This home made cat scratching and climbing post is made of two electrical wire spools from our local electricians dumpster, leftover fabrics and saved baling twine.
To make, measure the diameter of the two large wooden discs and make fabric slip covers. I sewed a tunnel and used a piece of road to tighten the fabric, a piece of elastic would do the same trick. Measure the small top disc and make a slip cover for it. I used fake fur fabric, several of the disk have circles of regular carpet underneath the cover. Regular carpet does not curve / bend and thus can not be used to cover cat furniture.
Put fabric over small disk. Drill three holes for metal bolts in top disc of large spool. Put fabric over large disc. Attach the small disc and tube to the top disc with the metal bolts that come with the spool. Put fabric over the last large disk and attach all pieces together. Wrap bailing twine or any other cheap, rough twine around the cardboard tubes.
The post is surprisingly sturdy, used extensively (over our store bought one) and even our two year old thinks it's a great climbing toy. Enjoy!