Hello Pet Lovers and DIYers!
I'm back! I know, so soon... I just started the blog, so I have to go backwards and show you what I did, right? Of course! This one I actually did last night, so I'm not going back too far. This one took a bit more time and concentration, but is totally worth it! I made this as my puppy's new bed. Puppies tend to have some anxiety when their owners leave them home alone. This bed made from your old things will be warm, cuddly, and smell like you so your puppy will feel more comfortable. And again...it's FREE! :) Just repurpose!
Here's what ya need:
- An old sweatshirt (I prefer to use one with a hood. I'll explain later.)
- Several old t-shirts to use as stuffing
- An old pillow
- Needle and Thread (I know, me with sharp things! SCARY!)
1. Make sure everything is clean. Just because it's clean doesn't mean it doesn't still smell like you. You don't want a stinky t-shirt to stink up your whole house, do you?
2. Lay out the sweatshirt on the floor with the pocket side facing up. (If yours doesn't have a pocket, just put the front side up. I would avoid the half zips since they do have a sharp zipper.) Take and ball up your old t-shirts and shove them down the sleeves until you have the firmness you desire. I think there are three to four t-shirts per sleeve in mine. It will take more if you have a different size hooded sweater. Mine is a medium, if that helps.
3. Take the pillow and use it to fill the torso of the sweatshirt. It will be squarish for now, but no worries! We will make it look round. When I did it, my pillow was bit long so I bent it up to be like a back at the top of the sweatshirt to finish out the padded edge.
4. Now for the tedious part, you will need to stitch up the bottom of the sweatshirt. I will attempt to explain this as best as I can. Your way may be easier, but here's how I did it. I took the bottom edge that is stretchy from the front and folded it up. Then take the other side and make it match up with the seam on the top half.
Then, fold over the top to match the sewn seam on the other side to look like this.
Stitch it all up now! :) I hand-stitched, but it would be much easier if you had a sewing machine to do it real quick.
5. You are probably wondering what to do with the awkward sleeves. This was probably the simplest part. Take one stretchy part of the sleeve and put it inside the other to make a circle with arms. Make a few small stitches so it doesn't fall apart and then that part is done.
6. Now, you have to attach the sleeves to the torso. Position the arms around the torso to your desire. It may take some man handling, but hopefully, you find something you like. Flip your project over a hand-stitch until you feel like the torso is firmly attached to the arms.
7. Flip over and VOILA! You have your very own puppy bed! :)
Oh, I almost forgot! Why did I want a hooded sweatshirt you ask? I tucked my hood into the dog bed and it made a very convenient pocket! I am thinking it would be a great place to put a heating pad to keep the puppy warm when I am gone. I would use something more like a microwavable heating pad and not an electric because of the wires. Don't want to shock the puppy! Hope you have enjoyed this step by step tutorial of how to make your very own puppy bed from a sweatshirt!
I also included a video of what mine looked like when it was all done, a picture shown here that is supposed to help with size comparison (the photo album shown is a 12" by 12"), and what it looks like in the sunlight.
HAPPY CRAFTING!
This is less of a DIY and more of a "YAY, ME!", but I'm going to show you anyway! :) I recently bought a basket for Shelby at Hobby Lobby. It is a dark brown wicker basket with a jean liner to use as her toy box. I wanted to personalize it and somehow put her name or something on it. I looked forever for letters to put on it, but every time that I found something I liked in a good size, there was one letter missing that I needed. :( Instead, I decided (with the help of my husband) that it might be better to make plaque with just her initial on it in whatever colors I wanted. So I found a oval plaque and a really cute curly letter "S". I found this cute pink color and extremely sparkly blue! I painted them, hot glued the letter to the plaque and drew two puppy prints with a permanent marker! I also hot glued a ribbon on it to make a loop to hang from one of the buttons on the basket. It didn't look quite right without a bow! Luckily, I had ribbon here at home that matched quite well. Here is my finished product!
I promised some DIYs and you got 'em! I found this on Pinterest and decided to try it out myself. This is a tug toy for dogs made from old t-shirts. It is a perfect way to repurpose those old stained t-shirts that you never wear!
2. Gather your t-shirt strips and tie off one end using one of the strips. To help hold it, rubberband them first and then tie the fabric strip. It will help to hold them tighter so you don't drop it as much. Divide your strips into thirds and braid them together. The tighter you braid, the harder it will be for your dog to destroy it. If you find that the toy is too thick for a small dog, just remove some of the strips and it should solve your problem. 
3. Once you’ve braided down to the other end, tie up the bottom (use the rubberband if you need to) and cut any straggling t-shirt strips. Cut the strips close to the rope to avoid having your dog destroy it too quickly. To make it more challenging for your dog, tie a big knot in the middle of the rope to turn it in to more of a chew toy than a tug rope.
