How to Make a Cat Tree - Things to Keep in Mind As You Build Your Own Cat Tree

By D. J. Blandford

Learning how to make a cat tree is an excellent opportunity to be creative while saving up to $250 at the same time. With many costing $75 on the low side and upwards of $350 on the high side, it's no wonder do it yourselfers are looking to make their own using a good set of cat tree plans.

The tradeoff, of course, is a little bit of your time, but the payoff is well worth it. With the right tools and a good set of plans, most cat trees can be completed start to finish in just a few days or less. You'll be excited to see the finished product, knowing you created it with your own two hands. Get the entire family involved. Kids love designing things for their pets.

Things To Keep In Mind As You Build Your Own Cat Tree

As you begin the design and construction process, understand a cat tree should adequately address a few of your cat's key needs. Cats love to play, sleep, and scratch.

First, it should provide a place of safety and security. If you have a larger cat (exceeding 20lbs), it's important to use strong materials and a construction design that provides extra support. Otherwise the entire structure can tip over when your cat climbs to the upper levels.

Likewise, if you have an older cat, you'll want to make the cat tree more accessible by including ramps and/or steps. The addition of a den-like cat condo can provide a place for your cat to feel more comfy and secure. You never know when your favorite furry feline will need to get away from the family dog or hide from overzealous children.

Next, your kitty will want places to romp and play. She'll also want a place to stretch out when she wears herself out after flinging mouse and feather toys all over the living room. You can meet these needs by building in layers consisting of a variety of different sizes and shapes of platforms/shelves. Cats like to be up high so don't be afraid to build both up and out.

Build some peep holes and crawl-throughs for cats with an adventurous side. Don't forget to hang toys from the underside of upper shelves for your kitty to bat around at her leisure. Change these up from time to time to keep your kitty from getting bored.

Lastly, if you want to save the arms and legs of your couch, it's important to include scratching posts when you make a cat tree. The same posts that provide structural support for the platforms can easily be modified to double as scratching posts by wrapping them with sisal rope.

Next, now is the time to spoil your cat and learn how to make a cat tree easily and affordably: Make A Cat Tree.

If you really want to create your own kitty funland that will provide both you and your cat with years of fun and enjoyment while saving you tons of money, get the best do it yourself cat tree instruction plans by visiting http://www.HowToMakeACatTree.com.

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Easy Home Made Dog Toys

By Jimmy Sam Karter

Construct your own homemade dog toys inexpensively. All you need is a little period of time to hunt for needful materials. Toys of dogs are generally expensive and don't tend to last very long, so building house made varieties that are inexpensive is best, particularly when you have a dog that truly love his homemade toys. Here is the list of most popular home-made dog toys that you can easily construct at your house.

Naughty Rope-:
Worn out fragments of rope build excellent dog playthings. The easiest version is to directly take about a rope, then fasten a knot in the middle. The second knot on top of the first makes for a sturdier toy and provide your dog with a good place to grasp it.
A knot on each end of a length of rope makes a fun toy, and you can prepare these out of various lengths to give your dog variety.

Loop Loop-
Take a longer length of rope, approximately two feet, and tie the ends closely to make a loop. This toy is fun for dogs who like to play tug, and particularly works great if you have a male and female dogs.

Bone Toy-:
It's very easy to cut out some bone shaped portions of clothes and then sew them most of the way together, stuff the toy with wool pieces or cushion stuffing. These playthings can be made very rapidly and easily.

Toys With Sound-:
To Construct a toy which produces sounds, keep some crispy beans in a clean bottle with a children-proof lid. Place the box inside the homemade stuffed toys.

Sock Toy-:
A fast and simple dog toy is to take an old, cleaned sock, split a plump carrot in half, then keep the carrot pieces into the sock. Tie the mouth of the sock and let your pup play with it. Dogs like to bite on these and best of all these toys are inexpensive.

Tire Toy for Strong Dogs-:
Dogs with extremely strong jaws need toys that will stand up to a lot of abuse. One of these is a toy made out of an old tire. Tie a rope through the tire, then suspend it from a tree at the dog's ears level. Once your pet gets used to enjoy with the tire you may want to raise it a bit to make it even more interesting. Make sure your pet does not chew sections off of the tire, if he/she consume them it could make him/her ill.

http://www.dogowner.webs.com

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How to Make a Frilly Collar or Ruffle for your Dog

Has your dog got somewhere special to go a party or a wedding maybe and you want them to look dressed up for the occasion? Well a frilly dog collar or a Ruffle for a lady dog is the perfect accessory and quick and easy to make.

If you are going to a medieval wedding a Ruffle is also great for a male dog.

To make a frilly dog collar for a medium sized dog you will need…

Fabric – I used Velvet, but anything you have to hand will do.
Wide lace,
Ribbon,
Satin roses to decorate if desired.

Cut out a rectangle of fabric 50 inches by 8 inches. Fold the two ends together and cut the corners so that they are rounded. Over lock or zigzag the edges of the fabric.

Sew the lace to the edges of the fabric to cover the zigzag stitching. There’s no need to gather the lace sew it on flat. When you get back around to the beginning, let the lace overlap the starting lace by an inch or so.

Fold the fabric in half lengthways with the right sides together and pin. This will show you where the centre of the strip is. Hand sew running stitches up the middle of the fabric drawing up the fabric tightly as you go.

