Friday, August 6, 2010

Homemade Catnip Toys!


I've had catnip growing on my balcony for months. The caterpillars got to it too, but I didn't spray it because I can't really wash it. When I first used Bt to get rid of the little suckers I decided I'd only use it on things I could wash before consuming.  

After battling with the caterpillars for a few weeks I decided to cut the tall shoots and dry them. I chopped the whole plant down to the soil. There was almost nothing there when I was done. (It's huge again but that's another story!)

I took the tall shoots that I'd cut and hung them in three separate bunches in my guest bathroom.  They hung there for over a month before I decided they were dry enough to be crumbled.  I took the leaves off the stems one afternoon and put them into a baggie. Most of them crumbled easily, but others were still a little too wet.  I left them in the baggie for a few weeks.

This evening I decided it was time to use the catnip that I'd grown, dried and crumbled to make something for my two furry friends!

First, I took stitching out of two places on a Victoria's Secret Pink stuffed dog I got for free and stuffed a little bit of catnip inside.  Minutes earlier I had taken the catnip and wrapped it in a two different coffee filters so it wouldn't go everywhere.



After giving the toy to my cats it was obvious that I couldn't give them just one, so it was time to make something else.  Here's a video just minutes after giving it to them for proof! 

I grabbed an old t-shirt and went to town!  After sewing it up with the catnip in a coffee filter and a tiny bit of stuffing inside, there was still something missing.  It was so - plain. I ended up adding a little fish that I stitched without even drawing it on first. I'm not much of a sewer, so I'm quite proud of myself! 



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