DIY Basket Dog Bed for a Small Dog

Hi, everyone! It’s the last Thursday of the month and that means it’s time for another Thrift Store Decor Upcycle Challenge! So today, I’m sharing how I transformed a small woven basket tray into a new DIY Basket Dog Bed for a Small Dog!

The Rules:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There’s no monthly theme.
• There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Amanda | The Kolb Corner    Erlene | My Pinterventures    Kim | Made in a Day
Dru | Polka Dot Poplars    Maureen | Red Cottage Chronicles    Pili | Sweet Things
Debra | Shoppe No. 5    Marie | DIY Adulation    Havalah | Sisters, What
Chelsea | Making Manzanita    Ann | Duct Tape and Denim
Molly | Just a Little Creativity    Ashley | 3 Little Greenwoods    Kimm | Reinvented
Kim | Farmhouse Made    Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled    Sara | Twelve on Main
Chelc | Inside the Fox Den     Michelle | Our Crafty Mom    Jeannee | Shepherds and Chardonnay
Jennifer and Vicki | 2 Bees in a Pod    Lora | Craftivity Designs
Ali | Home Crafts By Ali    Denise | My Thrifty House    Kathleen | Our Hopeful Home
Jeanie | Create & Babble    Michelle | Michelle James Designs

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

 DIY Basket Dog Bed for a Small Dog

Before I start, let me introduce you to our dog, Dusty, the driving force behind this project. You see, I originally purchased this basket at my local Salvation Army with the intent to repaint it and display it in my kitchen or bathroom. So I brought it home, plopped it on our backyard table, and then forgot about it.

But our dog Dusty, who loves to sneak on the backyard table (he isn’t allowed on the sofas and I think this is his way of claiming a high ground), found my basket and decided it made a much better dog bed. *sigh* Although, I don’t blame him because he could curl up perfectly in it and it was all his! Anyway, he seemed to really enjoy sitting in it, so I decided to turn it into a basket dog bed just for him.

DIY Basket Dog Bed for a Small Dog

Supplies:

• basket
• fabric
• sewing machine
• thread
• scissors
• pen
• large piece of paper or cardboard
• ruler (optional)
• pins
• spray paint in your favorite color
• stuffing

Directions:

Every basket will be different, so a unique pattern will have to made for each basket. These are general steps I used to create the pillow for this basket.

• Spray paint the basket to your desired color. Let dry.

• Place the basket onto a large piece of paper or cardboard. Trace around the basket and cut out. This will be the template for the pillow. Make sure to add at least 1/4″ – 3/8″ seam allowance.
• Place this template on the fabric and trace around it. Cut out the top and bottom pieces of the basket dog bed pillow.
• Measure the height of the basket. Cut out strips of fabric that are long enough to go around the basket and match the height of the basket + seam allowance.

I skipped taking pictures while I was sewing…sorry 🙁

• Pin the short ends of the long strips together, right sides facing each other. Sew the ends together.
• Pin the long sewn strip to the edge of the pillow top, right sides together. The strip may be longer than you need, but this will be fixed later. Sew along the edge until you reach the area where the strip meets each other. This is where you will adjust the length of the strip and sew it together.
• Pin the bottom of the pillow to the strip, right sides together. Sew around the edge, leaving a 5″- 6″ opening for the stuffing. Turn the pillow inside out. The right sides should now be facing out.

• Stuff the pillow.
• Sew the opening shut.
• Place pillow in the basket.

I know this DIY Basket Dog Bed looks small for Dusty, but trust me, he makes it work. He squeezes his 13 lb. body into the basket and loves sitting in it. Unfortunately, being the active dog that he is, I had the hardest time getting him to pose for pictures (thus the blurry pictures), so Snoopy is his substitute.

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!