Turn felt into a feline's favorite budget-friendly toy

Proud cat owners know felines have a way of capturing the heart and making a large dent in the monthly budget. It’s easy to find oneself wandering the cat toy aisle ready to spend plenty to make a feline friend happy. Although the selection of toys at the store may be tempting, it’s not necessary to spend a lot of money to create some at-home fun for the cat.

A few pieces of leftover felt makes the perfect foundation for a DIY cat toy your pet is sure to love. Once cut into a fun shape, felt glued together is a soft and pliable container made to be batted around and easily filled with stuffing and catnip. Hanging the felt toy from yarn off a dowel creates a solution for hours of fun that require little more than a strategically placed knot and some quality time with the pets. This toy is sure to become a favorite in no time.

Materials
- Pink felt rectangle, 6-by-8 inches
- Permanent marker
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Poly-fil stuffing
- Craft stick
- Small funnel
- SmartyKat organic catnip
- Red felt square
- Green yarn, 3 feet long
- White dowel

Instructions
 
1. Fold the pink rectangle of felt in half horizontally so the short ends meet evenly.

2. Draw a lima bean shape in the center of the felt with a permanent marker, drawing one end slightly narrower than the other.

3. Cut the lima bean shape from the center of the folded felt.

4. Open the two sides of the lima bean shape and lay them flat, keeping the wide ends near one another.

5. Apply a line of hot glue halfway up one side of the felt shape and press the matching half to the glue. Glue the two halves together beginning on the wide end until both sides are attached to the halfway point, creating a pouch.

6. Stuff Poly-fil into the felt pouch beginning at the narrow end. Press the stuffing into the bottom of the felt pouch with a craft stick. Continue stuffing the felt pouch until it is filled three-quarters of the way.

7. Hot glue the interior of the narrow opening of the felt pouch so only half an inch of felt remains open near the top.

8. Place the narrow end of a funnel into the felt opening and pour enough catnip through it to fill the remaining space in the pouch. Use a craft stick to help move the catnip through the funnel as needed. Remove the funnel and place the pouch to the side.

9. Draw a small crown shape and two lightning bolt shapes on a piece of red felt with a permanent marker.

10. Cut the shapes from the red felt.

11. Triple knot the end of the green yarn and place the knot behind the red felt crown inside the opening of the felt pouch.

12. Hot glue the crown and green yarn to the interior of the pouch opening, and press the pouch ends together to close it completely.

13. Hot glue one of the lightning bolt shapes to the pink pouch 1 inch below the crown and yarn attachment. Attach the second lightning bolt felt cutout 1 inch below the first.

14. Double knot the opposite end of the green yarn around a white dowel. Wrap the yarn around the dowel as needed to create the ideal length for dangling the toy.