How to Customize & Personalize a Dog Mat

Customize and personalize your dog's mat by elevating it in a vintage suitcase and adding photographs. Turning your dog's favorite mat into a piece of furniture is a project you can complete in a day and has the added benefit of being totally portable. It can even be checked at the airport.

Things You'll Need

  • Vintage suitcase with hard sides and a locking arm
  • Epoxy glue
  • 4 short wooden furniture legs
  • 1/2 yard fabric
  • Fiber fill
  • Photographs
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find a vintage hard-sided suitcase in a size to accommodate your animal. A toy poodle might do with a train case, while a Yorkshire terrier needs an overnight bag and a beagle needs a full-sized suitcase. Choose a suitcase with a locking arm that will hold the lid open securely. Clean the suitcase inside and out.

    • 2

      Turn the suitcase over and glue four short wooden legs, available from a home store, onto the bottom corners of the suitcase using a strong epoxy glue. Allow to dry.

    • 3

      Set the suitcase on its new legs. Open the suitcase and fill the bottom with your dog's bed. Make a new mat, if desired, by cutting two pieces of fabric to the dimensions of the inside of the suitcase, plus four inches. Pin the fabric pieces together with their right sides facing. Use a sewing machine to stitch around all sides, leaving a 3-inch opening for turning and stuffing. Turn the fabric right side out through the hole and stuff with fiber fill. Sew the opening closed and set this new stuffed mat in the suitcase.

    • 4

      Use glue to attach photographs of your dog to the inside lid of the suitcase.