**RERUN** Crafting With Cats Easter Special ~ How We Made The Supurr Fluffy Carrot Catnip Kicker Toy

Welcome to

Supurr Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for the fourth Easter Crafting with Cats segment, and it's now definitely an Easter Eggstravaganza crafting bonanza! MOL  Mew know we have so much fun making all this stuff, and we hope mew enjoy seeing it and/or making it too.  

To see the previous Easter projects click the links below:

 Catnip Easter Eggs

Scratch'n'Purrch Magic Shroom

Work, Scratch'n'Play Desk

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**A quick note before we begin**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design and we share them for purrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purrposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil®

*    *    *

This time we're making the pawesome

The Supurr Fluffy Carrot Catnip Kicker Toys

What We Used:

Orange Faux Fur

Green Feather Trim

Wadding or Stuffing

Catnip

Cotton Thread

Scissors

Sewing Machine and Needle 

Optional Cat ~  Smooch was today's Craft Room Snoopervisor

"What do mew mean I've got catnip on my chin?" Smooch said, then added. "I definitely have NOT been trying the catnip stash!"

Let's Get Started

1. We used some of the orange faux fur left over from our pumpkin bed project a few years ago. We bought some green feather trim on a satin ribbon for the leaves.

2. Next we winged it, and just made a long triangular pattern - see dimensions on pic. As we wanted a longer kicker toy, so the first one was just a test, but luckily it worked out purrfect.

3. & 4.  Then we got some of the old faux fur offcuts and cut out our pattern, with a 1cm or 0.5" seam allowance all around.

5.  We folded it in half with right sides together, or the furry side inside. And pinned in place.

6.  We used a basic straight stitch to sew up the edge, and we did then use a zig-zag stitch to stop the edges fraying.

7. This is what it looked like before the zig-zag stitch.

8. Then we turned it right sides out, or fluffy side up! MOL

9.  Let's get ready to start stuffing. The wadding we used is from a cushion, and our catnip is homegrown.

10. & 11.  We used a wooden chopstick to push the wadding and catnip down the carrot. And we didn't overstuff so it has movement.

12.  Say hello to the fluffy carrot.

13.  Smooch had to sample the catnip just to make sure it was the supurr extra primo blend. (Mew see, he lied about not having any earlier! MOL)

14.  Then he eagerly awaited the next part. 

15.  We cut the feather ribbon into a 4" or 10 cm length and rolled it up. Apologies for no pics here but the P.A. found it impawsible to take any while trying the hold the carrot and feathers in place and then take a pic. Smooch couldn't believe it, and said, "That's a purretty poor effort, and I think mew need to try harder!"

We won't post the P.A.'s reply! MOL 

Anyhoo, basically while holding the rolled up feathers, mew stuff them into the top of the carrot and hand sew the whole top together, pulling your stitches tight so it gathers everything together leaving a nice domed top with the feathers poking out. 

16. And here's the finished fluffy carrot kicker toy.  

We didn't stop there we made five more! MOL

Let's see what The B Teams' reaction was:

or watch on YouTube by clicking here.

As mew can see Fudge thought the carrots were all his, basically because they are ORANGE! MOL

But that aside, and Fudge's little rough and tumble with Melvyn over sharing said carrots - see the video, they were enjoyed by all.

That pawesome furiends, furry sadly brings us to the end of our fourth Easter Crafting with Cats rerun. We do hope mew liked it, and if all goes to plan we'll be sharing a brand new project BBHQ on Caturday!

Amber will be here tomorrow with this weeks top book pick, so do stop by to see what she has in store for mew this time.

Epic crafty purrs

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Follow Us @BionicBasil® at Instacat, Twitter and Facebook

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable fur any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com  

**VALENTINE'S CRAFTING RE-RUN**PART II** Crafting With Cats Valentine's Special ~ Catnip Hearts and Kicker Toy and Come Say Hi to Young Melvyn (Melvyn's First Time on The Blog in February 2019)

Welcome to

Supurr Furbulous Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for Part II of our supurr fun Crafting with Cats re-run. We thought we'd get a head-start on the Valentine's Crafting, as the big day is only three weeks away, so if mew want to make anything we share over the next couple of weeks, mew should have plenty of time! 

If mew missed Part I, click here to see how we made an epic heart shaped crinkle mat.

Stay tuned for more epically epic crafty fun!

