6 DIY Craft Projects for Shelter Animals

By Nancy Fedelem | July 18, 2018

July 21 is National Craft for Local Shelters day! And was started by Sew Doggy Style back in 2012. Each of the below crafts has been pinned by various influencers and bloggers, and complete directions and materials are listed in their posts. These are some of our faves on Pinterest, but there are so many you can make up on your own with old t-shirts and whatever you have lying around the house.

If you want to involve the neighbors and the local community, you could even write “letters” to the animals at the shelter and deliver these to the shelter staff! They can put these up on the kennels as another way to promote the animals looking for forever homes! Don’t for a minute think you need to be crafty either. This project is about enriching the animals with blankets and mats for their space or helping the shelter spruce them up for potential adopters. Please let us know in the comments if we’re missing your fave and what you’ve done to celebrate local shelters.

  1. Snuffle Mat 
  2. No-sew cat toys
  3. No-sew fleece blanket
  4. Kitty Kennel mats
  5. DIY Dog toy -tug-o-war toy
  6. Adopt me bandanas

Sew Doggy Style has some pointers for folks that want to be involved but don’t know how to get started.

1.  Which shelter do you feel passionate about? Is it the one your best friend was adopted from? Decide on a shelter to donate to – contact them and make sure they want to receive your donation.
2.  If DIY projects feel overwhelming, ask your shelter what items they could use the most – that are craft projects.
3.  Decide what materials you have around the house and know what’s realistic. If you only have time for ten adopt-me bandanas, then that should be the level of your commitment.
4.  Organizing a craft night with your crafty friends is fun! Use Facebook to gain awareness.
5.  Don’t forget the cats and other animals in shelters.  Cats need toys and mats too for their spaces.

Don’t miss out this year! There are a few days to plan and contact your shelter to get the ball rolling. Kick off your projects this week and set a goal for your drop-off date. We’d love to see what you come up with. Please post on our Facebook page when you donate, as we’d love to see all the ideas our customers come up with this year.

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