DIY: Eco Friendly Stablemate blanket made out of old wrapping paper!

Here's how to use up some of that leftover wrapping paper from the holidays:  make a cute blanket for your Stablemates!
The cool thing about this project is that you don't have to use wrapping paper!  Any kind of paper will do, and you could even use fabric like felt if you wanted!  (If you do, you might want to use fabric glue instead of tape.)

I have gone over the whole process in this quick video, but just in case the video doesn't work for your computer I have also put all the instructions below.

Materials:

• Used wrapping paper (preferably thick and flexible and with a small-scale design)
• Tape
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• A Stablemate

Step 1: Create the basic shape.

Use the ruler and the pencil to mark off a rectangle on the wrong side of the paper, 3" (7.5 cm) by 2 3/4" (7 cm).  Cut out the rectangle with scissors.

If you like, add a little arrow pointing to one of the long sides.  This will be the front of the blanket, and the arrow keeps you from getting mixed up.

Step 2:  Shape the blanket.
Fold the blanket in half, matching the short sides together.  Crease it lightly.  This fold will be running along your horse's spine.

Step 3: Create the neck opening.

Use the scissors to cut along the fold, a little more than halfway along the blanket.  Cut out a little more on each side of the cut, creating a kind of notch or triangle shape that slopes down in front of the horse's neck.  At this point, you can try the blanket on your reference horse to see how much you need to cut off.  There should be a good deal of paper left over in front, like two tabs; DON'T cut these off.

Step 4:  Even out the bottom.

Trim a wedge off the bottom of each side of the blanket, so that the front doesn't slope down.

Step 5:  Finish and shape!

Tape the two flaps together in front, so that the blanket stays folded and closed securely around the horse's neck.  Use your fingers to rub and smooth the blanket over the horse to crease the paper a little bit and help it fit better.  This also reduces stiffness.  If the neck hole starts to tear, add a small piece of tape at the top of the triangle to reinforce it.

TA-DA!  Enjoy your spiffy new blanket!