A bed that thaws cold paws!

Everybody has a sweater in there closet that they will never where again! There are sooo many ways you can repurpose that sweater into something useful! Today, I am going to show you how to turn a sweater into a warm and cozy pet bed for your cat or dog!

What you'll need :

* An old sweater or fleece blanket

- My sweater was a XL and was big enough to make a bed for a cat or smaller dog. If you want to make a bigger pet bed I suggest repurposing a fleece blanket

* Stuffing

- I ripped open an old pillow : )

* Sewing Machine

* Marker

* Pins

* A Stick or something to poke your stuffing into the bed. I used a paint brush!

First, choose an old sweater that you don't mind giving up.

Make sure the sweater is clean and doesn't have any sequins or beads sewn onto it that your pet could possibly choke on.

Turn the sweater inside out. I cut the arms off, so they wouldn't get in my way.

With a marker, draw a large circle or oval shape on one side of the sweater.

Make sure that the sweater is laying flat and the bottom hems match up.

Now, pin the front and the back of the sweater together. Put your pins about 1 inch or so inside of the circle you drew.

With your scissors, cut out the circle you drew earlier.

Now it's time to sew! I really suggest using a machine for this project. Sweaters usually unravel when cut and a close, tight stitch will keep your bed intact longer and keep the stuffing in. About 1/2 from the outer edge, sew around the circle and leave about a 3 inch opening. Make sure to backstitch at the beginning and end.

Turn your circle inside out through the 3 inch opening you left.

Now draw another circle about 3 or 4 inches from the edge. Put a handful of stuffing in the middle of the circle through the hole you left open. This will give the bottom of the bed a little more fluff. If you are making this bed for a cat you might want to put a little cat nip in with the stuffing!

Now with your machine sew all the way around the circle you just drew leaving no opening this time. It' okay if you sew over some of the stuffing, but try to keep the stuffing in the middle.

Now it's time to fill the edge with stuffing. Grab a small handful of stuffing and put it into the opening. With your stick (or paintbrush in my case) poke the stuffing about half way around the edge of the circle.

Keep adding handfuls of stuffing and keep poking it in until you reach the opening. Now start stuffing the other direction until the whole outer edge is full.

You can either machine stitch the opening close, or you can hand stitch it with some strong thread. I hand stitched my opening.

Now, your done! My bed only took about 20 mins to make, and it didn't cost a thing! I have made many of these beds before, and the animals love it!

The bed made in this crafty creation was donated to a wonderful, local no-kill shelter. My husband and I are major pet lovers but don't have any permanent pets yet. Instead, we choose to foster animals in need. Fostering is very enjoyable and rewarding! Whenever our shelter is at capacity and our home is empty we go and pick up a momma and kittens so they will not be euthanized. We would foster dogs as well, but we don't have a fenced in yard : ( We get them healthy and vaccinated, and when they are of age we take them to Petco every Saturday until they find their furr-ever home and get adopted! Fostering is fairly easy to get started in. Your shelter may require a home visit and some paper work to be filled out before you take a animal into your home. And, they provide a great support system incase you have questions or concerns! If fostering isn't your thing and you are looking to add a pet permanently into your family, consider adopting from your local shelter!

There are so many animals out there that need a loving home. PetFinder.com is a great website that you can visit. There you can put in what kind of animal you are looking for, what sex, and even what breed, and search for animals that are near you. I personally suggest going to a shelter and visiting the animals one - on - one and choosing them based on there personality instead of their picture : ) You never know what mangy mut will melt your heart!

Oh, and keep checking the blog! DEC 1ST - 7 will be a week filled of Christmas Crafty Creations! I can't wait! I have some great tutorials that will show some great gift ideas and decorating ideas!

*Jes*