Current At Home Service Projects

Completed service projects may be submitted any time Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. to the Volunteer Services Office. Please feel free to ask for a service hours acknowledgement form when you submit your completed projects.

Recipe for Oat Dog Biscuits

One batch earns credit for two hours of volunteer time

You Need:

  • 2 ½ cups oats
  • 1 tsp. salt (or less)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. beef or chicken bouillon granules (can substitute beef or chicken broth/stock)
  • ½ cup hot water

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • Dissolve bouillon in hot water
  • Add remaining ingredients
  • Knead dough until it forms a ball (approximately 3 minutes)
  • Roll dough until ½ inch thick
  • Cut into slices or bone shapes
  • Place dough pieces on lightly greased cookie sheet
  • Bake for 30 minutes

Peanut Butter Pupcakes

One batch earns credit for two hours of volunteer time

You Need:

  • 2 ¾ cups water
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • 2 tbsp. honey (no sugar or sugar substitute)
  • ⅛ tbsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 tbsp. baking powder
  • 1 cup peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°
  • Lightly grease muffin pan.
  • Mix water, applesauce, honey, and vanilla together in a bowl.
  • Combine flour and baking powder.
  • Add water mixture to flour to moisten.
  • Add peanut butter and mix until thoroughly combined.
  • Fill muffin tin about ⅔ full
  • Bake 50-60 minutes for standard muffin pan (or 30-35 for mini muffin pan), until a toothpick or cake tester comes out dry. Top may be a little bit crusty, but they soften when stored. (It’s better if they’re a little over-baked rather than under-baked.)

Dog Sock Toy

1 Hour of Service for 3 Dog Sock Toys

Tennis Ball/Water Bottle Sock Toy

– OR –

You Need:

  • Tennis ball or water bottle with cap and paper label removed (500/700mLs)
  • One large, clean cotton tube sock
  • Yarn

Directions:

  1. Place tennis ball or water bottle inside the sock all the way to the toe end.
  2. Tie the end of the sock into a tight knot or use a piece of yarn to tightly close the end of the sock with the ball inside.

Squeaker Sock Toy

You need:

  • One large, clean cotton tube sock
  • Batting
  • One or more squeakers depending on the size of the sock. You can find squeakers online, at pet supply stores or at craft stores
  • Yarn

Directions:

  1. Fill sock with batting to its middle.
  2. Bury the squeaker within the batting. If you have a very large sock, you may bury multiple squeakers in the batting with space between each one.
  3. Continue filling the sock until there is approximately 1-2 inches of room to tie a knot in the sock itself or to tie it tightly closed with yarn.

Cat Bed

One bed earns credit for two hours of volunteer time

You Need:

  • 2 pieces lightweight fleece material (18” x 24”)
  • Scissors

Directions:

  • Lay 1 piece of fabric on a flat surface and cut 4” fringe along all 4 sides
  • Repeat this for the second piece of fabric
  • Layer the first piece of fabric onto of second piece of fabric and lay flat on a table or the floor
  • Using a piece of fringe from the top layer and a piece of fringe from the bottom layer, tie a knot
    Pic of Knots 3
  • Repeat knotting around all four sides
  • Finished product should measure 11” x 17”
    Cat_Bed

Cat Toys

10 toys earns credit for one hour of volunteer time

You Need:

  • Infant Socks (INFANT SOCKS ONLY)
  • Stuffing or fiberfill
  • Dry Catnip

Directions:

  • Take an infant sock and fill from toe to heel with stuffing (stuffed portion of sock should NOT be longer than 2”)
  • Add a pinch of dry catnip
  • Pinch the sock around the heel and ankle, then stretch the ankle and cuff and tie the sock closed in a knot (do NOT use ribbon or string to tie sock closed)
  • Done! This is an easy cat toy to make, and cats love it.
  • Finished toy should NOT be longer than 3 ½”

cat-toy-sock-examples

Kitten Sunshine Toy DIY Project

1 Hour of Service for 3 Sunshine Toys

You Need:

  • Scissors
  • Empty toilet paper roll(s)

Directions:

  • Beginning on one end of the toilet paper roll, cut vertical 1.5 inch strips about ½ an inch thick and work your way around the perimeter of the circle.
  • Repeat on the opposite end of the roll.
  • When finished, gently bend each strip on both sides of the roll outwards, forming a sunshine ray effect.

Kitten Ring Ball Toy DIY Project

1 Hour of Service for 3 Ring Ball Toys

You Need:

  • Scissors
  • 1 empty toilet paper roll
  • Cat treats (optional)

Directions:

  • Beginning on one end, cut the toilet paper roll into even rings (about ½ an inch wide).
  • When finished, begin to place the rings inside of each other in a criss-cross pattern to form a round shape.
  • Before closing the ball completely, you may insert a few cat treats and then add the last of the rings.

Bunny Paper Roll DIY Project

1 Hour of Service for 3 Bunny Paper Roll Projects

Bunny-Paper-Roll

You Need:

  • Scissors
  • 1 empty toilet paper roll
  • Oat hay, timothy hay or alfalfa

Directions:

  1. Beginning on one end, cut the toilet paper roll into even rings (about ½ an inch wide).
  2. When finished, begin to place the rings inside of each other in a criss-cross pattern to form a round shape.
  3. Before closing the ball completely, insert a treat such as timothy hay and then add the last of the rings.
  4. Give this fun treat toy to your rabbit and watch as they have a blast trying to get the treat inside!

Bunny Tissue Box DIY Project

1 Hour of Service for 4 Bunny Tissue Box Projects

Bunny-Tissue-Box

You Need:

  • Scissors
  • 1 tissue box (any type)
  • About 4 toilet paper rolls (quantity may vary depending on the size of your tissue box)
  • Oat hay, timothy hay or alfalfa

Directions:

  1. Cut out and remove any plastic from the opening of the tissue box.
  2. Place the toilet paper rolls into the tissue box one by one until the entire opening of the box is covered (paper rolls should fit snuggly).
  3. Drop treat(s) such as timothy hay into each individual toilet paper roll.
  4. Give this entertaining treat toy to your bunny and let them have fun as they try to get to the treats!

DIY Dog Bandana

1 Hour of Service per Dog Bandana
Step 7 Willow

You Need:

  • Regular scissors or pinking scissors
  • Half yard of quilting fabric (holiday/seasonal fabrics are always appreciated!)
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Tailor’s tape measure (regular tape measure or yard stick will also work)
  • Large paper bag or craft paper

Supplies

Directions:

Option 1: Medium-Sized Bandana
Option 2: Large-Sized Bandana

step-1-3

    1. Lay your craft paper on a table or flat surface. If you are using a large paper bag as your craft paper, cut it open and lay it flat.
    2. For a medium-sized bandana, draw a 26” horizontal line on your craft paper. For a large-sized bandana, draw a 36” horizontal line.
    3. Locate the middle point of the line and draw a vertical line downwards. For a medium-sized bandana, draw an 8” line. For a large-sized bandana, draw a 10” line.
    4. Draw two diagonal lines connecting the tip of the vertical line to the end points of the horizontal line, forming a triangle.
    5. Cut the triangle pattern out.

step-4-6

  1. Place the pattern on top of the fabric and cut the pattern out. *You may need to use a small weighted object to hold the pattern in place during this step.
  2. You are all done! You can also save the paper pattern cut-out to make more bandanas!