My cat's litter box

Materials: FAKTUM and SAMLA

Description: Using FAKTUM kitchen cabinet for my cat sand box, their utensils and also to store food. One of the shelves make a separate section for his food storage. I removed the cabinet base so that my cat can come and go, to use the SAMLA sandbox.

Using a drill and a drill bit I made the holes to put the food and water bowls, plus I made a cushion to lie in the sun in winter. I put his name up in vinyl.

~ Miguel, Madrid, Spain.

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Cat Box for the Strays

Materials: 34-gallon Samla with lid, water heater insulation, Heavy-duty double sided sticky tape, old blankets or towels

Description: We have a stray cat family in our neighborhood that we've been feeding. They've been camped out in the dense shrubbery, but as it's getting cold and wet, we wanted someplace warm and snug and out of the wind and rain for them.

I repurposed an Ikea Samla storage box. Using a Dremel tool with plastic cutter, I made a cat-sized hole in the end. We then filed the rough edges down with a rasp.

Using double-sided sticky tape (it's a thick foam tape with great adhesion), I cut pieces of the water blanket insulation.

Depending on your weather, you can use heavier insulation, but you might have to make a double walled cat house using two Samlas if the insulation isn't self-contained. There are instructions on the internet if you need more help.

In our case, we have fairly mild weather, so I used a roll of thin insulation. It's sort of like aluminum colored bubble wrap. I cut it to fit, lining sides, ends, and bottom, then affixed it using that sturdy tape. I then cut sheets to go on the inside top of the box and fixed those with tape.

I then added a piece of memory foam that used to be a bed topper. The cats seem to love sitting on this stuff. On top of this I placed some scrap fleece fabric. Blankets, towels, anything washable would work. After I placed the lid on top, I added a sisal door mat, Hessum, I think. It gives them a place to curl up and hang out when the sun is out.

We have 100% occupancy, a mama cat and three kittens use it every night. (And yes, we are making sure all of them are spayed before they add any more kittens to the mix!) Total cost was under $30. and our strays now have a safe, snug place to stay.

~ Merry, California

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LACK kids' table for LEGO, DUPLO or just crayons

Materials: LACK table, SAMLA boxes

Description: The LACK table is a bit too short to cover two of the 5 l SAMLA boxes, but I didn't expect it to be compatible. After all, it's not LEGO. ;-)

You'll need (Picture 1) one LACK table (55x55 cm), 4 racks of about 50 cm length for 4 5 l SAMLA boxes or two racks for 2 11 l boxes, the SAMLA boxes, 8 to 12 small screws, a drill and a pencil.

Cost 4,99 € for the LACK table, 4 x 0,79 € for the SAMLA boxes, 5,60 € for the racks and about 0,50 for the screws (I didn't have to buy them, it's only an estimate).

There were two racks with a cross section like this |_| of 110 cm length, which I cut in half, so each half is about 50,5 cm. I could probably have gotten a longer one and cut it in quarters, but then I had to transport it on my bike, which is much easier with 1 m long racks.

Then I drilled three holes into each rack, with a slightly larger diameter than the head of the screws.

I put some wood in between to make the drilling easier. I used wood drills, because they work well with plastic and they have that nice pointy top.

Through those holes, I drilled some smaller ones for the screws.

Then I took the LACK table top, marked the half and put the first rack with the opening facing away from the middle right next to the line. I fixed it with two screws, but you can use three as well. Then I put the second rack "back on back" to the first and fixed it as well. After that, You can use a SAMLA box as a guide. But take it off before you start the screwing. :D

After fixing the racks, I added the legs to the table.

You could stop there and use the boxes for crayons or any other toy.

I haven't got a DUPLO baseplate yet, so I used a LEGO size one as a placeholder (Picture 6). As DUPLO is exactly double the size of LEGO (hence the name, in case you didn't know), it worked anyway. As soon as I have a DUPLO baseplate, I will fix it with double-sided sticky tape. Just in case, he likes those toys and wants to switch to LEGO later.

His 1st birthday is in September, but I'm not sure I can wait that long to give it to him. Maybe, he'll just get some new DUPLO parts instead. He doesn't know what "birthday" is, anyway.

~ Anne, Berlin, Germany

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