Meow, Dahling

meow dahling

Bring on the bling! This glamorous feline is festooned with rhinestones, bangles, and brilliant bobbles. But that’s not all. She also has her own designer blanket, jewel-encrusted water dish, and solid gold mouse toy. Meow, indeed.

We read Glamourpuss, written by Sarah Weeks, and illustrated by David Small (Scholastic, 2015). Glamourpuss lives with Mr. and Mrs. Highhorsen. She has everything a cat could want – a diamond collar, attentive servants, a lavish private room, and total adulation from her owners. Then Mr. Highhorsen’s sister Eugenia visits with her pet chihuahua, Bluebelle. In addition to having a stunning array of outfits, Bluebelle can do tricks. Glamourpuss soon finds herself upstaged, and vows revenge. However, whilst stalking Bluebelle, Glamourpuss discovers that Bluebelle hates her outfits and tricks – she really dreams of simple elegance. Well. Glamourpuss can certainly help Bluebelle with that! They become close, and very glamorous, friends.

You’ll need:

  • 1 large oatmeal container
  • White construction paper
  • White poster board
  • A strip of gold poster board (approximately 1.5″ x 17″)
  • 3 pieces of twisteez wire (approximately 7″ each)
  • A small, rounded triangle of self-adhesive foam (approximately 1.25″ tall)
  • A pair of wiggle eyes
  • Cat jewelry & accessories (more on these later!)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

Wrap the oatmeal container with white construction paper. Use extra paper to make the ears. Attach wiggle eyes with hot glue, then use a marker to add a smile (and maybe some eyelashes!). To make the nose and whiskers, curl the ends of 3 pieces of Twisteez wire, then bunch them in the middle and tape them to the container.

cat curled whiskersPeel and stick a triangle of self-adhesive foam over the tape.

cat curled whiskers with noseTo make the cat’s hind legs, cut a 4.25″ x 6.25″ rectangle of white poster board into the shape you see below. Hot glue it to the bottom of the oatmeal container.

cat hind legsThe front legs are two, 1.75″ x 4.5″ rectangles of white poster board. Round the rectangles at both ends, then fold one end to create cat paws. Hot glue or tape the legs to the front of the container. And don’t forget to add a tail!

finished cat legsNow to fancy things up! We crafted paper bangs, a little gold poster board crown, and a gold poster board collar embellished with large gemstones. We also offered small gemstones, gold embossed foil paper, and gold star stickers. The final touch were self-adhesive rhinestone stickers Katie found in a discount bin after Easter

meow dahlingIn a stroke of crafting genius, Katie cut one of the rhinestone flowers into little bits and gave the cat a fancy feline pedicure.

kitty peticureYour cat is finished, now for the accessories! The blanket is a 7″ x 11.5″ piece of fleece trimmed with gold tape. The water dish is a be-jeweled gold paper cup (cut down to 1.75″), with 2 blue cotton balls.

glam accessories The gold mouse toy is a 2.25″ x 3.25″ rectangle of gold mirror board trimmed into a mouse shape. We added ears, a gold craft tie tail, a diamond nose, and finished with a pair of eyes drawn on with silver metallic Sharpie. Absolutely fah-bu-lous dahling!

gold mouse toy

Bling Bin

bling binIf you craft with kids, you need a BLING BIN!

My bling bin is a 18″ x 11″ x 7″ plastic tub filled with all sorts of odds and ends. Glittery stickers, sparkle stems, shiny paper, mylar squares, pom-poms, tissue paper, metallic poster board pieces, gold curling ribbon, the works! When I have a project that requires free-form creative decoration, I bring out the bling bin so kids can pick and choose what they would like to use.

In fact, to break out my Educational Psychologist hat for a moment, I always try to build choice into all my projects, so kids will exercise those decisive brain muscles and feel a sense of ownership. This technique can be quite simple. If the project calls for a pipe cleaner, let them pick the color they want from a pile. If you’re making a box dog, give them a few “dog” colors to choose from (and always have pink on hand because someone always asks!).

And before you ask, yes, my Educational Psychologist hat looks exactly like Dumbledore’s hat, complete with gold tassel.

The bling bin is also a nifty recycling bin. If I have something shiny left over from a program, I toss it in the bin for a later date. I love seeing the metallic stars we used for a tooth fairy project show up on a robot marionette a few weeks later.