This one's been a long time a-comin'!

Well, maybe it wouldn't have been so long if I hadn't procrastinated on it so much. ;) We started it a few weeks ago... on Courtney's birthday, in fact... February 1st. I first thought of making it FOR her, as a birthday gift, since the pattern I ordered for the doll clothes was taking so long to arrive. But then on second thought, I figured it might be more fun to have her help make the choices for it. So we worked on it together. Here is my little pin-helper as we're figuring out our layout:

Any guesses as to what we're making?

Josie always insisted on being nearby. But I guess she eventually found the project rather boring.

Okay, here are some clues as to what it is. I sewed those bigger pieces of felt onto a hunk of brushed denim. Then we cut some smaller pieces to represent various things, and Courtney helped glue them on by squeezing the glue bottle for me. ;) Uh, yeah... a bit messy, but fun.

Figure it out yet? Keep going....

Okay, I'll tell you. It's a play mat! It's mainly for her Little Pet Shop pets to play on, but since she didn't have them along this next day we worked on it, we substituted some farm animals and fences.

The mat still had a long way to go, though... and I kept thinking of all the little pieces I had to cut... and all that glueing... and how I really didn't want to keep doing it. :) I knew it'd be a real pain to keep using the fabric glue, so I invested in my first ever glue gun! And then one day when Courtney wasn't here, I made myself buckle down and finally get at it, determined to finish it.

And I did! Once I got going and glueing, it actually got to be pretty fun. And here it is:

Click on it to get a much bigger look at all the little things. There's a garden, a pasture, a cat area complete with bed and litter box, a dog area, a pond, pens and animal feed and water in the zoo, etc., etc. You figure it out. :) Don't be afraid to ask questions if you need explanations. (Just don't any of you farmers out there give me grief on my fence-building!)

I did think, though, that you might wonder about the pink area. That's the spa. :) Courtney'd gotten a little spa set for her pets for Christmas, and she had that along this past Tuesday so I could get pics. Sweet, huh?

Bathtub, shower, vanity, and all sorts of little necessities like soap, shower cap, lotion, etc. Everything pets need, y'know?

Here's Courtney busy brushing the teeth on one of her pets, I believe. :)

And a cute addition was some teeny blankets that Auntie Kris knitted for the pets. Here they are in use. And as usual, all of Courtney's pets, babies, grandparents, etc., must sleep face down. That's so she can pat them on the back to help them go to sleep, like they do at her real daycare. :)

I can't take credit for the design of the play mat! I came across one here, on A Girl and a Glue Gun's blog. So thanks, Kimbo! :)