Un-pin and lay the fabric out wrong side up and mark the centre point.

Take 54 inches of ribbon and cut the ends on a slant to prevent fraying. Find the middle of the ribbon and pin it into place on the centre point of the ruffle. Pin the ribbon onto the ruffle on the running stitches and then sew into place.

Allow the wrong sides to close together to complete the frilly collar, and simply tie the ribbons in a bow around the dog’s neck. You can add satin roses or ribbons to the ruffle at the front if you wish to.

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How to Make a Dog Coat

By Praline Ramirez

The manufacturing of a dog coat and other apparel has become the fastest growing industry for several years. With the continuous demand of dog apparels their prices are becoming expensive also. Even Gucci and Ralph Lauren are into designing dog clothing and accessories.

If you go to a local pet store, their prices for a simple dog outfit, small dog coat, and winter dog coat can be a little pricey considering the material used and the design. To save yourself some money, try making your own dog clothing. It is very simple and any dog lover could try making this project at home.

Here are the materials you will need to make dog clothing: Fabric, scissors, thread, small buttons, sewing machine, ruler, tape measure, pen or marker, pattern paper, and any accessories you can add. All these items are cheap. The trick to sewing fabulous dog clothing is how you make it.

• Measure your dog from his neck to the end of his tail. The fabric you will buy will depend upon the size of your dog and the weather. If it is a small dog then you can sew a small dog coat. If it is winter season then purchase a thicker fabric to create a winter dog coat.

• Create a design into the pattern paper using the measurement of your dog as your guide. Once you finished designing, cut the pattern paper.

• Pin the pattern paper into the fabric and use the pattern paper as your guide in cutting the fabric. Make sure that you have allotted at least ½ inches. Use these extra inches to sew all edges of the fabric to make sure that it does not ripped apart. It is important to do this instruction before continuing to sew the entire dog clothing.

• With the help of the pattern paper, mark the fabric where all seams match or where the collar should be attached or where you should place your buttons, and the like.

• Once you have done marking the fabric, sew the dog clothing together by following the pattern's instructions.

• After sewing the pieces of fabric together, attached the buttons on it. For small dog coat and winter dog coat use buttons that are big and sturdy.

• To make it more fashionable you could add up some accessories on the back part of the dog clothing.

These steps can be easily accomplished once you start putting them into action. When you are done with these steps you will realize just how easy it is to make your own dog coat.

Praline Ramirez is a writer for Little Pampered Pets, an online pet boutique. Visit us at http://littlepamperedpets.com

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How to Make Homemade Parrot Toys

By Robert Markman
Homemade parrot toys are an excellent substitute for pet shop bought toys as long as you know what entertains your parrot and you keep their safety constantly in mind. Parrots rely on toys to keep themselves amused as well as for a lot of their mental stimulation and ability to carry out their natural instincts like foraging, burrowing and exploring.
It is a good idea to initially buy some manufactured toys from the pet store so you can get a good idea of the correct size of toys your parrot can play with safely as they normally have a size guide on the parrot toy packaging. Also you can see how your bird reacts to the toys and what style of toy your bird really enjoys. As parrots naturally explore and play with their toys they will bite, chew and gnaw on them and eventually they will break and disintegrate until they are unsafe for the parrot to play with anymore and this is when you can replace them with your homemade parrot toys.
You should always have your parrots safety at the forefront on any homemade toy design so you should only use materials that are safe for your bird which normally means no artificially coloured materials or materials treated with chemicals of any sort. This leaves you with materials such as cardboard, rope, towels, certain types of paper, certain types of plastic and certain types of metal chain ( although zinc plated metal should not be used as it is toxic to parrots).
If you have experienced parrots before you may already know of their fondness of any and all jewelry you may be wearing as well as your hair and pretty much anything they can grab or play with about your person. A good way to combat this is to make an activity blanket or shirt. You take an old comfortable shirt or towel and sow everything from buttons, coloured strings and beads all over the front side. Now when you take your parrot out of its cage it will quite happily play with all of the shiny sown on items. Just make sure after each session of play that you check to make sure all of the buttons and beads are still securely in place.
Other popular toys involve placing a cardboard box in the parrots cage covered in paper so that it presents the opportunity for your parrot to burrow and explore what is their new 'cave' and hiding a treat inside just adds to your parrots pleasure. Another popular toy is constructed using a thick rope that is knotted in various places as this makes an excellent toy for your parrot to grab and chew on. Other popular toys can be made out of bubble wrap, empty brightly coloured soda cans, squeaky dog toys etc
The only real limit to homemade toys is your birds safety and your own imagination and with that advice you should be able to come up with and make many many enjoyable and entertaining homemade toys for your parrot.
Robert Markman is a homemade parrot toy expert and has been caring for parrots for over 18 years.. For more great information on homemade parrot toys visit http://www.parrotadviceguide.com.

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Bird Feeding Pine Cones

Birds that stay in places all through the winter need food. One winter craft that students can do is to make a pine cone bird feeder. Students simply need to cover a pine cone in peanut butter and dip it in bird seed. After tying a bit of string to one of these pine cones, it can be hung up on a tree outside. These pine cone bird feeders do not just feed the birds, they act as beautiful ornaments for an outdoor tree.