Cat Tree

The second of my DIY projects is now complete. Surprisingly it didn't take very long.

I bought 3 large SNACK boxes from Ikea and 2 small ones, then I marked out what bits I wanted cut out of them. The thinking was that the 3 large boxes could be stacked on top of one another with cat-sized holes cut out the bottoms allowing a cat to go in the bottom box, then climb up to the top. I also wanted some peep holes facing the window so Lily could spy. I got 2 small boxes so I could turn one into a bed at the very top and .... I'm not sure why I got 2, maybe a spare?


After I'd marked out the cuts I wanted, a quick trip to B&Q to get a hole saw drill bit and we were ready to start cutting. I say 'we', I mean Pete. He spent a joyous couple of hours cutting wood with power tools (he loved it), then I sanded all the peices before putting it all together. Then I added 2 coats of clear varnish to the outside and it was all done, total time 1 day.


Lily is not so impressed, last night when I errected it she sniffed it then went back to bed. This morning I plonked her in the bed at the top and she stared at me before leaping out. Granted she did leap back onto the bed from the sofa, completely ignoring the complex box-hole structure.


I've screwed on two scratching panels so she can scratch away and they also lend more support to the boxes. The boxes themselves have little feet which fit inside the box below it so they are quite sturdy.


I'm also going to add either cardboard or carpet tiles on the top and bottom box. At the moment she has a cardboard box which she loves scratching in, I'm hoping that the cat tree will replace the box so I need to give her an alternative.

Jewellery Box Success!

I've finally finished my first DIY project of 2009!

I bought 2 FIRA boxes from Ikea, spent 2 weekends staining them then a further day varnishing and finishing the inside of the drawers.

I also bought 6 GRUNDTAL containers and cut sponge to fit inside each so I can fix my earrings in them.

Each drawer is lined with grey felt stuck down with No-More-Nails.


After I'd emptied all my jewellery boxes and gone round my flat picking up all the odds and ends, I found I can fill these six drawers very easily! Might get another box at some point, then glue them all together and add legs - but that's another project.

Next project is the cat tower made with SNACK boxes from Ikea, I'll update you when I finish that in the coming weeks.

Chocolate Failure

OK, so the chocolate ban didn't quite work. I lasted a whole 2 days before accidentally eating many M&Ms.

They were just there! It was an automatic reaction to chocolate, must scoop into mouth.

D'oh.

January Round-Up

Where did January go? It seemed like only yesterday I was opening Christmas presents and now we're almost into February!

So, what have I been up to? Quite a bit as it happens:

Music - I've kept up with my New Years Resolution to buy a new CD each month and listen to it, this month was Vampire Weekend. I loved it! Pete bought me my February CD in the form of MGMT which is also fab!

Projects - We went to Ikea and I bought everything for the jewellery box project and began staining it. Unfortunately I missed the warning about using in a ventilated room and made myself rather ill, almost jepordising our Birthday meal. I'm going to finish the staining and hopefully make a start on varnishing this weekend, I will post pictures when finished. I also bought some wooden boxes to build a cat tower with, after careful consideration we decided that having almost ready made boxes was easier than making them ourselves. So I have to stain and varnish those too, I will post pictures when finished but that might be a while.

Birthdays Galore - It was mine and Pete's birthday this month (2 days apart) and we celebrated in style. I made Pete roast lamb which turned out very nice and we went to Ikea on my birthday, then out for pizza and cinema at the weekend.

Fitness - Hmmmm, I'm still dragging my feet on this one and have actually gained 1.5lbs this month. But I've started again with new enthusiasm and have actually promised Pete that I won't have any chocolate for 9 days (until our anniversary meal). I'm on Day 2 at the moment and it's going OK.

So, what does February hold for me? Well it's our 1 year anniversary (soppy I know), it's flown by but I'm very lucky to have met a wonderful bloke like Pete. He may be an extremely competitive, stubborn, fitness freak but he's my freak and I love him loads.

We also have Valentine's Day which we're celebrating with the usual competition of who can find the cheesiest card. Pete won last year by getting me a lovely musical card with a naked man with a spinning unmentionable. I went for a cheesy poem 'Ode to Pete'. What will this year bring?