Pack your bags....

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Cats. You either love them or you hate them.  I personally have a love/hate relationship with my two children. Most days they are cuddly and cute. Other days the incessant meowing (and peeing in my Longchamp bag) morphs me into Mommie Dearest and I start screaming about wire hangers.  Since it's the season to be thankful, and I'm most definitely thankful for my two babies Rajah and Rishi, it is high time I do something nice for them (aside from the occasional salmon treat), thus I set about making them their dream bed.

I was at the thrift store a few weeks ago, when I spotted a set of pukey green suitcases. Obviously the first  thought that enters my head is 'Can I afford $2 suitcases?', the second thought was CAT BED! The suitcase cat beds have been around for years, but I never arrive on time so why start now? I didn't use a tutorial for this project, I just went off the pictures I remembered seeing in the past, however some of my favorites were Kristen's from Green, it's the new blue (you can find the tutorial here) and Claire's American tourister bag. These girls know how to let a pet sleep in style!

No Sew Suitcase Pet Bed Tutorial

Supplies:

-Old suitcase
-4 Feet (thrifted, re-purposed, whatever…) I used wooden doorknobs that I got from Ace Hardware for $1.79/4
-E6000 glue

-Paint (for feet, if necessary)
-Stapler + Staples

-Scissors
-Foam Craft Board
-Fabric
-Batting and Foam (I used remnant batting and foam from my headboard project)

Optional Cat Banner:  Burlap, jute rope, and sharpie marker

Instructions:

1. Cut the foam craft board to the size of the width and depth of the bottom of the suitcase. This will serve as the base of your pillow

2.  Cut the Foam Stuffing to the length and width of your foam craft board.  I used multiple layers of foam to create the desired height (Mine was about an inch taller than the depth of the bottom of the suitcase). Glue the layers of foam together + to the base of foam craft board.

3. Cut batting so that it can be draped over the foam + foam craft board.  Staple the batting to the underside of the foam craft board.

4.  Do the same procedure with the fabric of your choice.

5.  Paint legs with color of your choice.  Secure legs to underside of the suitcase using E6000 glue. You may want to consider sanding the contact points first for best adherence (don’t paint the portion that will be glued, for a  better stick).

5. Optional: Make a banner using burlap (or any other choice of fabric) cut into triangles, and then stapled onto a piece of jute rope.  I stenciled letters onto my burlap using black and blue sharpie markers.  I secured the banner into the corners of the suitcase using safety pins.

The final product:

Rajah thinks his new bed is boss.

I know my kitties are thankful for their new resting spot.  What are you thankful for this holiday season?  Happy Thanksgiving, enjoy your friends and family and whomever you choose to spend the holiday with!  I know I for one cannot wait to get my hands on a turkey sandwich.....

Go Go Juice

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October is officially over, so now is the time to post all of the awesome things I have been up to over the past month!  This post is going to be pretty long short since....I haven't been up to a whole lot.  My daily routine consisted of:

1. Wake up, make coffee with ID Pumpkin Creamer (my new sugary addiction)
2. Job Search...I am officially a licensed IL PA ....all together now: WOO HOO...now must find job....
3. Watch horror movies till my butt goes numb or the clock reads 4:30am....
4. Repeat

So, now that you feel much better about yourself as your life is obviously way cooler than mine, let me proceed. I had a small get together the weekend before Halloween, so it was last minute scrambling for Halloween decor, costumes, and appetizers/cocktails.

• Decor: I am blessed with a City Target across the street, thus I made my way on over to the dollar bin, picked up 3 foam pumpkins and a metal pumpkin tin.  A little bedazzling, tacking, and glittering...and voila!  Decorations, complete.
• Cocktails: A Halloween party is not complete without a spiked spiced cider! I modified this recipe from Real Simple, to make half a gallon of cider.  Deeeeelish is the only descriptive I can come up with!
• Costume:  I mean obviously I was Honey Boo Boo for Halloween (very original, I know).  I just love her and her dysfunctional family.  She reminds me of myself when I was little....and sometimes of myself right now...minus the sketti...pageants...couponing....and forklift foot.

I partied with a Peacock (the tail look familiar?  I made it a few years ago...), Pee Wee Herman, the cat's pajamas, a zz top bearded man, and a slew of other characters. All in all, Halloween was a success, but let's hope November is a little more productive.

Be sure to vote on Tuesday!