DIY Hello Kitty House

This is pretty much from my own head - scary huh?  I'll admit to a little dinosaur related inspiration, on Pinterest of course!

I wanted to make something for my nieces who were going to be on a long flight, and as they were moving countries didn't have a lot of toys available to play with.  So it needed to be small and have a lot of play value.

I found some little Hello Kitty people in Poundland and bought two packs for each girl.  Each pack came with a Hello Kitty and some furniture.  Great I thought, all I need now is a couple of little tin pencil cases  and maybe some stickers to decorate....But the Hello Kitty furniture and in fact the Hello Kittys themselves were too big for the pencil cases. I hunted around and found the CD cases.

You should know something about me - I'm rubbish at sewing.  My repairs to clothes at senior school included sticky tape and staples, despite access to needles and thread.  So what made me think I could create a little house by sewing felt over cardboard I will never know!  

I cut a cardboard house shape (measuring against the CD case) and folded and cut felt around it.  I then sewed around it with a contrasting colour leaving a hole at the top to hold the stand.  Oh and I sewed on windows and a door.

I removed the CD holders section on the CD case - I was so pleased this worked - I was worried the whole case would fall apart!  I then sewed the house to the same place.  Not entirely easy, but honestly, if I managed it anyone can!

Next it was just decorating.  I made a couple of rugs, one fringed rectangle shaped, and one round with blanket stitch around it.  For the garden I cut a green piece of felt and added a pond shape and a vegetable patch.  The veggies are just french knots (I say just, but really that bit took  me the longest!).  I also found some cute little erasers on sale in a stationery shop

 It all folds away into the CD case, with a little  room, in case of extra visitors!  The girls seemed to really love them and certainly played with them non-stop after they opened them.  My daughter wants me to create another one for her too, so they obviously look quite good fun!  Finally a sewing project I'm actually proud of!