What are the benefits of a crinkle dog toy? More than just noise for happy playtime.

So, the dog's been looking bored, and honestly, the store-bought toys just don't last. They either get shredded in five minutes or cost way too much for what they are. I saw these crinkle toys dogs seem to love, that noisy sound really gets 'em going. Figured I could probably make one myself.

First thing, I needed materials. Dug through my fabric scraps. Found some leftover fleece – pretty tough stuff, which is good for my chewer. You need something that makes noise, right? I remembered saving an empty chip bag. Washed it out really, really well. You gotta make sure there's no food residue left. Let that air dry completely.

Okay, time to actually make the thing. Here's what I did:

I took the fleece and cut out two identical shapes. Nothing fancy, just a simple rectangle to start. Easier to sew. You could do a bone shape, but straight lines are my friend with the sewing machine.

Then I took the cleaned, dry chip bag. Smoothed it out as much as possible. I cut it slightly smaller than my fleece pieces. You don't want it sticking out the seams.

Next step, layering. I put one piece of fleece down, right side up. Placed the crinkly chip bag on top of it. Then the second piece of fleece on top of the chip bag, but this time right side down. So the right sides of the fleece were facing each other, sandwiching the chip bag.

Pinned it all together around the edges. Gotta keep that crinkly layer from shifting around while sewing. Left a gap, maybe three inches long, on one of the sides. This is important – it's how you turn it right side out later.

Then I took it to the sewing machine. Just did a straight stitch all around the edges, about half an inch in from the edge. Remembered to backstitch at the beginning and end so it wouldn't unravel. Skipped over the gap I left open.

Sewing done. I trimmed the corners and any excess fabric close to the seam, being careful not to cut the stitches. This helps it look neater when turned out.

Now for the magic part. Reached into the gap I left open and carefully pulled the whole thing right side out. Poked out the corners with a chopstick to make them sharp. The fleece was now on the outside, and the noisy chip bag was trapped inside.

Almost there. Just had to close the opening. I folded the raw edges of the gap inwards, tucked them neatly, and hand-stitched it closed. You could use the machine, but hand stitching looks cleaner sometimes. Used a ladder stitch so it's kinda invisible.

And that was it. Gave it a good squish. Yep, makes that satisfying crinkle sound. Tossed it to the dog. Success! He immediately started tossing it around and making it crinkle like crazy. Way cheaper than buying one, and I used up some scraps. Pretty good result for an afternoon's work.