Black cats

Black cat for Friday the 13th

We had a play date set at our house for Friday the 13th.  I like to have a craft ready for the kids in case they are interested, so I wanted something related to the date.   I came up with unlucky black cats.  I was able to design these using only supplies we already had in the house.  



What you need for cat to look exactly like our original cat:
Stiff felt for the body
Pipe cleaner tail (cut in half)
Gimp / plastic thread (about three inches) for whiskers
Circle jewels (two per cat) for eyes
Other jewel (one per cat) for collar charm
Felt strip for collar
Pink felt triangles for inside ears
Felt circle for muzzle
Tiny pink pom pom for the nose
Four pom poms (two small, two medium) for paws

Alterations and Substitutions:
We made black cats; you of course could make a cat of any color, including the unrealistic ones.  Also, you could cut out more felt circles or strips to make spots or stripes.   The tail, nose, inside of the ears, and paws all could be made out of felt or foam; in fact I was going to use craft foam for the whole craft until I realized I had some really nice thick black felt.  Instead of a felt for the collar, you could use ribbon, which could be a stripe or a bow.  A small piece of tin foil could make a name tag for the collar.  I liked the jewels for creepy glowing black cat eyes, but we used beads on our second cat, and you could also use pom poms, foam, googly eyes, or draw them on.  Pipe cleaners, yarn, embroidery floss, maybe even regular floss could be used for whiskers.  You could even make a little ball of yarn for the cat to hold.  This craft could easily be changed into dogs, too; just adjust the shape of the head and remove the whiskers. 

Our subsequent cats made on two other separate occasions.

What to do:
Prep work:
This one has a fair amount of prep work.  You need to cut out the shapes for the body, muzzle, collar, and inside of the ears.  I also spent time pulling out a small selection of pom poms and jewels.  I did this for a play date where six kids might have come to play, so it took me a while.

Construction:
Putting this one together is really easy.  Its just glue and place.

I have control issues with crafts.  I like to have things I've planned to be eyes and feet wind up where eyes and feet belong.  But we did this craft with one of Natalie's good friends and her elementary art teacher mom.  It was very cool to see the changes Natalie's friend made to the design and we incorporated a couple of them into our cats.  When we made a subsequent cats, I tried to be much less controlling.