Baby's Own Wipes Case

A pretty wipes case and a new toy!

I really enjoyed making these wipes cases.  I made one to coordinate with the nursery (because isn't that just more fun?) and another as a toy for my 13-mth-old.  He loved it. 

All you need is a spare wipes case, a short bit of fabric, sponge brush and decoupage glue.  Throw in some fleece scraps for the toy.

Merriment Design has a wonderful tutorial and even a free pattern available, check it out!  I didn't have the same case she did, so I made my own pattern.  Basically, measure your case all the way around, at the widest part, and add an inch.  Measure top to bottom and add an inch.  Find some fun/cute/matchy fabric and cut out this rectangle.  Give it a dry test run to make sure it fits your tub and trim it down as needed. 

Use a sponge brush to apply decoupage to the case, 1 side at a time, smoothing the fabric over the glue.   Attach the fabric so that the final overlap will be in the rear.  Once done, trim the overlap if needed.  Now you can decide to trim away the bottom of the fabric flush with the bottom of the case, or wrap the extra under the case. Wrapping sounded easier to me than trying to cut my fabric even, so I chose that route. Once you've attached the sides, snuggly wrap and decoupage the overhang fabric to the bottom.

The dots pattern was a thin fabric, so I actually cut out a white rectangle and decoupaged it on first to block out the case label.  Then I added my dots fabric over it with the same method.  Now, apply 2 layers of decoupage glue over the fabric, letting it dry fully in between rounds. That's it.  Easy Peasy.  Now you have a cute case for your nursery.

With the dog pattern case, I also cut out a little circle to decoupage to the lid.  I had felt left over from various Christmas projects.  I cut them into long pieces that were as wide as the case and then just folded them accordion-style into the case.  You don't want to pack it too tight or it's hard to pull out that first piece.  BONUS: Fleece doesn't fray!! 

My Little Man had such fun pulling out these fabric scraps.  He had to work on opening the case and he practiced digging inside and figuring out the right way to get the fleece out.  NOTE: For the toy, be sure to pick a case with a push-button, pop-up opening.  I had a case whose lid has to be pulled up - easy for me, not easy for a baby.  We had to help him open the lid.

Craft time:  Each case took 60-90 minutes, counting dry time.

Play time: 10 min (pretty good for a baby), and he plays with it often

Cost: I had all supplies on hand except a spare case, but you only need 1/4 yd fabric, fleece scraps, and glue.  I'd guess cost is around $5.

Age: 13 months