It's the thought that counts



 Do you remember my blanket crafting project?

What with Mother's Day coming up, I've been working especially hard on it.

 

 

Oh, I know what you are thinking...that after all this time I should be done with all of that fringing and lacing.  Well, let me tell you, it's a big blankie!  It takes a lot of time...not to mention kitty spit...

 

Of course, while I was at it with the lacing project, I got another brilliant idea.  Since the blanket is so big, why not cut it in half and then I can do two projects instead of one!
 

 Check this out...

 

I may need mom's help with the scissors...

 

Not only can I have the stylish lace and fringed blanket...

 

I still have some lace work to do...cutting the blanket

in two took longer than I thought...

 

Look what else I decided to make...

 

Just a leetle more work to join those two holes and

make one big hole for mom's head to fit through.

 

Do you see?  It's going to be a poncho for mom.

Just in time for Mother's Day!

I still have a bit of work to do to make the head-hole bigger.

 

Say...

 

 

Do you think she'll like it?

This is why...

...we'll proly never have real Neko Flies toys.

 

There I was, helpin mom shred some papers for recycling.  She was pulling papers out of a notebook.  As she did, I noticed this cool piece of wire toy.

 

hey, what's this?

 

It sort of came out of nowheres.

 

woo hoo!

 

I just could not resist, I mean, go figure that you could find a cat toy in a notebook!  Well, mom noticed the fun I was having just with the bit of wire new toy and she she made it even better!

 

Check this out!

 

 

 

Mom was able to make two new toys for us.  She got a scrap piece of dowel to make a handle for one and tied a bit of fleece on the end.  For the other, she used an old cork for the handle, for lack of anything else, and hooked on a milk jug ring at the other end.  For both toys, she made sure there were no ends that could poke an eye out...safety first an all...

 

 

Our mom likes the wire 'cause then we can't cheat (her words) and try to chew through string to get at a toy (mol!).  Anywho, if you see your folks getting rid of some papers, be on the look out for a kitty toy and make sure they save it for you!

Toesday with Minnie

Yello!

My pawsies and I have another special post today.  I had to ask Wriggley to help me out so iffen you don't mind, you'll mostly be seein him and his pawsies.

See, our furriend Roo is lookin for a less stressful way to have his nails trimmed.  Wriggley said he'd share how he files his own nails!

For the record, I chew trim my own nails too.

hee hee!

*************************************************

You may find it hard to believe that a nice pup like me would turn into  a growling snarling ball of whitehot canine terror when mom comes near me with the nail clippers.  Mom showed me how I can file my own nails down while she figures a way to convince me that the clippers and such are ok.

I'll tell you what we did, but first I gotta say that this whole nail file idea wasn't my mom's.  She found some information on the innernets and one site in particular to mention is Shirley Chong.

The first thing to do is make your file.  You need a piece of wood - the size depends on you.  Mine is a bit narrow for me, but mom just made it with a scrap piece of wood she had on hand.  Then you need to get some outdoor tread/safety grit tape.  You can find this at a hardware store or online.  Make sure you get the black stuff cause it has the best texture for filing.  Stick the tape to your piece of wood.  Here mom made a bigger file for me...

Er, mom seems to have a habit of not getting enough of the tape...

Anyways, now you're ready to file!

Mom used targeting to teach me to paw the file.  Use whatever method that will encourage you to paw at your file and keep it fun.

As I figured out what I was supposed to be doing for the treats, mom took away the target and also made me do more paw swipes before I'd get my reward.  I tend to get pretty excited when we do this so mom usually rewards me with toys instead of treats.  Before I knew it, I was filing my nails!

A direct link to the movie is here.

I don't know how to do my back paws.  Mom says I have no rear-end awareness hasn't figured out how to teach me so I'll understand what to do.  My regular walks seem to keep them trim.  This is what my front nails look like:

I'm a bit tentative filing my "lucky paw" where I lost a toe, but I can still keep those nails trim enough.  We play this game every few days to weekly to whenever mom thinks about it!  Frequent and short sessions are best especially when you are just learning.

Roo buddy, I hope this helps you, and any other pup out there.

Have a good Toesday, everybuddy!

Woofs,

~Wriggley

I Wonder...



So everyday mom has been covering up my blanket project.  I figured she wanted to protect it.  You know, since it's such a work of art!

Well, I got to thinking, and...you don't actually think that maybe my mom doesn't want me to lace the blankie?

My blankie project, all covered up and safe.

Nah!  I didn't think so either...

My blankie project later in the day, after I've done a bit of lacing.

I'm getting ready to start another layer.

Cheers!

More DIY Style

with Pip.

Hello again!

I thought you might be interested to see how my blanket fringing project was coming along.  Well, mom made me stop I think I'm finished...mom made me stop I didn't want to over do a good look.

What do you think?

As I was finishing this up, I got another idea.  I really liked the holes effect and wanted to expand on that.

So...are you ready for this?  I decided to try my paw at lace!

Check this out:

My apologies for the dark pic-shers, the flashy on the flashy box washed out the white of the blankie

and made the lace even harder to see.

The inset is a close up.  Pretty nice, huh?  This is an advanced technique and takes quite a bit of time, not to mention a lot more kitty spit.  I'm thinking of only doing this to half of the blankie...after all, it's going to be getting colder here.  This way, I'll have sort of a dual season blankie: lace for the summer and simply fringed for the winter.

Do try this yourself.
I think you'll like the look and have fun in the process!
Cheers!

Holes

A couple of weeks ago I offered some decorating tips on fringing a blankie.

My furriends at the Katnip Lounge commented that they do holes in theirs.  Well, I thought this was somthing that I must try for myself.

What do you think?

My personal favorite, and quite frankly I must say this is genius...are you ready...

Ta-dah!

I call that "Hole with Fringe."  Stylish, don't you think?

Well, if you don't mind, I have a lot of work left to do to finish this blankie.

Cheers!

Make It Yerself Monday

Yow!  I think I mentioned before that I love rubber bands.  Well, mom knows they aren't good for me and doesn't let me play with them - she can't even leave any laying about cause I'll find them!  Mom has this special yellow one that she wears on her wrist, and I try to chew it off, I want it so badly!

What I was playing with in the movie we posted yesterday was a cardboard ring.  I guess it had seen better days!  It's almost as fun as a rubber band.

Here's how you can make yer own.

You'll need a cardboard roll, and scissors.  Have your folks help you to cut a ring off the end of the cardboard roll.  You can make it as wide or as thin as you like.

Instant low-tech-almost-a-rubber-band toy!

They're fun to whap all across the floor.

D'oh!