Shadow Box

Okay, technically this isn't ahhhht, but it came out so well I wanted to share it:

www.flickr.com

Starting this past winter, I kept noticing the same black cat hanging around the back gate of the campus when I left work. Usually I'd see it only at night-time. It was very skittish, and never let me get very close.

At least one person I spoke to thought that the cat was a stray (it has no collar), and although someone seemed to be leaving it dry food, I figured it might be hungry, so I started carrying pop-top cans of moist food in my backpack ("9 Lives", easily purchased at the corner gas station on my way to work) . The moist food is great for this: the can serves as its own little dish, and it's probably more palatable than dry food when there's no water dish nearby.

At first I just left them where I hoped the cat would find them. Then I started regularly making the "kissy-kissy" noise whenever I saw it -- as all cat lovers know, this is almost universally understood by felines as the "friendly human who wants to give you affection and maybe even tuna" noise.

Eventually, I named the cat "Shadow," since it's all-black and I only ever see it at night, when I usually mistake it for a shadow until I get close enough.

Well, last week I walked out of work at night and, not seeing Shadow, I decided to try making the "kissy-kissy" noise anyway. Sure enough, a little black form came bounding out of the darkness ahead, meowing. I consider this a breakthrough.

Even though the cat may in fact have a home (and damn its owners if it does, for not giving it a collar and tags), my mom gave me the idea of making a little outdoor cat-house for it -- someplace comfortable and safe to go when it's rainy or windy or cold. I knew the perfect place, too: a place where Shadow probably visited on its rounds

Mom suggested that I do what she does: cut a "door" in large-size Sterilite plastic bin and put towels on the bottom. I already had a nice black bin from the Container Store, and a photo of one of mom's homemade cat-condos to use as a reference, but I was worried that someone would just see it and throw it away. After a flash of inspiration, I went down to the Ranger Surplus (an Army-Navy store) and got two yards of (72" by about 60") of cheap camo fabric. They didn't have much of a selection, but one of their bolts was perfect: a pattern of brown and green leaves and tree bark.

A friend of mine is has been kind enough to host the full set of photos on his flickr account. Here's a cat's-eye view:

The whole project took me just a couple of hours, and that was with half my attention on "South Park". Here's what I did, in case you ever want to do this yourself:

1. First I traced the doorway in one of the short ends with a light-colored pencil, using and one of my mom's photos of her cat-houses as a references -- rounded corners, starting a couple of inches up from the bottom to keep the inside nice and dry.
2. I started the hole with a utility knife and then used a tin shears to cut the whole thing out. Important: do NOT cut off the bin's handles, or cut too close to them! Leave a couple of inches of plastic below them.
3. I cut the fabric in half, intending one yard (36" by 60") for the perimeter of the bin and the remainder for the lid.
4. I folded the first yard roughly in half (so it was like 18" by 60") and, starting from the uncut short side, draped it around the top perimeter of the open bin...... it just made it. I adjusted it so that there was fabric both on the inside and outside, but more on the outside since I wanted it to hide the black plastic completely.
5. I decided that the camo would work best if it was baggy and irregular, since that would best hide the straight lines and contours of the bin, so I played with it a little.
6. I then secured the fabric (around the top edge only) with a staple gun. This was a bit of pain: Sterilite makes a good product, and half of my staples didn't go in. A couple of times they cracked the plastic a little around the staple, but never that much, and anyway the lid would be going on top. I used a jeweler's pliers and a small hammer to bend back the prongs so that there would be no sharp points.
7. Where the doorway was, I cut slits in the a shape of a Roman numeral I (i.e., a sideways capital H), folded the fabric inside the house, and secured it there as well.
8. I centered the lid over about half of the remaining yard of fabric and stapled it likewise, so that it would cover the lid and then some. As with the bin, I intentionally bunched up the fabric so the final result would be irregular.
9. I rolled up some excess fabric and secured it to the bottom of the doorway, so that the edge wasn't quite so sharp. Doing this cracked the plastic a little again, so I probably wouldn't do it the same way again.
10. I went around the edges of the camo fabric (the edges of the lib and the bottom of the bin) and cut irregular triangular notches, like leaves. Again my goal was to hide all tell-tale straight lines.
11. I used a black permanent marker to color in the staples on the outside so they won't be obvious, because I am hopelessly obsessive very thorough.
12. Now to make it homey. Two old folded terry-cloth towels in the bottom of the bin. The top towel is black, which works very well, though in the future I'd prefer dark brown or (if the Ranger Surplus sells it) a brown camo.
13. The final touch: one of my woefully-ignored stuffed animals shoved in the back. Because it can be lonely being a stray.

Yes, the lid does still fit snugly, despite the fabric: this means that the whole assembly can be easily pick

When I get a free moment some night this week, I'll put the box in its final location, where it will be well-hidden and (thanks to the camo) near-invisible. I know there's a chance some jackoff will steal it, but it was REAL cheap and quick to make, so I won't be devastated.

I hope Shadow likes it.

April 2006.