DIY Cat Scratcher

Oh surprise surprise, another post about cats.  Real cats this time!

We’ve acquired A LOT of cardboard boxes since our last move.  We have boxes in the hallway closet, in the bedroom closet, in the other bedroom closet, on top of shelves, under the bed, under the couch, behind the dresser.  I just can’t bring myself to throw them out because I know EVENTUALLY we’ll be moving and it’s so much easier to have the boxes on hand than go dumpster diving….again.  That’s apartment life for ya.  But the longer we live here, the MORE boxes we get.  I think they’re secretly multiplying.

I saw a cute DIY for a cat scratching pad and I kept it in the back of my head until I had some free time.

The thing about projects that you do on the floor is the cats always want to “help”.

Eevee was all about this project. The part that took the longest was cutting all of the strips. I used an x-acto knife and made my strips 4 inches wide. The only difference I made from the instructions was to hot glue the strips at each end instead of using tape. I feel like that made it more sturdy and secure. Oh, and I also didn’t add any paper to the bottom of the circle. I was just too pooped at that point and glad it was finished.

A helpful tip – after you cut your strips, roll them a little, bending at each corrugated line that way they more naturally curve in a circle. Or else you’ll have kinks and all of the cardboard won’t sit flush against itself like the photo in the DIY instructions. Does that make any sense? Sort of like this: http://www.rootsimple.com/2011/08/homemade-cat-scratcher/ There’s nothing wrong with this kitty scratcher. Just something to consider, if you’re expecting yours to come out looking exactly like the DIY photo.

Adding the cardboard strips started getting a little tedious after a while for us both.

Keep in mind the cardboard you want to use for the final outside layer. I had a bunch of LootCrate boxes to use up, and I think they made it look really cool! If you don’t know what LootCrate is, it’s basically a themed-monthly subscription of geeky goodies. I’ve received some really cool collectible figurines and t-shirts. It’s a lot of fun getting it in the mail!

A New Litter

I’ve been working on a fresh batch of kitties for the past few days. These ones are a bit bigger than my regular kitty figurines, and are made of hard plastic (instead of poly clay)! I cast all of these from that kitty silicone mold I made earlier. I’m loving that I can make a whole bunch quickly leaving more time to play around with some new ideas. Namely, their eyes. I love the simplicity of the black dots on my smaller kitty figurines, but sometimes you just want something a little more expressive. Plus, if I wanted to do something like red eyes, simple dots just looked a little too demonic to me.

The shop is closed right now while I work on a few order stragglers and play around with some ideas that have been simmering in my brain.  But hopefully soon I’ll have everything back up, including this batch of kitties listed. Lots of picture taking needed.

I think besides just sitting pretty on a shelf, this size kitty would make a nice wedding cake topper.  Especially on a larger cake.  I used to have kitty cake toppers in my shop, but as usual, one project falls to the back burner when you’re working on another!  I also got a revived obsession with Minecraft again, so that’s been eating some of my time.

Can you guess who these kitties are supposed to be?? I hope so! With the whole Sailor Moon revival with the 20th anniversary, I’ve had some cutesy ideas floating around in my head.
Say hello to Luna & Artemis! I’m not sure yet if I want to sell them as a set or separately. These ones I think would make cute cake toppers. Just add a little tulle veil and maybe a top hat and we’re good to go. Or not! I also have an idea involving the Sailor Scouts, but I’ll save that for another post.

And here’s a real kitty. This is my “garbage kitty” Eevee. She’ll sit in any boxes I put near the garbage can. Garbage kitty does not approve of these empty wine bottles.