Flying Barrel Of Monkeys

While preparing for our recent trip, I knew I needed some activities to keep MonkeyBoy in his airplane seat. One of the things I wanted to make for him was a small playmat that he could use as a scene scape as well as a storage device for his toy cars. I didn’t want to invest a lot of time or expense in it, so I used up scraps of 8.5″ x 11″ felt that I had lying around the house. I used the design on “Gifts By Hand” as a springboard for my book. In about an hour, I had created a four page “book” complete with storage pockets for four vehicles. Since I used relatively small dimensions for the finished project, the pockets were too small to hold standard Hot Wheels-type cars, but luckily I had a supply of Micro Machine-type toys that worked great. MonkeyBoy’s eyes lit up when I pulled it out of my carry-on bag and he played with it for HOURS. It was the perfect size to fit on his lap on the airplane.

Here’s the front of the book. I couldn’t do a project without some of my stamping toys, so I used the Big Shot die cut machine for the letters, and some retiring ribbon for the tie closure.

The first page.

The middle pages (a two-page track).

The final track page and the car pockets on the inside back cover.