We have been burning through dog toys around here, having 3 of us and all! Boss has to get (yet again) crafty to make sure we're not learning how to eat furniture or kitties. So.....with that in mind, she has come up with the solution:
DIY Dog Toys!
This is the first prototype of her "line" of toys for us. This one is made of 4" wide, and long pieces of fleece. Boss picked 1 color this time to make them look cute, but you can use any combination! She also uses 2, 3, and 4 color combinations- it's really up to you. First, I must apologize for my Boss's horrible picture quality- taking pictures in her "craft room" is tough, especially when the sun is coming up!
Once she had the fleece laid out, she cut 4 equal segments of each color.
Then, she started doing the knots. You have to sort of "weave" the 4 strands- it's difficult at first, but once you get going and have less yarn to work with, it gets easier. I always make an upside-down U, and on the other side of the knot, a "U", then think "over, under" to get the correct knot going. It's slow going at first, but after a while, it's just habit.
Keep making knots until you decide that the toy is the right length (there is no "right" length- it's all up to you)! Tie a knot at this end too, to finish the project off. The tighter, the better!
You can also do this project with t-shirt yarn, but you have to use 4 strands to make 1 thicker "strand" to weave, resulting in 16 pieces of t-shirt yarn total. Those tend to be really stretchy, but I still liked to play with them, nonetheless!
Ta-da! A cheap, durable doggie toy that us friends LOVE!
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| We LOVE our new toys! |
I have made these out of old t-shirts too. I have a bag of shirts waiting for me to braid. I'm going to make a bunch for my local shelter. The dogs love to tug them. I love the material that you used! ♥ Thanks for joining Thoughtless Thursday.
ReplyDeleteBoss made a few out of old t-shirts, and they looked/worked great! The shelter idea is so good- maybe we can do that for some of our rescue dogs (we volunteer for RAGOM, a Golden Retriever rescue) over the holidays! Thank you for the idea!
Deletewoah! that looks confusing. I know it's probably not though. Very creative of you!!!
ReplyDeleteWith my 3 huskies, we go through a lot of toys too!
Thanks for linking up with us :)
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
You're totally right- the pictures make the process look ridiculous! I found a Youtube video that showed how to do the knots, and that worked out so much better! We're all pretty impressed by how strong they feel, even though they're made out of fleece. I can't get my teeth through them yet! :)
DeleteThat's pretty cool! It looks just as good as the expensive rope toys we buy at the store Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLove & Biscuits,
Cathy, Isis & Phoebe
www.dogsluvusandweluvthem.blogspot.com
They work pretty well! The remnants at JoAnn fabric are really cheap, so Boss picks them up a lot and makes toys when we saw through them with our pearly whites. There are video tutorials out there for the certain knot that you keep making, which makes it a lot easier to understand! :)
DeleteVery good job on the toys. When we make toys like this I am always amazed on how much cloth it takes to make a length of toy. Great directions too.
ReplyDeleteIt does take quite a bit of fabric! Fortunately, it's cheaper than a lot of toys, AND there isn't white fluff all over the house like there is when we get stuffies! :D Thank you!
DeleteWOW step by step. I'm impressed. You sure got a creative side in you. Happy Thoughtless Thursday, Ruckus the Eskie
ReplyDeleteThanks! Boss is left-handed....she likes to think she's uber creative! :) At least she funnels all her creativity into toys for me! That's where it's at! ;-)
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