Spotted Cat Designs

Thinking about scrapbooking, I started to wander the internet. Dangerous….very dangerous, especially for my purse

The Canadian CAT-a-Log.com

Pet Page Memories

The Fabulous Scrapstore

Pages in Time

“Diecuts with a View” Cat Theme Scrapbook Kit

Lots of others out there, just use Google and search under “scrapbooking cats”.

The nice thing about these supplies is that you can use the papers to create gift tags, gift cards, and to paper small craft projects. The stickers and appliqués can be used to decorate notebooks, chore charts, craft projects, clothing (the appliqués you can sew or glue), picture frames, chalk boards, bulletin boards, electric switch plates, even you computer monitor or file cabinet. The possibilities for fun are endless!

I recently wrote about free cat related craft activities for children (and parents!). Here are a few more good places to go.

Some sites with preschool age crafts:

Pre-school cat related lesson plan

Cat theme nursery rhymes, printable paper crafts, puzzles, mazes and word searches

Some sites with crafts for more than one age group:

Cat theme party favor

Free craft projects and patterns

Gifts to make for your cat

Listing of places for free crochet, knitting or sewing cat beds, toys, coats

Teen and adult level instructions for making cat usable beds, tents, toys and for drawing cats

For scrappy scrapbookers a few themes all built around the Karen Foster Designs Themed Kits:

Purrfectly Playful
Kitty Layout
The Cats Meow
Cat Nap Layout
Little Tiger Layout

Or try Diecuts with a View: Cat Theme Scrapbook Kit in a stack 8”X8” Pad) for something completely different

September is when I start my holiday gift shopping. I make handmade gifts year round (when I’m not sleeping, eating, blogging or at work… )

I bead, sew, embroider, needlepoint, macramé, decorate cakes, bake, cook and write. I use my bread machine to make a sweet bread dough that I then shape into a cat face. Bake and decorate with a chocolate kiss smile and frosting eyes and licorice whiskers. Yummy! Next time I make one I’ll put a picture up. Did I mention I have a creative streak?

Here are some more interesting books for multi-media crafty cat lovers:

Sassy Cats: Purr-fect Craft Projects interesting ideas

Cat Crafts (Kids Can Do It) Elementary school age cat theme crafts

Pet Crafts: 28 Great Toys, Gifts and Accessories for Your Favorite Dog or Cat some are child friendly. Toys or useful gifts for for your furry friend, or gifts of a feline theme.

A Year of Cats…in Hats: Crafts to Make You Smile a little cutesy, but interesting and fun

Cat Purr-sonalities in Cross Stitch I prefer needlepoint and embroidery, but the patterns in here are nice

For woodworkers and carpenters you can buy inexpensive plans for making cat trees from Cat Furniture Plans.

Or try these two patterns:

Scardy Cats Paper Woodworking Full Sized Plans Great for Halloween!

Cat’s Meow Scrollsaw Plaque Woodworking Plan a multi-depth pattern of jigsaw like cat silhouettes

For Quilters:

Two by the same author, I really like her realistic cats

Cats in Quilts: 14 Purrfect Projects

Kitty Capers: 15 Quilt Projects with Purrsonality

Also take a look at The Cat’s Meow: Purr-fect Quilts for Cat Lovers, 10th Anniversary Special Edition for lots of great ideas!

Cats On Quilts is quite different from some of the static feline representations in quilting. These cats are shown being cats!

For those in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is coming. So less playtime outside, and more creativity on the part of us parents to keep our children (and cats) amused inside. Here are some places that can help:

If you register (free) at Crayola.com, you can access their crafting ideas with cat themes. There were 51 such projects as of today.

National Geographic has a free printable animal coloring book, a kitty condo you can build together, and a very basic plant cat grass starting from seed, although I would get either cat grass or catnip seed from a pet store. Here is one type of kit you can buy, with all the components you need to get started.
This kit is a bit smaller.

National Wildlife Federation’s Kid Zone has projects like Kitty Pancakes (yummy!), a dual purpose hummingbird feeder (feed the hummingbirds and provide cat entertainment). You can sign up for a free parent email newsletter with activities and information, too.

Enature.com has fun quizzes to inspire learning about nature.

Enchanted Learning has cat-inspired crafts for young children.

On another note if you want to create and purchase high quality greeting cards from your photos, try Laughing Rhino.

Notice I am NOT including online games from these sites. I prefer hands-on creativity myself. National Wildlife Federation and National Geographic have such games.

Of course, I’m talking about indoor cats watching the birds and squirrels outside, not providing an easy hunting ground for outside cats. Winter is a great time to feed our feathered friends.

If you want to be able to identify the birds in your area, try eNature Field Guides, created by Audubon Field guides. If you go to this page you then click on your region and get information about the birds in your area geared towards the time of year. National Wildlife Federations’ Garden for Wildlife has a lot of great information, including how to get your backyard certified as a wildlife habitat. A great project for the family.

We have used a number of these free birdfeeder plans over the years. A few nice projects:

Pine Cone Bird Feeder use peanut butter or lard.

Another version of the pine cone feeder, with a variation for fruit eating birds as well.

Log Bird Feeder – requires drilling holes with an electric drill and hole cutter bit.

Five additional types of bird feeders from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Varying complexity and some allow for recycling of materials.

More advanced projects from the Bird Watcher’s Digest. Includes feeders, houses, shelters, bird bath/fountain, suet holders and more.