Critter Condos

In the Baxter household we have welcomed just about every kind of animal. The time always comes when we see these same animals find new homes for one reason or another or expire. Expiration of an animal is hard for little kids. Mostly hard because mom doesn’t want to replace said animal. Once it’s gone… it’s gone.

My kids loved Jeremy’s hamster Thunder. Thunder lived much longer than her life expectancy and finally bit the sawdust a few years ago. The girls have always wanted a hamster of their own and after the Thunder experience and having a hamster in our heating ducts three times- no thank you. She’s gone, never to be replaced.

I want to personally hug the Cepia company. I want to give them big sloppy kisses for making Zhu Zhu pets and saving me a little guilt. I want to slap them for not making enough and making them and their accessories so darn hard to find.

I got my grubby little hands on all 4 pets for Christmas (I have the best aunts ever!) but I refuse to go insane looking for the other bits and pieces, so I made my own. I started some peg people houses for Christmas last year but never finished them, I didn’t like the way the people fit in the house. They just so happened to fit the one zhu zhu I opened perfectly so I finished them up last night. I made them little sleeping bags to keep them cozy in their little cottages (I am not paying $20 for 4 hamster sleeping bags!).

If I finish my other projects I might add a door to the front and make some food dishes or something else but for now I’m calling it done. I need to figure out what to make for Jeremy’s zhu zhu since he’s a bit old for a house but the girls are finished! 5 gifts down… 13 to go.

Edited to add- Here's the link to the tutorial I used to make the houses. I used the measurements in the tutorial and they fit great. Happy hamster house making!

Edited to add again- If you would like to make the sleeping bags without breaking into your hamsters here are the measurements. I cut 2 rectangles 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" and used a 1/4" seam. My finished bags where 5 1/4" tall and 4 1/4" wide. The bags are a little tall but I made them that way on purpose so it could have a cute cuff. My hamster model is "Chunk" and is the biggest one so these measurements will fit them all. Hope that helps!

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