imple Vegetarian | DIY cat-safe vase 2.0

For the beyond one year, we had been maintaining vegetation on our kitchen table in a makeshift cat-safe vase: a small glass underneath a storm lantern coloration that we picked up at the nearby thrift maintain. It wasn't exactly fashionable, and it critically restricted the extensive sort of flowers we must display proper away, but it did a reasonably suitable activity of allowing the flora and the cats to coexist.

Then, more than one weeks in the past, the typhoon lampshade broke. It did no longer get knocked off the table or a few thing; it just tapped closer to some component even as we picked it up to empty the vase, and an entire large chew of the glass broke right off. Since we did not have a spare, and there wasn't a comparable coloration to be had at the thrift keep in which we located the primary one, we had to put off the flora from the table altogether till we might also need to provide you with some special association for them.

Fortunately, Brian had already offer you with an concept for a more trendy cat-steady vase. His -pronged plan end up:

• pick up a simple, clear glass vase that could be inverted over top of the small glass that holds the flowers; and
• construct a stand out for both pieces to sit on, which would allow air to circulate while making the whole contraption more stable and harder for the cats to tip over.

We carried out the first stage of this plan two weeks ago. We already knew that Michael's had a good selection of plain glass vases, so we perused the selections and narrowed it down to two: a tall, narrow cylinder that would allow for tall blooms, or a wider, bowl-like vase that would accommodate wider bunches. Both were priced at $4, so it mainly came down to a question of looks, and Brian decided he preferred the narrower vase because it was easier to see through.

Then got here the tougher issue: designing the stand to hold the two portions. He wasn't able to deal with this very last weekend due to the reality the whole weekend turned into taken up with Rutgers Day and May Day festivities, but on Monday he did a touch tinkering in the shop with a few scrap timber and came up with a stand design that, even as now not finished, could function a

To provide air circulation, there are four large holes drilled in the bottom piece, around the edges of the circle. This creates four small gaps under the rim of the vase, big enough to allow air movement, while the four buttress pieces keep the vase secured within its circle.

We're not sure yet whether this initial design will end up being the final version or not. As you can see, there's an awful lot of empty space at the top of the vase, so I think ideally we'd either like to have the inverted glass be shorter (and possibly wider, so the blooms aren't so confined) or else make the one inside taller, bringing the blossoms closer to eye level. We're currently soaking the label off a coconut-oil jar that's a little larger than this juice glass to see whether that looks better. But if we end up having to replace the vase, shelling out another $4 isn't that big a deal.

Once we've settled on a final design for the vase, then Brian will construct a new version that looks a bit better than this one—possibly using nicer pieces of wood, and certainly giving more attention to sanding, staining, and finishing them. But for now, this initial version shows that it is at least possible to construct a vase that makes flowers and cats compatible.