Colonie Central High School Art Gallery

winter 2012 

Crafts - Mixed Media and Fabric and Fibers (Cat Scratch Pads/Boards)

In this Crafts - Mixed Media and Fabric and Fibers art class taught by Thomasa Nielsen at Colonie Central High School students made cat scratch pads/boards using recycled materials. Crafts has always been a class that relies heavily on the concept of recycling for many of its supplies. The class eagerly accepts donations of felt, fabric, sewing supplies, jewelry supplies and other craft related items every year. In this project, students used cardboard boxes from the school cafeteria (that were on their way to the dumpster) and cut them into 2-inch strips. They then pre-rolled the strips with wooden dowels (scrap wood from the woodshop classroom), and use hot glue to gradually make their shapes bigger. Once the shapes were large enough, a strip of wall paper was glued to the outside (also a donation to the class) and a piece of jute was tied and glued to the outside, with some dangling strings for cats to play with. The cat scratch boards aren't fancy, but they do the job as one of the cats demonstrates in the last few slides.