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Happy kitty kennel mats with Michaels Craft it Forward

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RAOK1

Did you know that this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week? I didn’t, but it seems appropriate that it takes place during the week of Valentine’s.  In celebration on Sunday, Feb 17, 2013, Michaels will be giving away more than $100,000 in gift cards at their store locations across the U.S. and Canada.  Their hope is that those who receive this random act of kindness will then Craft it Forward with a random act of kindness of their own.

Can I just say I love Michaels?  This is such an awesome program.  AND, to help spread the word about Random Acts of Kindess Week and their Craft it Forward promotion, they sent me a gift card to create a craft to bring a smile to others.  Seriously, I love Michaels!

And not to sidetrack my post any further, but want to hear something exciting?  Michaels has given me 5 $5 gift cards to give to Craft Gossip readers, so you, too, can Craft it Forward.  You can go to my post in our Giveaways section to get entered.

But now, let me get on to showing you what I made with my supplies.

When I thought about crafting it forward, the Little Rock Animal Village immediately came to mind.  Our family has been blessed twice with cats from their shelter.  The folks here love animals and work tirelessly to help their temporary residents find their forever homes.

I used my Michaels gift card to buy supplies to make several projects for the cats staying at Little Rock Animal Village.  I’ve split them into several posts.

Today I’m showing the happy kitty kennel mats I made.  I bought a stack of t-shirts in bright colors to make the outsides of the mats.  The shirts turned out to be on sale for just $3 each.  Yay!!!  The filling was donated by someone who works at Little Rock Animal Village.  With 13 shirts, I made 18 mats.

They’re all mixy-matchy and bright and happy.

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And because they’re t-shirt material, they’re also soft and snuggly.

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Each one is unique.

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DSC_2332_edited_smallDo you see that black kitty tail?  That’s Mogli’s.  He’s one our kitties who came to us by way of Little Rock Animal Village.

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My hope is that they’ll make the kitties’ kennels a little happier and brighter and softer until they find their own forever home.

Here’s Mogli again.  Isn’t he a handsome kitty?  He had to check out what I was doing with all those soft mats.

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Check back tomorrow to see another project I made with the supplies I got from Michaels.  And be sure to go enter my giveaway!

For insipiration, check out the Michaels Random Act of Kindness Pinterest board to see what other bloggers have done to Craft It Forward.

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Comments

  1. I LOVE Little Rock Animal Village. I LOVE Michaels for sharing the love. And I LOVE you for putting the two together. Those snuggly cushions are going to make a lot of lonesome little kittehs a little happier. Yea!

    Reply

  2. LOVE the fact that you have cats from a shelter and that you’ve made such a lovely sewing craft and contribution to the kitties currently at shelters. All of my pets have come from shelters and my kitty is a very big assistant with sewing projects and giveaways on my blog.

    I also just hosted a Pay it Forward event on my blog last week! Love this idea.

    Reply

  4. All my cats have been feral strays who showed up at my door. Couldn’t ask for a better pet. Thanks to Michaels and everyone who crafts and donates to the shelters.

    Reply

    • I don’t remember the size. I wish I had written that down! The people at the Animal Village measured the inside of their kennels to give me the dimensions. The stuffing was just a layer of high-loft quilt batting. –Anne

      Reply

Have you read?

Learn All About Sewing Velvet Fabric

 

I’m always tempted by the pretty velvets at the fabric store.  So much texture!  And the way the fibers catch the light!  But sewing on velvet is trickier than you’d think.  That nap that lends beautiful texture also likes to slip and crawl.  That nap can also spell disaster if you cut a piece the wrong direction.  That isn’t to say you shouldn’t use buy that velvet and sew it into something gorgeous, you just need to go into your velvet sewing project prepared.  And Melissa at Melly Sews has a post that takes you step by step through sewing on velvet. 

Velvet is such a luscious fabric, especially for winter sewing projects.  Of course there are velvet Christmas sewing projects – stockings, tree skirts, santa hats – but velvet is beautiful for all winter.  Think of all the gorgeous velvet dresses, evening bags, hair accessories, even pillows and other home décor that you see all winter long. 

Melly Sews’ post gives you the tips and tricks you need to know in order for your velvet sewing project to end up a success.  There are types of projects better suited for velvets, and kinds of projects to avoid.  She describes the different types of velvet available.  And she also tells the best way to lay out and cut your pattern pieces from velvet fabric.  Her tutorial also covers marking, pressing, and of course sewing that beautiful fabric.  There’s also a video included in case that’s your preferred method for learning.

Head over to Melly Sews to learn how to sew on velvet fabric. 

And if you want to learn more about that lovely blue velvet dress shown, she has a post that tells more about it including 2 ways to style it depending on if you want to be more dressy or more casual.

[photo credit: Melly Sews]

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