A Mousehouse Kids Crafty Suitcase Tutorial and Giveaway

Hello all, well I've finally got a chance to share my latest project- these little crafty suitcases I made back in April - it takes a while to write a long post like this nowadays! The pink one was for my daughters 5th birthday which she has absolutely loved.  I had the idea to make one after seeing these beautiful Moulin Roty ones in a magazine a few years ago- however they were pretty expensive and only had knitting supplies really so I thought I'd make one that had a bit of everything- knitting, beginner stitching, and lots of other kids crafty stuff. (Funnily enough I looked on pinterest last night to see if there were any other DIY kids craft kits and came across this gorgeous one made back in 2010 inspired by the same Moulin Roty suitcases!)

Some of it such as the knitting needles and the knitting spool are a bit too tricky to use for now but will be great in a few years time. It was so much fun collecting up the bits and pieces for the suitcase- some of it I've had for over a year as whenever I saw something cute such as the knitting needles or the animal measuring tape I'd just buy it and pop it away until I got the chance to get the suitcase done. And I also thought of some things I could make for the suitcase as well- a drawstring bag for her fabric stash, a needle book and pin cushion, a pencil case and a crayon roll. 

So I thought I'd share how I made the suitcase and what I put in it in case you would like to make your own version one day. 

Kids Crafty Suitcase Tutorial

1. Find a kids sized suitcase (mine is approx L29cm x W20cm x H9.5cm).  I bought mine from Bubbalooz- a NZ based website that has heaps of cute suitcases.  Or try searching online for mini suitcases, nesting suitcases or kids cardboard suitcases. You could also search ebay or trademe for a vintage suitcase!

2. Choose a piece of scrapbooking card for the inside lid of the suitcase- Spotlight has a good range.

3. Lie the suitcase upside down on your card, trace around it and cut it out. Then cut about 1 cm in again so it fits inside your lid (bit of trial and error here!) I then glued the card to a piece of black card to make it stronger.  

4. Decide what you would like to put on the inside lid part. I chose some embroidery thread bobbin cards printed from this fab blog here, a knitting mushroom (also called a knitting spool or knitting nancy), some kids knitting needles and some scissors. I got the knitting mushroom from here as part of a seedling kit or you could search Etsy as I saw a few on there too). The scissors were from Bernina here in Tauranga and the kids knitting needles were from the Tauranga Knitting Centre.

Place the items you want on your card and mark with a pencil where you need to make the holes for the elastic to go through to hold the items in place. Now place the card on a piece of wood and use a large nail and hammer to make the holes (see pic 1.) Thread hat elastic (tight but not too tight) through the holes and knot on the back (see pic 2.) Check that your items fit well. Use craft glue or PVA to glue the back of the card to the inside lid of the suitcase.

5. Fill up your suitcase with whatever crafty things take your fancy- here's my list of ideas- I didn't use all of them as mine ended up being more of a sewing/stitching suitcase than an arts and crafts one. I did include beads, pins, buttons etc so you'll have to decide whether they are appropriate for your kids (Amelie's pin cushion was put away very soon after she got her suitcase!!)

Stitching/Knitting

• Childrens knitting needles 
• Knitting mushroom 
• crochet hook
• 2 x ball of yarn
• 4 x embroidery threads
• hessian and Aida cloth (cross stitch fabric) for stitching practice - cut to fit into your suitcase
• Felt rectangles for stitching practice - cut to fit into your suitcase + scraps of felt for projects
•  Plastic needle for hessian for young stitchers
• Large stitching needles for Aida cloth and felt for older children
• embroidery hoop
• Small sharp scissors - sharp enough to be able to cut fabric and felt
• ‘Practice stitching’ cards- buy or make your own
• Small plastic compartment container for beads, buttons etc

Sewing

• fabric scraps
• Pins
• Novelty tape measure
•  2 x rolls of ribbon
•  buttons
•  ric rac/other trims
• elastic
• safety pins for needle book
• brooch backs

Art and craft

• crayons, felts, glitter pens, glitter glue pens, 
• mini paint box eg:  http://www.smallacorns.co.nz/product/Djeco-Watercolour-Paints-12-Classic-colours?i=438 
• beads and thread
• washi tape
• sellotape
• glue stick
• stickers
• paper, card, envelopes
• notepad or notebook and pen
• blank luggage tags
• bakers twine or string
• stamps and ink pad

6. If you're a crafter you could make some things to go in the suitcase as well-as mentioned above I made a small drawstring bag, a needle book and pin cushion, a crayon roll and a pencil case. 

Right, that's it I think! Feel free to ask any questions- I'll write a post soon with some ideas for getting your kids into some beginner sewing and some simple things for them to make using the supplies in the suitcase.

And if you would love to get started on making your own crafty suitcase or would just like some crafty treats I've made up a few things to giveaway- a drawstring bag, needle book, pin cushion, notebook, crayon roll and a little container of craft supplies.

...Edit 27 July Giveaway is now closed...

Just leave a comment here to enter...unfortunately I don't think you can enter by leaving a comment on my Facebook page as Facebook have tightened up the rules about running promotions (comments or questions are welcome though!) so to enter you'll need to leave a comment on this blog post - if you don't have a blogger account. just sign in as 'anonymous' and be sure to write your email address in the comment.  For extra entries let me know whether you are a Facebook 'liker', a blog follower or you could share this giveaway on Facebook or on your blog- just leave a separate comment for each one (I've taken off the word verification for comments so it'll be a little easier to comment now.)

International entries are welcome and the giveaway will close in 2 weeks time Friday the 27th July 7pm NZ time.

Happy crafting and thanks for reading!

 Megan x