If mew missed any of our previous CWC posts, stop by the Crafting with Cats Page and see all our previous projects, and mew don't have to be an expert in anything to make any of them. Plus we offer workarounds and no-sew projects for those who don't like to sew.

*    *    *

**Purrlease Note**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil 

*     *     *

This time we're making 

What Mew Will Need:

Felt squares

Cotton fabric of your choice

Ribbon

Tailors chalk or similar fabric marker

Scissors

Thread and Needle or Sewing machine

Stuffing/Wadding

and we used lot's of home grown BBHQ catnip and catmint

Optional Cat ~ Parsley was today's Craft Room Snoopervisor

Here's our selection of fabric

Ooooh what purretty colours!

Making The Catnip Hearts

1. Parsley was snoopervising today's session and making sure all Health & Safety protocols were carried out.

2. Cut out a cardboard template of your chosen heart.

3.  Pick which colour felt square and trace 2 x heart outlines. 

4. Repeat No. 3 then cut out hearts and place right sides together.

5. & 6. If mew don't have a sewing machine, that's ok.  Mew can hand stitch the hearts together.  We used the sewing machine and left a good inch so we could turn the right sides out.

7. Turn right sides out and your hearts should look something like this.

8.  Get your catnip and stuff to the brim, then hand stitch the last part the of the seams together.

Making The Catnip Heart Kicker Toy



1.  Take your chosen fabric, we used this lovely cotton print. Cut a rectangle, mew can make to a size of your choice, though ours is approx 8 x 4 inches.

2.  Fold the rectangle along the long edge [in-half] and sew along the bottom and long edge, either by hand or with a sewing machine. 

3. Turn right side out and get your wadding ready.

4.  Stuff kicker toy, alternating with wadding and then catnip until full.



5.  Cut your ribbon into approx 4 inch lengths and add to top edge, tack in place if mew need to.  Stitch securely along the top edge to fully secure ribbons. 

And mew should now have something like this - some epically epic toys and a crazy cat or two, or maybe even three! MOL



Smooch was loving it!

Here's Melvyns furry first photo on the blog in 2019 - what a cutie! 

Before we go any further, we need to make a quick introduction, my young nephew Melvyn has just moved in so purrlease say hi, mew can see the furrmily resemblance can't mew? What a cheeky little chap he is! MOL 



Even crotchety Amber got stuck in too.



In total from start to finish, these 3 toys took about 25 mins to make. It would have been quicker but the P.A. couldn't see to thread the needle - PFFFFTTTT  - OLD TIMERS!

As mew can see the Valentine's toys were a total hit, the P.A. said she'd never seen so much cat drool and made a note on a post-it to use less potent nip next time - though we promptly ate said post-it note as we really like the extra potent nip! MOL 


And that furriends furry sadly brings us to the end of today's fun Crafting with Cats post, we do hope mew liked it and if mew decide to make your furry own Valentine's toys, we hope mew enjoy them as much as we are still enjoying ours! 

Amber will be here tomorrow with this weeks top book pick and we do hope mew can join us then.

Epic crafty purrs

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable fur any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com and www.pizap.com

mewsic used under paid licence www.audiojungle.net

**THE NEXT BEST THING WE'VE EVER MADE** Spooky Crafting With Cats ~ Part 31 ~ Halloween Special ~ How We Made the **TWO IN ONE CAT SCRATCHER**

Supurr Spooky Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for Part 31 of our Crafting with Cats segment. Mew know we have so much fun making all this fun stuff for feline enrichment, and we hope mew enjoy seeing it and/or making it too. 

If mew missed any of our previous CWC posts, stop by the Crafting with Cats Page and see all our previous projects, and mew don't have to be an expert in anything to make any of them. Plus we offer workarounds and no-sew projects for those who don't like to sew.

*    *    *

**A quick note before we begin**

All Crafting with Cats ideas and creations are of our own design, and we share them for purrsonal/home use only.

  So purrlease do not copy for commercial/resale purrposes.

Copyright ©BionicBasil®

*     *     *

THE Two In One Cat Scratcher

Isn't it epic?

What We Used:

5 x pre-made cardboard cat scratchers (£17.99)

1 x  large cardboard box

Non Toxic glue + Glue gun

Black spray paint (+ face mask)

Black non-toxic paint

1 x cardboard tube

Mini Ghosts

White + black felt fabric

4 x pom poms

catnip 

stuffing

**see Gordon the Ghost link below, and just reduce the pattern size**

Let's Get Started

CHAOS IN THE CRAFT ROOM

1. & 2. We had bought these five cardboard scratchers from Amazon with the intent of making something totally different, however they were much smaller than we thought, so idea one, was literally tossed out of the window. And a few minutes later we had another idea, and that  needed one large Amazon box too.

