My cat has taken to sitting under the Christmas tree.
This is her spot as she anxiously awaits the moment that I say she can ‘open’ her Christmas present. You would think that she was a child – her exuberance and Christmas cheer is beyond compare. (And just in case you have started thinking that I am a little odd, I have to say that I would never have believed it either, but this cat has always had a special spot in her heart for the holidays. strange, but true.)
So… needless to say that since the cat is sitting under the tree waiting anxiously for the time when she can ‘open’ her presents, there must be some presents under the tree for her. And there are. We have wrapped the treats and I think that there is a cute little stuffed squeeze toy under there, but apparently it wasn’t enough.
This cat, strange as it is, has an uncanny ability to know which presents are hers, and she has decided that there just aren’t enough there yet this year. (I hate to admit that I am being ruled by my cat, but if you have ever owned a cat, you know just how persistent they can be. That, and I like to spoil her a little.)
At the first hint of an on-coming cat nap, I stole the catnip from its hiding place (without even waking the cat!) and headed to the studio. Today was all about the cat. (Okay, I say it was all about
the cat, but really, the 15 minutes that I spent on today’s creative project were all about the cat. The rest of the day wasn’t.) A couple of years ago I had bought her something called a crinkle bag. She loved it, but the bag didn’t last long. But she loved it. So, when deciding what her gift would be this year, I took inspiration from that toy. And I made funky little crinkle wraps ( or whatever you want to call them…).
To make a crinkle wrap toy: catnip is piled into a palmful of stuffing and then wrapped inside a square of kite paper and fabric (like in the picture) then tied it all with a ribbon, double and triple knotting it to make sure it is tied tightly. Note – I used kite paper because it comes in great colours and is partic
ularly crinkly and food grade, but if you can’t find any, waxed paper should be good too.
They look really neat and they were done almost as fast as it took me to type out this sentence. (I can’t say if they are cat approved until after Christmas – I really don’t want to give up the surprise for my Christmas-y cat.) But… they will crinkle well, and I think my cat is going to love them! (And so is every other cat on my Christmas list, but I digress.) If you decide to give this creative little Christmas project (Creative Christmas Gift Idea #34) a try for your cats, let me know if they like playing with them!
If, knitting a cat toy is more your speed – try Knitty.com for a knitted feline dim sum toy (fun!) And, for more thoughts on creative cat toys, Cathy has posted some neat ideas on diy.











