July 19 DIY Fridays

Make a Denim Dog Toy.
If your dog goes through chew toys like ours do, this is a simple way to put your old jeans to a new use.
As soon as this is posted I will be making these fun toys!
This comes from the Creativity Unmasked blog.

DIY No-Sew Denim Dog Toy

If you have a tired pair of denim jeans and not-so-tired dog, then this simple no-sew DIY dog toy is the perfect fit...even if the jeans aren't! All you need are some recycle-ready jeans, a pair of scissors, and a few minutes to make this quick toy. Our spoiled (but very loved!) dog Oli now has his very own denim toy collection thanks to an old pair of my jeans!

Cut two extra long (leg length) strips of denim from a leg of your recyclable jeans. My strips were approximately 4cm wide and I purposefully chose to include the rugged seams for extra fun toy texture and durability.  Lay the two strips in a cross (one strip horizontal and one vertical, crossed in the missed) and then "box weave" or "box braid" as follows.  WARNING: Reading the following may mess with your mind unless you have strands.  It is hard to visualise, but oh-so-easy one you understand through a little trial and error. 

• Flip the left cross of the horizontal strand over the vertical strip to create loop one.
• Flip the top cross of the vertical strand over the upper fold of the horizontal strip to create loop two. Confused?  See the upper right of the collage below for a messy but functional visual.
• Flip the original right cross of the horizontal strand back across both verticals to create loop three.  
• At this stage, you may have to tidy up your strands so that the strand that you just positioned is on the bottom of the "square" that you are building to make sure that you don't get lost for the final loop!
• Double the original bottom cross of the vertical strand over the horizontal strand that you just tidied into bottom position (forming loop four) and then pull up through loop one.  
• The stands should now look like a woven square (lower left of the collage below).  Don't worry, Fido and Fluffy won't judge if you didn't get it right.  
• Carefully and evenly pull tight. It will now look like a messy knot... not to worry!  That first one was just for practice!
• Flip over and repeat, watching your denim "ball" slowly take shape.  If you wish, take extra care on the final layers to twist the denim for an attractive finish.  Be sure to leave a few tempting ends for your pampered pup to carry and grip.
• Didn't turn out quite as pretty as you had hoped? No worries! Just grab your scissors and try again.  After all, two dog toys are double the fun of one!

Find more fur-friendly DIYs in my recent Six for Saturday (or Sunday) post and my growing Pet Craft board on my Pinterest.  If you stumbled across this while hunting for denim DIYs, then (after exploring a little of course - welcome to Creativity Unmasked!) try my Jean-ious Pinterest board instead.  Happy creating!

Note: Always make sure you know your dog before giving him or her any new toy.  Some dogs would rather eat their toys than rip them apart for joy, making many of the fun toys made (whether handcrafted or storbought) from fabric, robe, etc a risky choice for Rover.

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