The short lifespan of a dog toy can be a toll on your budget and the landfill but if you look no further than your sock drawer you can make your dog an inexpensive, washable toy.

Unmatched socks are a fact of life. I don’t know how one sock magically disappears but I have many socks that don’t have a match in all shapes and sizes. I’m going to give these misfits a second life by making a new toy for my dogs.

You can make a sock swing ball by taking 4 unmatched socks making sure one sock is longer than the others. With the long sock as your base sock, stuff the other 3 socks down into the toe of the base sock. Next, securely tie off the toe to make a tight ball at the end. Of course, you could also use a tennis ball in place of the sock stuffing.

You can make a more durable toy by braiding several socks into one larger rope.

Take three socks of equal length, cut them each into 4 long strips. Save one strip from each sock for later. Next take each sock and tie off the end. Braid the pieces together and tie off the other end. Do this with the other two socks then braid all three socks together. You can use the three remaining strips to secure all of the brads together.

You’ve now created two new dog toys from old unused mismatched socks. That’s doing your part to reuse materials that would have gone to the landfill.