Cat-sized Cardboard Dome

This 'ible was heavily influenced and inspired by supersoftdrinks awesome Cardboard Play Dome she made for her kids. (Can be found in http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Play-Dome/ ) I was impressed and wanted to make one myself, but as an "adult" it would have had to be huge and it would take a lot of space from our small apartment. Still, I wanted to do this, and I thought to myself: "If I only had kids to make this to, they'd think I'm an awesome mother." Then I realized, petting our newly rescued cat, that I had someone to make this to.

Our cats first walked around it, the braver one finally got cozy in it in the evening. I still have to add something soft inside for them to lay on, and paint the whole thing as soon as I get the right paint.

Step 1: Preparing

I gathered up the needed materials:
- Thicker cardboard for the base squares and lighter boxes (cereal boxes, etc.) for the triangles.
- A glue gun would have been perfect, but I had to resort to my "universal" glue. If you have a glue gun, protect your fingers with thick gloves if you leave as small flaps than I did, because the hot glue will hurt.
- A ruler , pens for marking and paper to trace your patterns.
- Clothespins or something small to clamp the pieces together while the glue dries
- Paint (I will paint mine when I get the paint), even acrylic paint will stick to this and it's not too big to paint it for a few times.
- Something cozy and soft to line the bottom so your furry friends enjoy it.

I opened my boxes flat, decided the measures for the five triangles to make a pentagon with little notch in it to make the center rise up a little when glued. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to count my own measurements, so I took the ones supersoftdrink had and turned them into centimeters to get the desired small triangles. My measures were: A = 10,4 cm and B = 12 cm.

You'll need 30 AAB triangles and 9 BBB triangles, and 9 B-squares. If you want to put windows in it, leave out one of the B-triangles from the top.

Draw the sample-triangle of both sizes to the cardboard or a piece of paper and add at least 1 cm flaps in each sides.

Comments

[grannyjones]

I imagine this made of quarter inch OSB, with carpet glued to the ourside.
Maybe a panel of clear or smoky acrylic.
Such spoiled kitties!

[Thermonuklear]

Kui siisti! Vois väsäillä kaverin kissoille tommosen... Great work, dare I say :)

[patron_zero]

Very, very cool ! I find when making structures from corrugated cardboard the 'two-layer rule' gets the best results, such being two layers of identical pieces bonded together but with the 'grain' oriented perpendicular to one another, will give amazing stiffness and strength.

[Hemptastic]

Ihan kaunis -- Will make this tomorrow, thank you!

[Uptonb]

Good luck on the Pets Challenge.

[Mupton101]

Very cleaver. I'm going to try it.

[msaarela]

:) ! Our cats loved it !

[Nelyan]

It would be great if you posted a picture of yours!

[msaarela]

But honey, you are the picturemaster in our household. I barely know how to hold a camera

[Baritone Blues]

This would be awesome on a larger scale for my kiddo. She loves small spaces to hide :) Thanks!

[Nelyan]

Look at my inspiration; it's an actual child-sized play dome: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Play-Dome/

[supersoftdrink]

Awesome job! Are you going to sprinkle some catnip into some of the cardboard? That'd be hilarious to watch. :)

You could make a little round pad with cushioned walls to line the inside of the dome to make it more comfy for a cat.

[Nelyan]

My cats also love to tear cardboard and sharpen their clavs in it, so this is made to be trashed or replaced when broken, but good idea; maybe if it's done with plywood it could be cushioned. Oh what a throne it would be :D

[pheenix42]

Brilliant! With larger cardboard, one could even build one child-sized for a playhouse!

*bookmarks*

[Nelyan]

This 'ible is actually influenced by one superdoftdrink made, check it out: http://www.instructables.com/id/Cardboard-Play-Dome/

[patron_zero]

I make paper toys and cardboard structures for my nieces and nephews, great job rescaling the dome for your cats !

One suggestion, consider a few 'signature' touches like perhaps a cutouts in the upper-most triangles, you won't lose strength if you double layer the now 'frame' pieces. I also find stretching a mesh-air breathable fabric between said layers makes a nice finishing touch as well as allows a good circulation to keep the playhouse fresh..

Again, nice job all around !

[elcivmn]

Hmm...do you think rabbits would enjoy this as well?

[Nelyan]

I'm sure, but with these measurements it will be quite big, maybe too big to fit a cage. It works if your rabbits have much room to move around in (like in an outside-enclosure or a own room where they can take a walk outside the cage), unless you scale it down a bit or make just the top dome-part. :)
If they have a habit to chew cardboard, use an adhesive that won't be dangerous to them if nibbled.

[javajunkie1976]

I'd make this for the bunny shelter I volunteer for. The buns always love to have weird-ly shaped toys and hideaways.

[jessyratfink]

This is an adorable sequel! I had been wanting to make my cats a new house (they love to shred cardboard) and this might just fit the bill!