denise...on a whim: Project C.A.T.

I'm excited to share today's post with you because I'm super proud of myself for completing this project! I'll hope you'll share in my excitement!

We recently got a kitten! He's the cutest thing and his name is Marco...

I, of course, wanted to make a bed for the new kitten. I'd thought about making one out of a suitcase, but it just seemed too stinking large for our little kitten. Then I saw one on Pinterest made of pallet wood. I really liked it so I decided to go that route.

The bed itself is not why I'm so excited to share this project with you, though. The reason I'm excited and just so darn proud is that I made this bed, start to finish, all by myself. with absolutely zero help from anyone else! This is the very first project I've totally constructed all alone.

I was recently given a circular saw as a gift. I was pretty excited about using it. But very afraid, too. I'd never used a saw before and I was quite nervous. So, it sort of sat around for a while. Gathering dust...

But then I got some instruction from Eric on how to use it, made some practice cuts, even used his table saw, too. It wasn't long after, that I got it in my head to just go ahead and try to make this bed by myself!

I knew I wanted to use an older pillow for the cushion. (It was super-flat and I figured it would be a great excuse to get new pillows!) I measured the width and depth of the folded pillow. Then I cut 6 pieces for the sides and 3 for the back, plus one for the front. But then I ran into a problem. I didn't have any 1x1 pieces of board to use to frame up the sides. So, I was stuck. Or so I thought. Turns out I was very determined to get this bed done before Eric could help me. I did one quick walk-through of my garage and found exactly what I needed. I had picked up a mirror on the curb once, the kind that attaches to the back of a dresser. But I had taken the legs off, knowing that I wasn't going to use it for that purpose. When I walked in my garage, there were the legs. The perfect size for framing up the sides of my cat bed! I took them inside and laid out 3 boards, then measured the size I would need to cut for the framing. Then I got to use my saw again! :)

After cutting them (myself!), I painted them with Santa Fe Turquoise because they were new wood and very light in color and didn't match the pallet wood at all. Then I nailed them onto the sides from the back (or the inside of what would be the box). Unfortunately, I didn't have enough to put the frame on the top, but I was ok with that because it wasn't necessary for the construction of the box. I may add it later. After both side walls were done, I added the 3 boards that I had cut for the back. Then attached the one front board on.

Next I measured what size boards I would need for the bottom. After cutting those, I turned the box upside and attached with nails. It wouldn't have hurt to add a little wood glue on, but I was way too excited about getting the project done to add another step! It feels pretty solid without the glue anyway.

After the box was done, I called for my kids to come and look. They were, after all, the only ones home at the time and I just HAD to share my project with someone! :) They thought it was pretty cool, but obviously did not appreciate the pure thrill I was feeling at having completed this project all alone. I think they thought I was a little nuts because I was just about jumping for joy at my accomplishment. :)

Well, after I settled down just a little, I got out an older pillow case that matched the turquoise on the bed and added the folded pillow. Then I got out the stencil I had cut and applied some cute lettering to the front of the bed.

Last week, I also found a couple of perfect-sized bowls for food and water at a local thrift store and I stenciled those, too!