About a year ago I was making flowers to put in a vase and they kept disappearing. I found my cat was stealing them to play. I decided to make him some of his own and since them have been sharing the trick for making these to my friends that quill for their cats. They are popular among the felines so now I am making some for our Humane Society that is a no kill shelter and over run with cats and kittens.

I mostly use scrapbook paper that has been given to me at crops. Stuff that doesn't sell and put in loot bags. I cut the paper in approximately 3 inch by 12 inch lengths. Then cut this paper in half on the diagonal so that the wide end is about 2 inches and the narrow end about 1inch. Then I hand fringe the paper and start winding it so that the narrow portion is in the center. I do glue the solid part at the bottom to keep the ball intact. Then I curl each fringe away from the center starting at the outside and it will gradually curl into a ball shape. I usually do this when I am watching TV as they are labour intensive toys but very cheap to make.

very cool idea!

Lovely idea for our furry friends. My cat loves playing with paper strips if they drop on the floor

I love these, do your doggies get stuck into them too? I wondered as I have 2 Maltese X Chihuahua and when I read your post about the packing peanut I cringed as our 2 are still pups and would just eat them too so I Have moved any of these out into the garage now. Then I wondered if they ate the cat toys as well? My cat is a Burmese and loves things to play with but the boys (dogs) are half her size and would whip in and grab one without a second thought. How long do they last before kitty pulls them apart? Were they quick and easy to make? Can you do a "how to" and tell us how to make one?
Thanks Heather, great imagination, can't wait to try one
Karon

So far they have been safe from the dogs. The dogs aren't really interested in them. The peanuts got really gummy and sticky which was what worried me. The dog before we had these two ate a Greenie and ended up in major difficulty with intestinal blockage so I am always on the lookout for trouble. I had a dog that loved kleenex and it went through her system well so I don't worry about paper as much. The humans occasionally squash them by accidently stepping on them. I haven't seen my cat destroy one yet but he loves to bat one around and will occasionally carry one in his mouth. My cat is a mature 14 years old though. A kitten might be harder on toys.


What I like about these is that they are really cheap to make. As a scrapbooker I go to so many crops where the stores hand you free paper that hasn't sold and no one wants. I use this paper for my cat toys.

I tried to explain how they were made but I certainly can do a how to with pictures if it will help and put it in the tutorial section.

Sounds excellent Heather, Look forward to giving one ago. Left over scrap booking strips if I can get around a 3cm wide strip, fold over to make it 1.5cm with the plain side on the inside then fringe away. It looks excellent if you can do a really fine fringe but I love the assorted colours and they are especially nice on a topiary.
My cat is mature too, around 10 I think but she quite playful though quite horrified at having dogs in the house so I am hoping this will make for a good bribe. Our pups are 3mths and we got them our 2 girls 7 & 9yrs. They would be devastated if anything happened to them and me not being a dog lover changed when these guys entered our lives they are amazing and so affectionate
Karon

You will have to convert to inches, not cms Karon. Think larger! Canada has converted a few years ago to the metric system but my mind still thinks better in inches.



We had the same problem with our animals when we introduced the cat to our new dogs. Matches, the cat, was not impressed with the two active invaders. 5 months later, they are starting to tolerate each other.

That's so sweet of you to make those toys for cats at the humane society! That's the perfect thing to do for your community! You should post pics in the tutorial section, because my cat loves balls!

Heather wrote:

You will have to convert to inches, not cms Karon. Think larger! Canada has converted a few years ago to the metric system but my mind still thinks better in inches. We had the same problem with our animals when we introduced the cat to our new dogs. Matches, the cat, was not impressed with the two active invaders. 5 months later, they are starting to tolerate each other.

I'm pretty sure that the US is like the only country that hasn't converted yet! We're stubborn . It seems inevitable to happen eventually though. I bet it will happen sometime in my life. I can't imagine "changing my brain" into getting centimeters and stuff like that though.

it's bad enough finding the marks for inches on a ruler let alone cm and mm,lol