When my daughter was around a year old, I found this tutorial on UK Lass in US for a fabric dollhouse, and was consumed with making my own version of it.

I made some minor adjustments, and little improvisations, made a few happy accidents, but overall it was a pretty fun project!  I’m quite mathematically challenged, so even the simplest measurements confuse me…I remember having to re-do a part of it, due to it not folding out properly. The key to most projects and improvising with them is being able to visualize what it will look like when it’s finished. Once you know that, you can modify any parts you like as long as it doesn’t interfere with the basic structure of the piece. I added pockets on the side walls to hold the tiny painted-rock owls that “live” in the house. I made yarn “nests” and all kinds of fun things to give it a foresty feel.

My daughter’s 4 now, and doesn’t play with it much.  She’ll sometimes stuff a dinosaur in there, but overall, it was still fun to make.