DVD Case Re-purpose

Finally I have gotten enough energy back to start doing something other than eating! This baby must be a boy, because only a boy could be this mean to his mother ;) This gift is embarrassingly late, but better late than never right?

When we moved here and started unpacking all of our stuff I realized that we had a HUGE heavy box packed with all our DVDs. I decided I needed to come up with a better plan because if Jared stays in the army I don't want to pack and haul this huge box everywhere we go. I already had a small CD case that held all of Evey's kid shows in it for road trips, and that gave me the idea to get a larger one for the rest of our shows. I picked up a case at Walmart that holds 300 CDs/DVDs and cut out the artwork form the cases and made this:

Sorted alphabetically by genre of course

I am very happy with it and the space it saves. The only thing that bothered me about this project was throwing away all of the plastic cases that previously held the DVDs. I just knew they could be reused somehow, but I knew I couldn't keep all 200 cases so I threw away all but the white ones. I have been hanging on to them since January, waiting for inspiration to strike. Then the other day I saw a picture on Pinterest of a DVD case made into a doodle case and the ideas started flowing! I had been wanting to make a portable dollhouse for my niece's birthday because Evey has one (store bought) that she loves, but I knew it would be a lot of work and I just didn't have the energy. Then I was inspired and came up with this:

It's a paper doll in a box! Well, it's felt doll in a DVD case. This was a pretty simple project that only required a few supplies that I already had on hand. I used a DVD case, felt, a thin cardboard box (I used a Triscut box), some fabric, and scrapbook paper.

First I had to cut out the circular portion that housed the DVD. I just used a utility knife to cut around it. But don't do what I did the first time and forget to put something between the plastic and the vinyl sleeve or you will cut all the way through. I'm claiming pregnant brain malfunction.

Then I cut the cardboard into a rectangle that would fit on the side I had just cut the circle from and covered it with fabric to make a pocket. I used mod podge to stick the fabric on to the cardboard, super simple.

Next is the fun part. I made the girl and the outfits for her. If I had more time I might have embroidered some details into the clothes. Maybe next time. The girl is sewn right into the scrap of felt with a blanket stitch. All of the other items were just cut out of felt and fit very nicely in the fabric pocket. Then I used spray adhesive, which is my new best friend, to stick the felt girl and the pocket to the inside of the case. Lastly I used some scrapbook paper I had and embellished it for the outside sleeve.

Cowboy

Princess

Pirate

I really love the portability and durability of this project and Evey seemed to like it so I might need to make one for her. Hopefully her cousin will like it too!

Now that I have started the ball rolling with the DVD cases I am getting kind of excited. I am thinking a mother's day gift is next on the list!