No-Sew Littlest Pet Shop Felt Play Mat
/Those annoying Littlest Pet Shop toys are so cute, but end up scattered all over the house when the girls play with them. I thought a play mat would help them contain the mess to a smaller (3 foot) square. This is a project that we planned to do last summer when I bought the felt, but it didn't happen. I have been letting my girls each choose crafty/cooking activities for us to do one-on-one and my 8yo chose this one. I did most of the cutting, but she did the designing and hot gluing. She wanted different sections - a park, a beach, a farm, and an outdoor concert.
A fountain is in the center of the mat, inspired by an old CD-ROM game the girls used to play. It was a little tricky. Stacks of gray felt circles added some height. There are thin satin ribbons coming out of a slit in the center of the top circle. All of the loose ends are underneath.
The park is probably my favorite. The cobblestone path was my 12yo's suggestion. It was simple to make, but gives a really neat effect! The tree has a branch that lifts up to reveal a birds' nest. The bushes have button berries/flowers/whatever. There is a cute little pond with lily pads, too!
The beach scene was fun to create. We added a boat and surfboard to the water. On the sand there is an umbrella with a beach towel that rolls up to store underneath. Off the beach, in the grassy area she wanted to add a camping area with a picnic table and a campfire.
Next is the farm scene. They have a lot of farm animal Littlest Pet Shops. Yarn was used for the fence and buttons are the fence posts. There is a mud pit for the pigs (which could not be found for this "photo shoot"). A water trough is in the corner. Outside the fence are some straw bales and a garden. The garden was really fun to make. I let her choose what plants we would create. At one point, a "sprout" and a tomato were missing, so she blamed the groundhogs. LOL Spoken like a true farm girl! There are pumpkins, tomatoes, cauliflower, sprouts, cabbage, and sunflowers.
Last, we have the outdoor concert in the park. She really wanted a stage for the Littlest Pet Shops to perform. There are steps, lots of lights, and a few instruments. Some benches in the front make perfect seating. At the entrance to the concert is a fun pennant banner.
It was a fun project! Hot glue makes it a little more dangerous- she learned the hard way. This could definitely be done with regular liquid glue, too. I like when the kids make crafts that are actually useful and not just something that will be thrown away in few weeks. I can see this one being played with for a long time!
Here are some more fun kids crafts you might like…
