I've been wanting to make a cat tree for a while but I had been very wishy washy about actually getting off my butt and doing it. However, after I saw a picture of one made with tree branches that looked super cool, I finally got the fire under my butt to go and make one(and to force the fiance to help!)
Here is mine(literally right after we finished making it, hence the mess):

Here is what inspired it:

It costs $699, so of course once I saw that I was like 'Psh, I can make that!'
And because my favorite part of browsing Craftster is seeing the progress shots, here are some for this project!

Luckily they just cleared the lot next to us recently and there were some decent sized branches in the brush pile that I pulled out.

I love my pull saw!

All the pieces ready to be put together. (Sadly I didn't take any shots of carpeting the platforms/base, but I basically just built them out of plywood, and a concrete tube mold for the curved platform, and attached carpet onto them with staples and hot glue.)

The first branch attached.

And suddenly all the branches in place, and the fake leafy twigs attached.

Wrapping sisal for my cat to scratch.

Attached fake flowers to the fake leafy twigs and it's done!

Here it is in the bedroom!
And some shots of Gremlin enjoying his new tree:
Like most cats, he initially acted like he didn't care.

But it didn't take long for this to happen:


It took about 2 to 3 days of working on it off and on, it's about 5 feet tall and it cost under $100 to make. I love it!