Another Cat Toy Done on the Cheap

Willow (previously known as Test Kitten, T.K. for short) has grown, and so have her needs. She gained size, but lost none of her energy, and so needs more cat safe activities to keep her out of trouble. When I noticed how excited she got over some pool noodles that hubby and I bought (to be featured in  another project), I figured that would be the perfect building block for Willow's new scratchy-batty-chew toy.

Early test to see if she's even interested. She is!

The base was the side of a drawer from my soon to be replaced (fingers crossed) wardrobe. We stabilized it using small sections of pool noodle cut in half length-wise secured with duct tape . The longer vertical section of noodle was secured with my trusty Gorilla Glue.The fuzzy ladybug toy was from a package of assorted toys. She played with it maybe 3 times since getting it, and it had a dangle to tie it to something, so I did. I poked a length of ribbon through the top of the noodle and knotted it at a length to facilitate maximum swinging. 

Shortly after this pic, the toy was attacked from above.

I covered the base using some scrap fabric I had laying around. I figured she would think the duct tape was the real novelty and so this cover seemed like a good idea. It looks better too. Although this doesn't get as much love as some other toys, she still loves to beat this mercilessly. Another win on the cheap.

After many attacks a few weeks later. As you can see, it stands up to the Willow test.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Cleaning Sand Dollars

This week, one of the servers in the restaurant I work for was given some sand dollars by a customer (along with a tip). He knows that I love to make stuff, so passed them to me to see what I could do with them. If you have ever picked up sand dollars on the beach before, you know that they aren't clean by any standard. In fact, they aren't even slightly white. These were brown, and a little fuzzy for lack of a better term.

Filthy sand dollars before soaking.

To get that creamy white color they must be cleaned first by a fresh water soak. I soaked mine for over 24 hours. This is largely because it was already 6 pm and the sun was required to finish the task. In the end, this was a good thing because most of the debris fell off in the last 6 hours. I also was careful to change the water a few times... it can get smelly!

Just added to bleach. See how much cleaner they look already.

Follow the soak with a ten minute bleach bath followed by a good rinse.

Out of the bleach and into the sun.

The final step is a sun bleaching session. This should help with any yellowing. I did not have yellowing after the bleach, but a few grey and pink spots remained. The sun cleared these right up in two hours. Please keep in mind that the times I used here worked for these sand dollars. Dirtier ones may need more, and cleaner less. Use your best judgement.

Finished product.

In the end, I was left with 4 beautiful sand dollars ready for crafting for the price of a splash of bleach... total win.