A paw-some Christmas present idea for your pooch: A DIY dog bowl

20 Dec 2022

Don’t forget your pets this Christmas. Give your cat or dog their very own personalised feeding bowl, and if they’re really lucky they might get to eat their favourite treat for Christmas Day.

You will need

• Small piece of 7mm thick untreated pine plywood, 26cm x 52cm
• Two 10mm thick untreated pine boards, 9cm x 90cm
• Two stainless steel dog bowls
• Measuring tape / ruler
• Compass
• Electric drill
• Jig saw
• Saw
• Screws
• Sandpaper
• Wood glue
• Painters tape
• Wood filler
• Resene Quick Dry
• Resene Lustacryl in your favourite colour, Fleur used Resene Red Berry
• Resene Colorwood natural wood stain in Resene Teak
• Cloth/rag
• Resene Aquaclear semi-gloss
• Computer printout of your dog’s name
• Sellotape
• Pen
• Resene testpot paint in your choice of colour for the lettering, Fleur used Resene Quarter Parchment
• Small artist paint brush

Step 1: Start by working out how big you want your bowl station to be.  Fleur started with a piece of plywood 52cm long and 26cm wide and then placed her two bowls side by side with a 3cm gap between them. She then measured how long the top piece of plywood would need to be with a 3cm gap at either end.  For the width she measured the diameter of a bowl and added 3cm on either side of it. 

Next, work out the placement of the bowls and draw a circle with a compass, slightly smaller than the lip of the bowl. Use an electric drill to drill a hole inside both circles and then use a jig saw to cut the two circles out.  Sand any rough edges smooth with a piece of sandpaper.

Step 2: Cut the pieces of pine board to make the base frame of the bowl station.  Fleur cut two lengths at 52cm long to go at the front and back, and two side pieces at 24cm to go on the sides.  Glue these together with strong wood glue and hold them in place while the glue dries using masking tape. Once the glue is dry, drill in some screws to secure the boards together.  Fill these with wood filler and once this is dry, sand smooth with sandpaper.  

Step 3: While the glue on the base is drying, stain the top.  Fleur used one coat of Resene Colorwood wood stain tinted to Resene Teak. Apply the stain with a brush then rub off any excess stain using a rag.

Step 4: Once the stain is dry, apply two coats of Resene Aquaclear, allowing for the first coat to dry before applying the second coat.  Apply to the edges and underside too to help protect the dog bowl holder against any spills and general wear and tear. 

Step 5: Prime the base frame with a coat of Resene Quick Dry. 

Step 6: Once the Resene Quick Dry primer has dried, apply two coats of Resene Lustacryl tinted to your chosen colour to the base (Fleur used Resene Red Berry), allowing the first coat to dry before applying the second coat. 

Step 7: Print out the name of your dog and use Sellotape to attach this to the front of the base.  Use a ballpoint pen to trace around the lettering.  Press firmly so that you leave an indentation on the painted wood.

Remove the paper printout and with a small artist paintbrush, paint in the lettering with Resene Quarter Parchment.

Step 8: Once the paint on the base and the Resene Aquaclear on the top is dry, use strong wood glue to glue the top to the base.  You can place some heavy items on top while it dries to make sure there is good contact between the base and the frame. Wall painted in Resene Carrara and skirting board in Resene Half Rice Cake.

Published: 20 Dec 2022