T-Shirt Dog Toy

My dog is a little ball of energy and personality. Actually, I'm not even sure that he is a dog some days. He's destroyed pretty much all of his toys except for the ones that can be used to play fetch with (convenient for him, since he's a fetch robot!). I refuse to buy him more chew toys since he ruins them in the first 5 minutes of ownership, so I thought that I would give making him one from a t-shirt a try. He's been chewing on it for the last little while, so I'd call it a win.

Recycled T-shirt Dog Toy

Materials:

- Scissors

- Old t-shirt (you could use one, or a few for different colors)

- Knot tying abilities

Directions:

1. Cut the old t-shirt into 1 inch think strips. I cut mine across from side to side. You'll want to cut at least 8 strips, but more than 8 would definitely make the toy better!

2. Take one strip, make it into a loop and tie a knot in it, leaving the loop.

3. Feed another strip through the loop from step 2, then tie it in a knot to secure it. 

4. Feed the rest of the strips, one at a time, through the original loop, then tie a knot in each to secure it to the rest. It should kind of look like a ball where the knots are, with lots of tails hanging off. 

5. Tie a knot in each of the "tails." Dogs like to chew on knots, it's science. Well not really, but it will add interest to the toy. 

6. Give the toy to your dog and let it go to town chewing! 

This toy doesn't have an adorable face to rip off, but it serves it purpose. If your animal is anything like mine, this is a great alternative to a rope, which they eat the string out of and risk causing serious digestive track injuries. The best part, it's free. Who doesn't love a free dog toy?

Recycled T-Shirt Beach Bag

I love going to the beach. Now that we live super close to a gorgeous beach, I plan on taking advantage of the sandy goodness. I have a whole slew of bags to choose from to take to the beach, but all of them are a pain in the behind to wash and trap sand in seams and pockets. It's frustrating, so I decided that it was time for something that can be tossed in the wash with beach towels and will actually come out CLEAN. T-shirts are so versatile when it comes to reusing them, and since they are washing machine friendly, an old t-shirt was the perfect material for my super easy project. Actually, choosing which old t-shirt to use was the hardest part.

Recycled T-Shirt Beach Bag

Materials:

- Old t-shirt

- Scissors

- Something round and about 10" in diameter

- Needle and thread

Instructions:

1. Lay t-shirt out flat on a table. Cut the sleeves off, leaving the seam attached to the shirt.

2. Place the "something round" (I used a mixing bowl) over the head hole so that about 3/4 of the something round is on the shirt.  Cut around the something round. This is the opening of the bag.

3. Turn the t-shirt inside out and match up the bottom hems. Sew the bottoms together along the existing seam. If doing this by hand, you probably want to back stitch it twice, if by machine go over it twice to reinforce it. 

4. Turn the shirt right side out and your bag is done!

This bag is washable, versatile, recycled, and can increase the life of a worn out but special t-shirt! I'll probably also use this bag at the farmer's market since it is much easier to wash than my reusable grocery bags.