Friday, January 1, 2010

Toy Box Repurposed into a Raised Dog Dish

Toy Box Before

Years ago this toy box came with a wooden train set inside. Since the set out grew this box it has mostly been unused. I finally have an idea for repurposing it. My sweet puppy is 13 and has all kinds of aches and pains. This make over is for her. I wish I had thought to do this years ago.

I sprayed a coat of primer onto the outside of the box. This helps to cover the design and for the final coat of paint to stick to the laminate surface.

under side of the lid

The lid had particle board under the fabric and padding. Particle board does not take spray paint well. It basically soaks up all the paint. I wanted an easy to clean surface so I used contact paper instead of paint for the lid.

I marked the hole for the opening using the top rim of the dog dish and drew a circle inside those marks. Once I cut the opening I sanded down the whole board and removed all the saw dust. I cut the contact paper large enough to wrap over the edges and onto the under side of the board. I trimmed off all but about 2 inches of the inside circle and then cut slits to fold the contact paper over the inner circle. The above picture shows the under side of the lid. I cut another piece of contact paper just smaller than the outside edge of the board and to the edge of the hole in the center. I also cut a long thin strip of contact paper to cover the inside of the circle.

After-raised dog dish

The end result. The bowl does not sit all the way down in the hole we cut because we wanted to be able to easily remove the bowl for cleaning. This also means that we didn’t have to make a finger hole or a handle to be able to lift off the lid.

Storage inside

Oh and another bonus to this make over is that I can store her canned food inside! My pampered pooch needed no encouragement to use her new raised food dish. I think she is grateful for the easy reach and that she no longer has to chase the bowl around as she licks it clean. ;)

Katrina

I interrupt this blog.................

I have a tooth that has been really bothering me since Christmas Eve. When I finally got into a dentist (any dentist) on Monday they told me the tooth needs a root canal. I was given antibiotics, pain killer and a referral. Thursday morning I had a root canal. Which was a piece of cake by the way. Unfortunately I found out I have another tooth that needs one too. It looked like it was a wait and see situation. Now that the general has worn off, I realize that most of my pain was actually from the tooth I didn't get done. Now I need to hurry up and schedule a second root canal. Why does this stuff happen over the holidays?! I usually respond to all comments pretty much as they come in. You will have to forgive me because I am not sure how much I will check in on the blog over the next few days (till I get this fixed). All I can say is that I am glad I have had this post waiting in the wings for months.

Also, for the month of January, I plan to take a little blog break. I am in much need of some craft blog down time. (Anjeanette and Rebecca will be working on posts this month.) My family has no idea how mine is doing because I have been seriously neglecting my personal blog. I haven't posted since before Halloween! I am going to take a little break to update my blog for my family (and because it is like scrap booking to me) and get to some other things I have been putting off. It also looks like I will be getting lots of dental work done as well. That is what I get for putting off finding a new dentist. I had one I love be he is out of network now.

Katrina

~~~

Anjeanette here,

Katrina, please do take care of yourself! We love you! No worries here guys, we will be filling in for Katrina while she rejuvinates and takes care of herself and her family.


We linked up here and here and here.

7 comments:

Land family said...

I think the dog dish is wonderful-I hope she enjoys it and it looks great.

Also, I got the living crap bit out of me by our very docile cat on Christmas day and was at urgent care getting a tetnus shot and antibiotics early on the 26th. So I hear ya.

Hope you feel better!

Tiffany said...

Well that's just awesome! I'm usually the one making toy storage options out of pet care products, not the other way around! LOL We cover litter buckets with contact paper and stack the toys to practically the ceiling in out teeny tiny house! Love your reversal of purpose!

LollyChops said...

Take care of yourself Katrina!

I love your little doggie bowl craft! I bet Mel loves it too!

HUGS and get some toothy rest!

Anjanette said...

Hi ladies! Hello Anjeanette! Don't meet many with similar names! And thanks for stopping by my blog, Rebecca! :) Glad you are looking for info on how to feed your family well and cheaply. I really hope to make the blog a useful resource this year - it motivates me so much to be able to record what I've learned and am learning and to be part of the food-blogging community. I have a neglected craft blog too and am loving the stuff on here - I'll keep an eye on your site! :)

RootsAndWingsCo said...

Thanks for all the well wishes. I can see the light at the end of my tooth trouble. I am so excited to get it all taken care of.

I should never have put off looking for a new dentist. Lets just say lesson learned. I am going back to making my next appointments before I leave their office.

Mel does love her elevated dish. I did add some rubber pads on the bottom to keep it in place on our tile floor. I love the easy access to her canned foods.

Katrina

Steph @ somewhatsimple said...

that looks great!

Andy Porter said...

How convenient you are able to store canned food inside! That's great! Sorry about all the dental craziness. I hope your mouth feels better soon! Enjoy sometime with the fam! Thanks for the link on Poppies at Play!