trying to convince my husband to wear a Santa suit so we can photograph our two cats with Santa. Tansy would be all paws and claws, and Hermes is just too tubby (lol)

Posted 1 year ago by Siobhan #
Nice mat, Petpntr!
NAC, now you've got me wanting to take Bobby to meet Santa...... (poor old Bobby).

Posted 1 year ago by GreatDane #
NAC, I love the bed!!! how awesome! I really like the pattern and colors too. Charlie is just a little dollbaby and I love that he got to see Santa.

Petpntr, wow...the mat is great!! I wouldn't even know how to begin. I love it!!
I should get one for my kits. Freddie is such a messy eater

Posted 1 year ago by cricketsmama #
Great cat bed! I used to take my Max to visit Santa and get his picture taken, but it was never very easy. In the last years of his life, I just decided not to torture him anymore. Smudge and Chance do not like to be held, so they would absolutely not hold still for a photo.

You can make placemats from old Christmas cards. The one I made years ago was done by cutting out round circles and overlapping them to connect together. I put them on a patterned sheet of contact paper then covered the whole thing with clear contact paper.

Posted 1 year ago by LadyKat of IA #
Posted 1 year ago by LadyKat of IA #
I wasn't planning on making the bed, the blanket had the coolest patern, but my cousin and I had to come up with a way to make sure the cat got use out of the blanket, instead of the people using it for themselves... with all of your positive feedback, I'm sure Rascal will love it!
Petpntr, what materials did you use? It would be awesome to make one for my kitties, even though noone would see it where we keep the food (has to be hidden from dog).
LadyKat, when you made it out of cards, was the "image" or top part the different colored circles? or do the circles help make it stronger? I'm having trouble picturing it.

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
Thanks for the compliments on my floor mat. I went to Home Depot and bought a few feet of old fashioned linoleum. They have it on a huge roll so you can buy it by the feet. I don't remember how much but very cheap like $8.00 for a piece that was around 6' x 9' That makes a lot of placemats. Now that I think of it I think it was a spare piece they had laying around.

I cut out the size I wanted and then covered it with a coat of water based primer and painted it with acrylic paints. After it had dried for a day or so I coated it with about 3 coats of Varathane. That is the brand name but you can use any protective clear coat. In craft stores you can even buy it in a spray can. The coating is important because not only does it protect the painting but it makes it waterproof so that it can be washed when needed.

When I first did it the edges around it started to curl up so I cut out another piece the exact same size and glued it onto the back of the first piece so it now has 2 layers of linoleum back to back and it is perfect now.

Posted 1 year ago by petpntr #
NC, what a great kitty bed!!! Petpntr I love the floor mat!!
Charlie you are the cutest little BOY!!!

Posted 1 year ago by 2bpurring #
N&C, I cut 5 inch circles of the images I wanted from the cards. It takes about 23 cards in a 5-4-5-4-5 pattern. After a trial of overlapping the cards and seeing which ones I wanted where, I took a large sheet of a patterned contact paper and peeled off the backing and placed the cards face up on the sticky side. Very carefully, I place a piece of clear contact paper (with backing taken off) on top of cards. For finishing, I cut the excess contact paper off by cutting around the outer circles.
I just thought of another idea using the same process. Why not make a Christmas tree from the TDK cards and use for decoration! It's a great way to recycle and have a reminder of the lovely cards every Christmas.

Posted 1 year ago by LadyKat of IA #
Those both sound like some nice ways to make place mats!
LadyKat, if you have a pic it would be awesome!
But I think I kinda understand the concept.
I wonder if I have any floor material in my basement. I know I have tons of cards for all holidays!

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
Petpntr, did you paint that floor mat yourself? It's beautiful, I love the little 'Kilroy' chap on the bottom.

Posted 1 year ago by Moonshadow_NZ #
Thanks MS. Yes I painted it myself.

Posted 1 year ago by petpntr #
i am putting lots of treats in their stocking this year, well actually Rocky has a full size stocking and Mickey has a little mitten for his things, because he is so small. hehehe

Posted 1 year ago by Catfancier #
I left the bed out on my counter, and look what I found!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/RascalMylosbed.jpg
^Mylo decided he wants the bed for himself!

So I thought to myself... "self, I really like the color and design of the bed, and Mylo's freakin cute in it... I think I'll make another one for Rascal tomorrow."

Well I then decided that I was going to make this one all by myself!
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a226/blnk182chc14/Cell%20Pics/Rascalsbed.jpg
^It's a lot bigger than the green one, and I hated the design as a blanket, but I think it looks nice for a cat bed.
I realized how hard it is to make a circle with material and trying to sew in a circle with a sewing maching from back when my mom was younger.

I think I should get to bed though. It pretty much took me around 2 1/2 hours to make the bed, and I hadn't planned on staying up this late! hehe oh well

Posted 1 year ago by Niki and Charlie #
sooo cutee! my folks usually make their own toys when i don't realise it. but i do like to sew up sweaters and stuff when i get time.

Posted 1 year ago by Nirmal #

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