I quite like the idea of having a shelf with a bottler holder and food bowl built in, and with a cute little house on top and possibly, some ridges on the floor to secure a wheel (stop it moving), meaning you could have all your necessary hamster items in one place. Kiln-dried pine is supposed to be the safest thing to build with, but lolly sticks might work.
For decoration, you can use things like Cuprinol Garden Shades and Plastikote or even make your own food colouring (there's an ErinsAnimals tutorial on YouTube) to paint or stain the wood.
Good luck! I hope you win
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