Felt play mats ~ a fun gift idea for kids!

Back before Christmas, I was talking with my Nevada daughter on the phone and we were discussing potential gift ideas for her kiddos.  She had seen these adorable felt mats to use when playing with matchbox size vehicles, and thought her kids would love one as a group gift.  Here is the link: Felt Play Mats.  I asked my local daughter if she thought her kids would like one of these too, and she thought they would.  My reasoning was that if I was going to make one, I might as well do a second at the same time.  (Not the most logical reasoning I have ever used.)  Needless to say, this project was not as simple as it looked and the mats were not completed before Christmas. 

I finally did complete them and got them to the recipients in February/early March.  I can say for sure that kids enjoy them.  Here is the first one. 
 
And here is the second one.

I used a lot of the same ideas as the designer of the Felt Play Mats, but added quite a few of my own ideas as well.  One of the buildings I liked the best was this brick library

which I made for the second mat since it looks more like the one in their town. I was also pleased with how the donut shop turned out. 

These were fun to design, but not so much fun to put together.  I used white glue to assemble the buildings and then a glue gun for everything else.  I'm quite sure my white glue was too old, because although it seemed to work and hold things in place just fine, once the kids began playing with the mats, some of the smaller pieces began to come loose.  So, if you try this project, be aware of this possibility.  Use fabric glue, tacky glue or even a small glue gun to attach small pieces.

If you follow the link to the Felt Play Mat, you can scroll down and see other mats that the designer is featuring -- a princess one, a pet shop one, even Gotham City.  Have fun!