Three Upcycled Dog Toys Made From T-shirts

Have you all met my puppy, Cooper, yet?  Most of you will have met Chico, my ancient Chihuahua, if you haven't seen him in my YouTube videos then you've surely heard him snoring in the background. I love him to death but he's never been one to play much.  Although to be fair, I adopted him at ten years old!  Anyway, here's my Cooper:

He seems so little in this picture at the dog park.  And it was taken just a couple of months ago.  Last week I caught him trying to fit in the bottom cube of this cubby in the bathroom.  He used to fit so nicely in there.  Now...not so much!

At ten months old, he still has a ton of puppy left in him and he is constantly needing to be entertained.  Otherwise, well, he'll find ways to stay entertained.  And typically, he and I don't see eye to eye on appropriate entertainment methods.  So that my friends, brings me to the purpose of this post.

The number of chew toys that I've had to purchase in the last few months is enough to break the piggy bank for sure.  Coming up with some cheaper (and greener) alternatives was a must!  My Cooper loves all three of these toys and each was made with little more than a T-shirt and a pair of scissors. I know you're wondering so let me tell you...YES, there is a video tutorial. It's a long one, but I do show you how to make all three toys in one video.  And if you hang in until the "bitter end" you'll be treated to a glimpse of my cutie patootie playing with one of his T-shirt toys.

What other ideas do you have for DIY dog toys?  I am ALL EARS!!

How to Make a Reusable Trick or Treat Bag

I love a good (and EASY) T-shirt upcycle and this one is exactly that!  If you've got ten minutes and a quarter, you too can make a fabulous trick or treat bag that is kinder and gentler on the earth.  Not to mention a major upgrade from the pillowcase that I used to use as a kid!

Whilst shopping at my local Goodwill Clearance Center, I started to run across super cute Halloween kids shirts....all throughout the year.  And I ended up with a stack of 'em.  For this project, I used just one from my stack along with a pair of scissors and a sewing machine.  If you have a little one just learning to sew, this is an excellent project!

If you'd like to see a brief video demonstration, you can check that out here...it's less than two minutes! Or you can follow these simple steps:

1.  Cut both of the sleeves and the collar of the shirt away.
2. Turn your T-shirt inside out and use the bottom hem as a guide to sew a straight line across the bottom opening of the shirt.
3.  Turn your bag right side out and DONE!

It really is that easy.  And what a great way to balance out the waste of all those candy wrappers!