Get an automatic ceramic food dispenser while they're hot! Pet lovers will love these handy gadgets when working late or gone overnight. Friends won't have to pop in to take care of your cats because the programmable timer sets when food is dispensed into the cat bowl and your hungry baby can have a tasty meal. Finicky felines won't take to your sofa and other fine furnishings in protest of your absence and their growling stomachs. Let's look at an example.



When Tom got notice from his work that he had to fly out of town for the weekend, he called his brothers and sisters to ask them if they wouldn't mind stopping over to feed and water the cats. Unfortunately, everyone already had their own plans to be out of town. Tom still wasn't sure what to do when he was out shopping on Thursday night. Later that night, Tom was in Petco talking with a sales clerk who recommended he get a pet feeder. He checked them out and discovered that for less than $60 he could get a model that held up to five cups, and that he could program it to dispense according to any feeding schedule that he wanted. For a little more, he could get one that included a water fountain and would maintain a constant water level. Or he could get a fountain that was separate. He decided on getting the combination unit.



Tom set it up that night and tried it out. It worked perfectly, and the next day Tom was on a plane out of town, planning to be back on Sunday night. Before he left, he laid out some Ritz cheese crackers for the mice that occasionally showed up. Now, these were really smart mice, and you might say they were geniuses. They kept a close eye on Tom and could see him packing his clothes, knowing they would have free run of the house for the whole weekend. They watched closely as Tom made sure that he filled the reservoir with Purina dry cat food. He also had some Kibbles 'n Bits, and some Friskies, but they were wet cat foods.

Tom knew better than to feed his pet only dry food. But for just this weekend, Tom knew it was Ok. The myth that is perpetuated by manufacturers to get consumers to believe that dry pet food is good for the teeth is just that - a myth. Dry food does not clean the teeth and no human flosses with cookies or any other dry baked good. With mice and cat watching, Tom was out the door and on his way to the airport. The dispenser was set up with food, batteries installed, and ready to dispense food all weekend!

Crafting has always been an exciting endeavor, and working with clay is perhaps one of its most challenging channels. Creating bowls, plates, mugs, vases, sculptures, and works of art has become a wonderful pastime for artists and lay folk alike. Working with clay is particularly difficult and takes a great deal of technique and developed talent to master. It is also a very investment-heavy craft. Creating ceramic items requires clay, sometimes a lathe or wheel, glaze for color, and a kiln. Clay must first be shaped, out of neutral or colored putty. The shape is then super heated or baked in a kiln to preserve the mold. Glazes, colors, and effects are added before a second “firing.” A peculiar subsection of sculptors deals with creating life-like replicas of every day items, either in miniature or in real size. Ceramic food is often funny and entertaining.

Some artists are so skilled with shape, color, and glaze that the food is largely undistinguishable from the real thing. Until you try to take a bite, of course. Ceramic foods are often created for display purposes rather than as a form of art. They appear life-like, are easy to clear of dust and debris, and never deteriorate if properly crafted. However, their artistic, still-life value is often lost in their implementation. A painting of a bowl full of fruit can stereotypically be thought of as art while replications of fruit in ceramic are considered a display, a decoration if you’re being generous. There is a lot of talent invested into ceramic foods which is reflected in their practical applications rather than their artistic value.
There are realistic uses for using ceramic food which should be recognized. As it is a very life-like representation, ceramics are often used in the entertainment business instead of real food where no one is shown to be eating the item. Commercials, TV shows, advertisements, and movies all occasionally use ceramics in place of the real thing. Professional lighting is often very heat intensive, which can cause soggy, discolored, or melting food. To use real food for these shoots, it would require that food being replaced nearly constantly. This is wasteful of both time and the often limited budget resources that advertising allows. Ceramics can be manipulated to look like the ideal representation of what is being sold or used. Tomatoes are the truest red; sesame seeds are precisely placed; lettuce is thick and crispy; bread is perfectly shaped; and cheese has been melted with purpose. Every detail of ceramic food is filled with vibrancy of color to represent the freshness of the product. Creating ceramic objects is fairly inexpensive for any sculptor who is established and experienced.