From 2014-2016 I chronicled my crafty endeavors on the site Adventures-in-Making. I’ve selected a few of those DIY’s, Recipes, and other posts to share on the site.

In typical cat fashion, my kitties seem to like toys that are not intended to be toys at all. You might think it’s a child-safe plug cover, but they think it’s the neatest thing since canned tuna. For a while they have been sharing a repurposed jack-o-lantern drawstring bag filled with catnip- and I decided it was time to give them something a little nicer. They do love the scale of the jack-o-lantern bag, which is long and wide unlike most catnip toys, so I decided to replicate the scale with a super-simple catnip kicking bag.

I wanted to customize the bags a bit, and I kept thinking about the lovely art Tara Bliven shared with us last month. I asked if she would write up a few feline words for us, and she did! You can use the free printable below to make this cat toy even cattier!

Supplies for two Bags

• 4 pieces of medium to thick fabric, 10″ x 3.75″
• Fabric Scissors and Pinking Shears
• Needle and Thread or Sewing Maching
• At least 2 teaspoons of dried catnip
• OPTIONAL: Inkject Fabric Sheets and Tara’s amazing Fabric Art below

Download and print out the Cat Fabric according to the specifications on the package.

Cut the fabric in half to make a sheet 10″ x 3.75″. Peel the backing paper off the fabric and stack it on top of the two pieces of thick fabric- with “right sides” facing out.

Stitch, 1/2″ in, around three sides and leave the fourth open.

Pour at least a teaspoon of dried catnip in the middle of your pocket…

Close the last side of the bag, and trim around it with pinking shears to limit fraying (and add character.)

Repeat with the second set of materials, and you’re done! A super cute sewing project that’s quick enough that you won’t mind when your kitties shed all over it. Now for the fun part…

(Warning, you are about to be bombarded with too many pictures of my kitties.)

Success.

A couple of notes

• The printable fabric is quite thin and I didn’t trust it to contain the catnip for very long, so I used it as an outside layer only. The catnip itself is contained within two layers of thicker fabric.
• If you’re feeling adventurous, try this tutorial to make your own printable fabric!
• If you are worried about your print running, try this vinegar bath solution to set your ink.
• Tara is a wizard at decorative writing (and many other arts). Visit her website tarabliven.com  to find out how you can bring more of her awesomeness into your life.