(Note: mew could make your own scratchers - see our tutorial here)

3. Making it up as we went along, this is what we decided. First we cut all the flaps off. And cut the side of the box out. 

4. This is what it looked like.

5. 6.  We repeated on the other side and this is how it looked.

 7. & 8. Next it was spray painted - always use a mask - and #8 was after a couple of coats   

(we didn't have time to apply more paint). 

9. & 10. Next we glued four of the scratchers in place to the back.

11.  Then we glued the last one in the bottom.

12.  Using one of the flaps we measured to make an infill piece.

13. 14. & 15.  This is what the infill looked like, we scored the sides along the line and bent them into postion, before gluing in place..

16.   We repeated the previous steps to make infills for the other side and front.

17. 18. & 19.  Taking a long wrapping paper cardboard tube, we cut it in half and glued along the sides of the other scratchers. So it filled in the tiny gap, and this is what it looked like.

20. Next we scored and folded the top flap in half.

21. We glued it together.

22. Then we glued the flap down securing it to the edges of the box. Then we painted the rest of the cardboard black.

23. If mew look at the top corner, mew can see we added a corner piece, as when we initially cut the flaps off in step 2, we were a bit slap dash and didn't cut it level so were left with a small gap, and this piece just covered our butchery! MOL

24. And this is what your Two in One Cat Scratcher should look like now. 

And there mew have it, only 24 easy peasy, supurr simple steps to making your very own Two in One Cat Scratcher! MOL 

It took just over a couple of hours to make, so not that long, and that's us making something that we've never made before so, it should take mew much less time.

Plus we made the two small catnip ghosts and added the catnip pumpkins from the Haunted House project. See links below for instructions and other Halloween crafting projects.

And we know mew're wondering why it's a two in one cat scratcher, well it was intially desgned to go up a wall, thereby offering a nice tall scratching scenario, but then we realised that it could also be used flat, and it makes a wunderpurr bed and scratcher, so the choice is yours on what your purrsonal preference is, vertical or horizontal! MOL

Smooch and Fudge are demonstrating the horizontal position, and there's more than enough room for two cats, two ghosts and three pumpkins!

And Fudge demonstrating the vertical position.

Fudge has pretty much claimed ownership of it, and is currently reclining (Sunday Morning - we only finished it late on Caturday) in the horizontal position in the sitting room! MOL

And for those who'd just like to watch us make it, here is the video - it's only 28 seconds long for those short on time! 

We'll share The B Team using it on The Midweek News, as we just didn't get time to add all the footage in and get posted on time.

Direct link to watch on YouTube

LET'S GET SCRATCHING!

What do mew think to The Two in One Cat Scratcher?

We think it turned out pretty well, given that we had no clue what we were making, and that we were really short on time due to the flood.

See our previous Halloween Crafting Posts Below:

Check out the epically epic Spooky House and Catnip Pumpkins 

Click here

and

The Halloween Crafting Special from 2019

Featuring oodles of fun projects including this giant furry pumpkin bed with catnip leaves and a catnip kicker stalk.

Click Here

Gordon the Ghost Spooktacular Meowoleen Snuggle Mat 2020

Click Here

The Trick or Treat Monster Truck aka MOG 1

Isn't it epic?

Here's how we made it ~ Click here! 

Check out our YouTube Channel for all our fun DIY Cat Stuff videos.

And that furiends furry sadly brings us to the end of our 31st Crafting with Cats post, we do hope mew enjoyed it, and if mew decide to make your furry own Two in One Cat Scratcher tag us on social media @BionicBasil.

Don't furget to check our yearly Halloween tradition of Spooky Story Time tomorrow in a **Brand New** B Team adventure called **Claws of Terror**, as we know mew won't want to miss that! MOL 

Spooky purrs

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!

Disclaimer:

We at BionicBasil HQ are not responsible or liable for any injuries to person/s and/or cat/s, crafting addictions, glue on cats, paper cuts, misplaced pins and needles, cats stealing your supplies, broken scissors, cat fur stuck on your projects, or your project not turning out as planned.  By using this information you hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless BionicBasil and staff from and against any and all claims for personal injuries or damages of any kind arising from the use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

Music used under license from SoundStripe. Track:Rave Kids Artist: PALA