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"Mama Can We Make ... ?" Catnip Mouse |
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With fall truly here and winter fast approaching, we've been thinking about how different life is for our cat during the long dark days of Idaho winters. During the seemingly endless days and nights of summer warmth, she would roam freely; running, climbing and pouncing as she pleased. But the cold, rain, wind and finally snow will make her life much more tame, sedentary (relatively ... moths just don't present the same challenge as mice), and, well, boring. So this year we've decided to make her very own catnip mouse and perhaps catnip ball as well. Our cat's fifth birthday just passed and the kids got to thinking about a good present for her, so the timing was right for preparing indoor cat-playthings. We were aware that catnip "mice" are available for purchase at a variety of pet stores, but we were determined to create our own "custom" catnip mouse, just right for Isabella. Catnip seeds and plants can be purchased locally, or you can get bagged, dried catnip to fill your mouse or ball.
You will need:
~ 1 child's sock
~ Felt scraps
~ Plastic scrap, such as from a laundry or dish soap jug
~ Cotton yarn
~ Darning needle
~ Black embroidery floss
Making the mouse:
1. Using scissors, cut off the toe section of the child's sock up to the heel. Also cut two mouse ear shapes from the felt scraps and cut a teardrop shape from the plastic jug, about the same width as the sock if it were stuffed.
2. Insert the plastic teardrop into the sock (it helps to hold the mouse's shape) with the pointed end toward the toe of the sock and fill the sock with the dry, crumbled catnip leaf. Turn back the sock's edge and, with the cotton yarn and darning needle, lay a running stitch around the opening (young children will need assistance, but for kids about 5 and older, they can sew this simple stitch with minimal adult help). Draw the yarn tight to close the opening.
3. Tie off the cotton yarn, leaving the extra for the tail. Sew on the felt ears and create embroidery floss whiskers by stitching them through the "nose" forward of the ears.
Your catnip mouse is ready to be batted, chewed and played with for hours on end and make for a happy cat. When it is finally falling apart, you can try a ball next!
Isabella the 5-year-old cat thinks catnip is proof that god is a cat.
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