Materials:
- Medium sized wire dog crate
- PVC pipe 1" diameter
- PVC connectors x 4 (Side outlet elbow)
- PVC Slip 90 degree elbows x 2
- PVC pipe cutter
- PVC caps (4)
- PVC Tee
- 4 yards of dark brown felt
- 2 yards of tan felt
- 1 yard of light brown felt
- 1 yard of white felt
- ½ yard of green felt
- ½ yard of red felt
- Scissors (sharp enough to cut through felt)
- Velcro strips
- Mason jar
- Mason jar connector to cage
- Dog toys (decorate)
- Dog toys (interactive)
- Dog treats
Directions:
- Measure your crate (we used a medium sized crate, but adapt the measurements to your OWN crate at home)
- Based on these measurements, cut your PVC so that it fits over your cage (we left a 2-inch gap around our crate). You will need to cut the PVC in the following manner: - 4 legs of equal size (2 inches longer than your crate) - 2 long side pieces and 1 roof piece of equal size (2 inches longer than your crate) - 4 top pieces of equal size
- Assemble your PVC like puzzle pieces. Once assembled, wrap red duct tape around the four legs to resemble candy canes
- Cut the felt for your base (we used dark brown for the base of our gingerbread house)
- Attach the base felt to the PVC house you have built by placing velcro onto the structure and draping the base layer over the structure. Leave the sides cut so that they can be rolled up for ventilation. You will need two pieces of felt to make the tie-ups (think the way you would tie up your tent while camping.)
- Now from here, this is where you can get crafty! Use the additional felt for some embellishments on your gingerbread house. We chose to do a scalloped roof which we used a template made from an upside-down bowl, cut out, and attached to our base felt (with Velcro) We also made little cut-outs of the other felt to look like a gingerbread house, and made a sign above the doggie door in the shape of a bone.
- Getting even craftier, you can incorporate dog toys for the outside of the crate, and buy functional toys for the inside of the crate to keep your pup happy and distracted. You can be as minimal or as fancy as you want to be!
- Either attach a mason jar, bowl, or any kind of treat holder to the crate. This can be filled with the correct amount of doggie treats so that Fido's diet is monitored and safe!
For more information on dog products shown:
Jax And Bones - Holiday Rope Toys - please visit: jaxandbones.com
Pet Gear - Dog Crate - please visit petgearinc.com
Gingerbread Dog Cabin Template 1
Gingerbread Dog Cabin Template 2
Please visit "The Fairy Dogmother" Laura Nativo at:
www.lauranativo.com
Twitter: @LauraNativo
Facebook: Facebook.com/LauraNativo
Instagram: Instagram.com/LauraNativo
Follow lifestyle design expert Paige Hemmis on Twitter @paigehemmis and check out her site www.paigehemmis.com.
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