Luckily, a friend’s birthday crept up on me and I now had the perfect excuse to get out the saw and get crafty. Being that I have little patience for following instructions, I didn’t dig up the old article and instead started in on my own safari adventure.

Read on to find out how you can get

from

Tools & Materials: a saw (see #2 below), hot glue gun (plug it in before you start and it just might be ready when you need it), magnets.
Time: 30-60 minutes.

1. Go shopping. Check out your local party store and stock up on cheap, plastic animals made in China.
   
2. Find a saw. Any will do. I’d wanted to try the Jig Saw but couldn’t find it and decided I probably shouldn’t play with power tools anyway, so grabbed a hand saw that could double as a cleaver. Saw your beloved toy in half.
   
3. Play Taxidermist. Chances are your toy will be hollow. Stuff it with something, preferably with fabric or paper. Definitely not something that will rot. Carefully place some hot-glue over the stuffing to seal the front/back half of your animal.
   
4. Insert Magnets. While the glue is still warm, place a magnet in each end, being careful so as to place them so that they will attract each other when you want to re-assemble your dear pet. I tried 2 different methods: (1) place magnet in so that the edge is flush with the glue or (2) submerge magnet in the glue and apply another clear layer of glue over the magnet. I tried the latter method as a reinforcement. Either appears to work fine.
   
5. Put a Photo in It. I created a little card for the special occasion, though I imagine you could print a photo with a cleverly placed face or body such that the animal adds to the scene. In my case, I started with a cougar joke until I realized I had a cheetah on my hands. (Thank goodness for Google Images.)
   
6. Give it Away. The end.

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