21 December 2007

Cat Record-Keeper

Today I made a last-minute gift for my
a
unt's cat, Sam. (Yes, our cats exchange gifts -- Lily and Tinsel get gifts for Sam and he gets gifts for them. Nothing elaborate, mind you! They are on limited budgets. Last year, they got feathers. :-) And yes, sometimes I have to help Lily and Tinsel with the shopping!)

Anyway, Sam is adorable (and HUGE), as you can see, but he is hard to buy gifts for! He suffers from
a few health conditions, which means that he is on a special diet and medication, so we can't buy him treats. He already has every toy known to cat, so that isn't an option either. My aunt doesn't scrapbook or take many photos, but she does write in journals, so Lily and Tinsel decided we should make a little 4x6 book for her to keep track of all of Sam's information.

I used 4x6 index cards as the pages for the book so that my aunt can easily add to it if necessary. I cut front and back covers, as well as three dividers, from cardstock. The first tab is labeled "My Story". On the index cards that follow, my aunt can write about Sam's daily activities. The second tab is labeled "Food". She has to keep track of the type and quantity of food he eats, so this will give her a place to record that information. The final tab is labeled "Health" and provides space to record information about Sam's frequent visits to the vet.

This weekend I hope to pick up some side-opening envelopes to place at the back of the album.

Incidentally, I made this record-keeper completely with scraps...leftover odds and ends. I even had a package of index cards. I love using up stuff!

This was a fast and easy project. We really hope Sam likes it!

10 comments:

Fonda said...

Very cute idea. I bet Sam will love it! As well as your Aunt. Sam does look like a very large cat, aren't they so lovable. We also have one who weighs about 25 lbs and is diabetic. They are so sweet!

Fonda said...

ps-thanks for the comments on my blog. I'm glad you found it! The Christmas journal has been very fun.

Linda said...

Wonderful gift idea! Sam reminds me of my in laws cat, he was pretty big but very lovable.

Melissa said...

how very cute! I am sure he will love it ;)

Jill said...

Soooooooooooooooo adorable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, I have to say that I am sooooooooooooo glad my cats don't exchange gifts!!!! I can barely keep up with the gifts for the humans!

Darcey said...

I love your idea for the cat journal. Just wondering...How much does Sam weigh?

Janet said...

Thank you, guys! What a quick and easy project this was. Those are nice once in awhile!

Sam is such a big, lovable cat...to hold him, he feels more like a bear! :-) If he lies down on your chest, I swear, you cannot breathe!

Jill - I hear ya! I wish they didn't exchange gifts either, but this started many years ago. At one point there were dogs involved, too! :-)

Darcey - At the time these pics were taken, he weighed about 25 pounds (possibly more). He's down to a trim 19 pounds now and is doing much better.

Thx for stopping by!! Janet

Maureen said...

Wow, what a thoughtful gift! I'll bet your Aunt is just going to LOVE it!!! Now THAT is what Christmas is about; thinking about what others would really need or use... and that sounds like the perfect gift for her and Sam!

Sarah Coggins said...

Love this album! What a fabulous gift. You are rocking the scraps! :) tfs!

Janet said...

Maureen & Sarah - Thank you so much! Sam and his "mama" enjoyed the little book, so that made it fun. :-) I just love using stuff up! I need to do a whole lot more of that, from the looks of things around here!

Happy holidays to you!
Janet