DIY: Making the Oscarmonster Custom Felt Steps

So are you crafty?  Do you have a glue gun and a coupon for Michaels?  Then you CAN make your own stairs.

Please read my post on home accommodations for my recommendations on store bought stairs.  Honestly, they are more sturdy and there are many options! But sometimes you can not find one that is appropriate for a particular spot.  This one was designed for Oscar to get up and off of the bed which was only 13" off the floor, while most dog stairs are 24" or taller.  So in this instance, I decided to design some steps.

Materials:

1) Scissors 

2) Hard Styrofoam (I used 2 long rectangle to avoid having to cut extra corners.

3) Enough thick felt to cover the stairs twice (I used 1 yard)

4) A glue gun with sticks

5) A knife (exacto preferred, I used a kitchen knife)

6) (Optional) Square of non-skid material (often used for kids footed pajamas - found at a fabric store)

Cost: About $30

Time: 60 minutes

Steps:

1) First I used the knife to cut the foam into stairs appropriate for where you need it.   Measure, measure again and go place it next to the area to see how it would fit.  Mine is 12 inches wide for a 28 pound  Boston Terrier. 

2) Use the glue gun to glue the pieces you have cut together like so:

3) Drape the felt over the lowest step first making sure to have enough material to wrap the rest of the felt all the way around the steps.  Go slowly, glue one step and smooth with your hand, get the corners, move up to the next step.  I glued the top of all the steps first.  

As you go you will find extra material on the sides at the level of each step.  These can be cut and tucked if you are particularly crafty.  I am not, so I folded each so it looked kind of like a theater curtain. I like this effect but you could easily make it "neater."  After you cover the top and the sides, then turn it over and glue the back.  This will require cutting some material off and tucking the remaining felt to completely cover it.  Don't worry if this is perfect.  It must be pretty level but it does not have to be pretty because you will cover it with the non-skid material on the bottom.

Place the stairs and train with treats! It takes some practice and it's not perfect. But these stairs work well now.

 If you do something like this, please report back!