Fortune Cookie Cat Toys WITH Fortunes

For years I've been making simple fortune cookie cat toys, first with a piece of twill tape sticking out as the fortune, then going to a piece of white polar fleece or felt as the fortune.  The twill tape needed to be sealed on the end so it didn't unravel.  For that I'd dip a finger into Elmer's Glue and 'pat' it on the end of the tape and let dry.  With the fleece or felt I didn't need to do that, but they didn't look as good.

NOW, however, I can do actual printed fortunes that work much better.  And it's so simple.

I snagged an image off the internet which shows what the finished toy looks like, this image uses felt for the fortune though, not my printed tags.  Someone hand sewed this one.  Machine stitching them gives a far cleaner look.

FORTUNE COOKIE CAT TOY:

Cut a 4" circle from orange felt.  I do 20 of them at a time generally.

In Microsoft Word print up a bunch of cat fortunes, size them to a font size of 8 or 9, small works fine with this.  Make sure you have enough space between the lines to allow for clearance when cutting them apart later and have at least 1/2" of clear space in front of the fortune. 

I use fortunes like 'The Chickadee of Happiness Is In Your Future' or 'Beware The Barking Dog' or 'Catnip Is A Gateway Drug'.  Be creative, you can do any sort of text on this as you want.  Print the page out on your printer.  The Dollar Store has clear contact paper for $1, it's 3 feet long and you peel back the paper on it easily.  Put your printed page on that and press, then flip and do the other side as well so both sides are laminated. Cut the individual fortunes apart.  Leave 1/2" of white at one end for inserting into the fortune cookie.

Now fold your circle in half so it looks like an apple slice, start sewing along the edge in red or orange thread, stopping about 1/2" along. Insert your fortune but make sure the stitching line does not cover the text.  The laminate is not going to be a danger to your sewing needle, it has never gummed up mine and I've made quite a few of these.   Continue sewing along the edge till about 1/2 way around the curve. Stop, leaving the needle in the 'down' position so the fabric won't slide, now you stuff the toy.

Using a little bit of stuffing and a pencil, poke that up into the sewn corner.  Then take a slightly larger bit of stuffing and wrap catnip in that, shape it into a lozenge shape and slide that into the opening too.  Continue finishing sewing around the curve and back stich at the end to lock in place. 

Using a scissors, trim the felt down to the stitch line for a clean look. Be EXTRA CAREFUL not to cut into the fortune!!!!! 

Holding the trimmed cookie in one hand, use a finger to poke in the back edge to fold the cookie in half.  Hand stitch that in place to complete the bend, making it look like a real fortune cookie.

TIP:  You can use these without the catnip as just regular gift/joke fortune cookies, or for fun package ties, or even as Christmas ornaments.  The pattern is simple and as I say, can be as creative with the fortunes as you want to be.