Upcycled: vintage vanity case to doll bedroom

Hello, and welcome to another week! Today I'm sharing here my latest Sunday project -  how I turned a vintage vanity case into a bedroom for one of my daughter's dolls.

A couple of weeks ago my mother found this old case in one of her closets. I remember it from my own childhood as my mom always used it when we traveled. So now she asked my daughter if she wanted it - and my daughter of course said yes.

But...this case is probably at least fifty years old and it came in a sorry state, especially the inside. Extensive upcycling was needed. So I metaphorically raised my sleeves and got down to work.

Here's the before look:

 

We debated what we would do with it, and finally we decided to make a portable bedroom for Catarina ("Catarina" being one of my daughter's dolls with a rather extensive Hello Kitty themed wardrobe and accessories, and which, sadly, had been living inside another bag for lack of a proper space). 

Fist I ripped the inside pockets because there was just no way to save them. I only left the leather ribbon to the side after cleaning it thoroughly, because I thought it would be useful to keep the doll clothes organized. 

 

 

Then I glued fabric all over the inside of the bag. 

 

 

Before adding new lining to the bottom of the case I glued a few bits of thick interfacing to make it look more like a mattress. 

 

 

After adding some lace here and there as embellishment, I turned to the case flaps. After lining them with matching fabric, decided I needed them to have some storage capacity so I cut part of one of those plastic business card organizers and glued it in place. 

 

 

 

I also added two additional pockets inside the case as well, to store more accessories.

By then, all that was missing was the bedding. My daughter of course chose pink and as an afterthought I decided to add a Hello Kitty iron-on patch I had in my stash. Seeing as Catarina's clothes are all Kitty themed, it kind of made sense.

 

 

In the end, the space seems a bit tight, but since the case can easily be opened to play I'm hoping it works. At least my daughter is happy. 

 

 

I'm still debating what to do - if anything - to the exterior of the case. For now I've left it unchanged (except for some cleaning) and just added a new ribbon to keep the key from being misplaced. In case I come up with any additional remodeling plans I will share them here for sure!

 

 

Happy Monday!