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I hear that most cats love feathers. Maybe it’s a repressed urge to hunt birds, or something, but my indoor cats go one up over love into an obsession. The other day I was digging through my craft stash to find some things to make some homemade cat toys and lo and behold I found a decent stash of feathers that I’ve accumulated over the years. It seems that I typically need 1 or 2 for a project but I buy new bags of them for almost every project. I just don’t know what’s going on with that :)
As I’ve got basket of hot towels to contend with I hear this strange scratching sound. Upon investigation it turns out that Maybelline, kitty #3 in our clowder, was dragging the entire tub across the desk until BANG, it hits the floor. On it in an an instant, Maybe is nothing but a puff of feathers belching up into the air. Both frustrating and entertaining me at the same time, I sighed with another mess to take care of ! At least I knew in advance that the new feather toys were going to be a hit with 1 of my kitties!
nd bad come out of something so little and sometimes really nice?”
Ready to make some awesome cat toys that won’t break the bank? I’ve got 2 options for you, both cats love, but hopefully help you’ll have everything on hand to make a fun toy AND tackle that ever-growing craft stash, you know what I mean? Let’s get it!
For this first feather cat toy project you will need:
- Loose craft feathers
- String
- Wood dowel
- Hot glue gun (hot glue is non-toxic and a good choice for DIY cat toys)
- Feather boa
Taking care not to burn your fingers glue together the quill ends of about 10 feathers together to make a little bunch.
Use string to bind the bunch together with a dab of glue here and there to hold the string in place.
Make a total of 4 bunches and trim up the excess string. At this point they look and feel an awful lot like shuttlecocks or birdies for badminton :)
Glue the bunches onto a dowel (thinner is better because it will kind of bend and sway as you play with it but I had this thicker guy on hand and used it instead). Remember that the glue will easily seep through feathers so protect your fingers as you work!
If the bottom of where your feathers are affixed to the dowel looks messy you can cover it up by attaching a few inches of feather boa to the base to cover it up. You can also add individual feathers to the toy to help fill it out in any empty spaces.
Boom! Lovely, right? Now let’s tackle the next toy, a bouncy creation that will drive your kitties nuts (in a good way!)
For this project you will need:
- Loose feathers
- Mesh braids
- String and needle
- Elastic
- Ring
Cut a dozen 2 foot pieces of mesh tubing.
Fold the tubing in half and run a threaded needle though leaving a tail of about 6 inches.
String on all of your tubes through the center and firmly knot to keep together in a tight cluster.
Taking the end of your mesh tubes, twist and fold the end inward. Place a feather on top of the folded mesh.
Using matching thread sew the quill of the feather into the mesh. Finish by wrapping the thread around several times to hide your stitches. Knot tightly and trim off excess thread. Continue for each mesh end, cutting and 1-3 inches off of each of the tubes for varying lengths as you go.
This toy is a bouncy thing because it is on an elastic cord. When kitty pulls down and then lets go it springs way up into the air. It’s quite fun! To attach the elastic simply stitch it around the area that you bound all of your tubes together in the center. Go crazy with the stitches because a lot of pressure will be placed on this joining when the toy is in use.
Sew a ring onto the other end of the elastic, again taking care to stitch well for maximum strength.
Fold all the tubes down and together and wrap with string to keep bound together.
It looks crazy, right? Cats LOVE these toys. This isn’t their first feather toy like this and won’t be the last because it really is such a crowd pleaser!
Place your finger in the ring and bounce it around in front of your cat and before long you’ve got one happy kitty!
Now it’s terribly difficult to get action shots of cats playing with toys that drive them up the wall (in a good way :) so please excuse these blurry pics! We were having too much fun to notice at the time!
My kitties just adore their new toys inspired by New LightWeight with Glade Tough Odor Solutions Clean Blossoms and I know that yours will too. Plus I bet you they’d love that litter, also.
Remember to leave a comment below with the name of your cat (or a friend or family member’s cat, I’m sure they’d wig out if you handed them 2 coupons for free litter, I know I would!) The winner will be selected randomly and will receive their coupons in the mail. You can’t win if you don’t enter so be sure to do that!
