Pet Bed and Table Toppers

To
bring our “Homemade Eco-Friendly Gifts Week” to an end take a
look at two great Christmas gift ideas. The first idea is a Homemade
Pet Bed made with old socks by HGTV (please visit their website for
instructions with pictures), and then the second idea, which is a
table topper, is by FamilyCorner.com (please visit their website for
instructions with pictures).

Homemade Pet Bed

Pet enthusiast Elizabeth Quinn
demonstrates how to recycle orphan socks into unique pet beds that
require more time than money to make. She recommends keeping a basket
near the dryer to collect these socks as they appear.

Materials:

orphan socks (or socks bought in a color theme, or outgrown
socks)
polyester stuffing or recycled pantyhose with runs
needle
and thread or sewing machine

Steps:

1. Place stuffing in the socks.

• Tuck the toe around onto itself and sew it securely to start
  the spiral (figure A). You should end with the open end of
  the sock.

• Stuff the toe of the next sock
  into the open end of the first sock and stitch in place to secure.
  Continue adding socks, toe to open end, wrapping the tube around on
  itself to continue the spiral. Always sew the toe of the next sock
  into the open end of the previous sock.

• After you have made a spiral circle to your desired size,
  (which will depend on the size of your pet), turn the bed over and
  sew each row of socks together with a running stitch (figure B).

Other Ideas:

• Recycle those baby socks into a sweet little mattress for
  your pet (figure C).

• Uniform socks get new life when made into a tailored-looking
  crash pad for Fido (figure D).

• Recycle sheets by stringing them over a clothes line or rope
  to make a fun and inexpensive dog house, indoors or out (figure
  E). Throw an old mattress into the little tent for extra
  comfort.

Flower and Spice Table Toppers

You will need:

Approximately
twenty-seven 16″ long cinnamon sticks for place card
Floral
tape
Tacky glue or hot glue and glue gun
Assortment of dried
flowers (such as larkspur, statice, lavender, rosebuds or rose
blossoms)
Small pinecones
2″-wide and 1/4″-wide
velvet ribbon
1″-wide and 3/4″-wide grosgrain
ribbon
Place cards

Using the photograph as a guide,
insert flowers by dipping the stem ends into glue before placing
among cinnamon sticks. Glue pinecones among the flowers.

Directions:

Wrap
2″-wide velvet ribbon around the bundle and tie a bow. Add a
small bow of 1″-wide grosgrain ribbon on top of velvet bow. Use
whatever color ribbons complement the flowers and your table setting.
Glue a few small flowers and cones to the knot portion of your bow.

Make place card bundles in the
same manner as the centerpiece, using the 4″ long cinnamon
sticks and the narrower ribbons. Insert a place card with the name of
the guest into each cinnamon stick bundle as shown.

jennl | My Bio & Articles

Jennifer is a freelance writer, and has written for various health and environmental blogs, which includes running her own green living blog. Currently she is studying to become a C++ Programmer.