Monday, 5 February 2024

**VALENTINE'S CRAFTING RE-RUN**PART VI** Crafting With Cats Valentine's Special ~ How We Made The Love Shroom ~ The Double Decker Cat Bed

Welcome to

Crafting with Cats Valentine's Special Banner ©BionicBasil®

Supurr Furbulous Greetings Pawesome Pals

Thanks for joining us for Part VI 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 now only just over a week away, so if mew want to make anything, mew should have plenty of time! 

If mew missed Part I, click here to see how we made an epic heart shaped crinkle mat, and here for Part II, when we made some epic catnip hearts and kicker toys. Check out Part III for the most epic Valentine's Cat Cottage ever. For Part IV and the Best Cat Tree Glow Up Ever, click here. And for Part V click here to see the Catnip Cookies.

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.

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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®

The Love Shroom


Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® The Love Shroom with Melvyn

What We Used:

2 x large cardboard boxes

glue gun + non-toxic glue

wadding

white felt squares

pale pink crushed velvet

grey felt

Loose pom poms in greys and pinks

White pom pom trim

sewing machine ~ scissors ~ pins

Optional cats ~ Fudge and Pandora


Let's get Started

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 1 - 4

1.  We used two large cardboard boxes.

2. First, we opened one box fully and cut off the top flaps.

3. Next, we rolled the cardboard to make it cylindrical.

4. Then we trimmed the bottom flaps, and cut vertically, so it made it easier when we attached the bottom in step 8.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 5 - 8
 
5. This is how it looks when it's rolled and the edges glued together.

6. & 7. We checked the diameter before cutting a circle to fit inside the bottom.

8.  Next, we glued the bottom in place.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 9 - 12

9. & 10. Fudge came to inspect the shroom for size, and gave all paws up to continue.

11. & 12. Then we drew a doorway and cut it out.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 13 - 16

13. & 14. Using the second box, we measured for the mushroom top and made the outer rim approx 3" or 7.6 cm wider all the way around.

15. & 16. We cut it out and tried it on top of the base to make sure it was the right size.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 17 - 20

17. & 18. Using our pale pink crushed velvet, we placed the cardboard top on it to make sure we had enough fabric to get under the rim once it's padded, so it would completely cover the cardboard when the top is attached to the base. So make sure that your fabric is quite a bit bigger.  Mew can also add an extra layer to the cardboard circle to strengthen it.

19. & 20. And then we cut out lots of white felt circles in different sizes. We placed them on the cardboard, just to get the best pattern. 

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 21 -24

21. & 22. We pinned all the way around the cardboard circle on the fabric, as our white tailor's chalk didn't show up, and we needed a guide for the edge. And then we placed all the felt circles and pinned them in place before sewing with a zig-zag stitch on the machine. Mew could glue or hand sew at this stage.

23. All the felt circles are securely attached.

24. Next we used the wadding out of an old cushion and heaped it up on top of the cardboard circle.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 25 - 28

25. We carefully placed the crushed velvet in place, and mew can see how much extra fabric was needed. We also tried to shape the wadding, so it was higher in the middle. Then we flipped the entire thing over and glued the crushed velvet in place, pulling it taut. Think of covering a chair bottom.

26. This is the finished mushroom top, we cut off any excess fabric underneath, but we also made sure that underneath portion of the rim was completely covered, so it looks like mushroom gills. 

27. & 28. We covered the entire base in a light grey felt and glued it in place.


Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 29 - 32

29. We snipped the felt edge like step 31 and glued it down. 

30. Next, we cut out the door way, leaving plenty of fabric.

31. & 32. We snipped the fabric back to the edge of the doorway and then folded and glued in place.

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 33 - 36.jpg

33. We used the remaining felt to cover the inside of the mushroom.

34. Next we got our small pom poms and began to glue them around the opening.

35. Pandora came to check on the P.A.'s progress and to make sure she wasn't slacking off! MOL

36. The pom poms look great! 

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® How We Made The Love Shroom Steps 37 - 40

37. We glued the mushroom top to the base.

38. Then we decided the top needed some pom pom trim.

39. Then we decided we had enough crushed velvet left to make a cushion.

40. And here's the Love Shroom finished. Isn't it cute?

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® The Love Shroom with Melvyn, Smooch and Fudge.

These three wasted no time at all, and as Smooch says, "Mew snooze, mew lose!" As he got there first! 


Watch the video:


or watch on YouTube

What a totally fun project to make, all the cats love it and if mew watch the video to the very end mew'll see Fudge wanted Melvyn off the top, and well just see for yourselves! MOL

Valentine's Crafting with Cats ©BionicBasil® The Love Shroom with Melvyn and Fudge

We've now moved it into the upstairs lounge, we swapped it with The Observatory for something different, and Melvyn has moved out of his glamping tent and into the shroom! MOL
 

And that furiends furry sadly brings us to the end of today's pawesomely fun Crafting with Cats post, we do hope mew liked it. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel as we've got lots of videos there, and some of which mew might have not seen before.

We'll be back tomorrow with Chapter 14 in our brand new and the terrifically exciting, claw-biting, edge-of-your-seat adventure; if mew missed last week's installment, click here.

Epically crafty purrs and don't forget to...

Valentine's Banner ©BionicBasil® Stay Fluffy

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team










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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 the use of any Crafting With Cats posts we may share.
Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 
Music Used under licence from www.soundstripe.com ~ Artist: Pala - Track: Lost Without Love