Mario Brothers Cat Tree

Hello, this is my first time posting to Instructable  I just finished my project titled "The Mario Brothers Cat Tree." I am currently working on Instructable for it  so you could build your own or give you ideas on how to build a cat tree for yourself at very cost efficient price. 

 What sprung this idea was a love for video-games and alot of caffeine and I hate the look of store bought cat trees. This was actually a very easy process if you have the time. 

So as promised I will show you how you can make your own Mario brothers cat tree, or a quality build for your own design!

 Points to consider before you start:

-Plan out your build, what do you want it to look like? How will your fuzzies interact with your build? What are you going to be happy with in your home because this is going to be there for a while.

- Carpet can be an extremely hard/annoying median to work with. You have to fold it cut and transform it to what you want and desire. Trust me when I say carpet does not always want to work with you!

-Knowledge of upholstery is good, if you have no idea the basics of upholstery I suggest doing a little research. Youtube is filled with pointers. (sorry I can not endorse any specific one)

-When you make anything for your animals, make sure that your build is structually sound. You dont want your fuzzy creature to become injured because of your creative design.

-When using materials like I.e staples or screws make sure they cannot be accessed by your animal.

-Always use non-toxic materials. Face it, this is for your fuzzies. They will claw chew or eat anything.

With all of that said, lets start with the build! Since this is my first Instructable, the instructions may be a little rough. I apologize in advance. I did not forsee publishing this onto Instructables so most of my pictures are after the fact. I will try to describe them as much as possible. This should be used as a guideline and not a step by step. I have a feeling I will be making more cat tree's so with future projects I will make sure I document as I go.

Okay, now on with the build!

Materials used:

- 2 concrete forming tubes, 16 in diameter (aprox. $5.00 a tube)
- 1 Ottoman box (bought from Goodwill for $2.00) if you can find, these are great for using as a base.
- wicker basket (bought from Goodwill $1.00) This was used as the base for the Piranha head. Could be hard to find. An      alternative would be heavy cardboard formed to desire size.
 -1 Wood pedestal (Goodwill again $2.00) This was a lucky find and worked really well in one of the tubes. Not necessary.
.-1 large  particle board shelf (cut to desired sizes) (I had leftover shelving pieces $0.00)
 -4 1' l brackets (these are used to secure any platform that might need reinforcing)
- 3 rolls of 4 x 8 carpet (found on sale for $5.00 a roll) This is your main material. Go with what you want. The precut rolls were more cost efficient at the time for me, but remember this is what you have to look at and you fuzzies to lay on. Make sure it is comfortable and durable. 
-1 4x8 piece of wood (aprox. $6.00) cut to desire length.
-1 plastic box ($2.00) I prefer the ones made for milk crate or school lockers because they are heavy duty durable plastic
-4 tubes of Liquid Nails ($1.76 a tube) Try to find the heavy duty stuff.
- Handful of 2in deck screws (all purpose work also)
-Twine. (aprox. $2.00 a roll) 
-Staple gun staples (make sure the size of the staple is long enough to make it through your carpet)
2 rolls of colored duct tape. ($3.00 a roll)  (this was for aesthetics)

 Tools:

 Tools will very upon what you are comfortable using, have on hand, difficulty of your build.

 I used"

 Circular saw (cut down the 4x8)
 Dremel with cutting bit (to cut a square out of the ottoman and shelf so the 2 x 8 could fit)
 cordless drill w/ a circular cutting bit (6" circle, I had this I hand from when I build bag boxes)
 Staple gun
 Razor blade (this is one of your main items since you are cutting a lot of carpet)

Now for the informative part:

 If you buy a cat tree from the store, what you are really buying is a piece of cardboard attached to some plywood and carpeted. That's it, so we are pretty much doing just that; carpeting,gluing,reinforcing and putting it together.

Trick when cutting carpet, cut the carpet upside down. you will get more precise cuts. 

The cement forming tube is the hero here. wrap the tube in carpet then cut the desired length. I place a couple staples in  the carpet to hold the carpet in place so I could spread the liquid nails around the tube. When you wrap the tube, make sure you wrap it tight because if the carpet has too much leeway when your fuzzies use their claws on it, the carpet will slice like butter.

I will try to upload soon some more pictures to show more of what I did. If you have any questions in the meantime please do not hesitate to ask.