Lego Storage Mat: for moms who hate Legos as much I do
5:00 AM
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I HATE LEGOS!
My son only asked Santa for two things last year, and unfortunately one was Legos.
I understand why kids would love them, building anything they want and often with trendy Star Wars or Harry Potter themes.
I dreaded the tiny pieces to be lost, stepped on, vacuumed up, or mainly a toy that is such a pain to clean up.
But my husband got a Lego set for our son for Christmas and I’ve hated them as much as I thought I would.
A GIVEAWAY!!!
Hollie has generously offered a Seam Allowance Guide for three lucky winners!
Go HERE to enter giveaway!
I HATE LEGOS!
My son only asked Santa for two things last year, and unfortunately one was Legos.
I understand why kids would love them, building anything they want and often with trendy Star Wars or Harry Potter themes.
I dreaded the tiny pieces to be lost, stepped on, vacuumed up, or mainly a toy that is such a pain to clean up.
But my husband got a Lego set for our son for Christmas and I’ve hated them as much as I thought I would.
We’ve stored them in a Tupperware, but they still get everywhere and it is an overwhelming job for my 4 year old to clean them all up by himself. So I end up having to help clean them up the majority of the time, not to mention stepping on the sneaky one that didn’t make it in the Tupperware that ticks me off and makes me curse Legos!
So I saw these block/ lego mats popping up on Pinterest a while ago and finally made my own version.
Because it’s not my original idea I didn’t do a tutorial, but here’s an in depth version of one of the first lego mats I saw from Toni at Make It Perfect.
Because it’s not my original idea I didn’t do a tutorial, but here’s an in depth version of one of the first lego mats I saw from Toni at Make It Perfect.
So details on my mat:
-one layer: rather than having two sides, this is one huge circle from nylon rip stop fabric.
I bought 2 yards that made one 60” diameter circle and had leftover for the book pouch
-drawstring casing: I serged the raw edges of the nylon, then sewed around the circle with a long stitch length 1” from the edge. This basting stitch made it easier to turn the edges of the circle once to make a 1/2” wide channel for the drawstrings.
-double pull drawstring: I used mason line to have to drawstrings that pull opposite from each other like you find in cheap little tote backpacks.
The openings for the drawstrings were just two buttonholes on each side of the circle, and I used a safety pin to thread the rope around the circle, then tied the ends in knots.
-book pouch: oh the annoying instruction books. I don’t want to store them myself, so I made a zip pouch for the instructions just in case he ever cares to actually create the original structures.
Basically I sewed a 9” zipper into a larger rectangle and serged around the edges, then on the back of the mat I top-stitched the rectangle on.
-one layer: rather than having two sides, this is one huge circle from nylon rip stop fabric.
I bought 2 yards that made one 60” diameter circle and had leftover for the book pouch
-drawstring casing: I serged the raw edges of the nylon, then sewed around the circle with a long stitch length 1” from the edge. This basting stitch made it easier to turn the edges of the circle once to make a 1/2” wide channel for the drawstrings.
-double pull drawstring: I used mason line to have to drawstrings that pull opposite from each other like you find in cheap little tote backpacks.
The openings for the drawstrings were just two buttonholes on each side of the circle, and I used a safety pin to thread the rope around the circle, then tied the ends in knots.
-book pouch: oh the annoying instruction books. I don’t want to store them myself, so I made a zip pouch for the instructions just in case he ever cares to actually create the original structures.
Basically I sewed a 9” zipper into a larger rectangle and serged around the edges, then on the back of the mat I top-stitched the rectangle on.
So the books are zipped on the bottom of the mat, and he does sit on them while he plays.
So far it’s been awesome.
He keeps all the Legos on the mat while he plays and when he’s done we cinch up the mat and clean up is 15 seconds rather than the 10 to 15 minutes trying to coach him to clean up all the pieces strewn everywhere.
11 comments
What a great idea! I bet you could use some cool road map or space fabric to make it too then it would be like a play mat and bag all in one!
ReplyDeleteSoooo.... If I make one the size of the play room, does that mean we can clean up in one giant tug of a cord and eliminate all toy boxes? :D
ReplyDeleteYes yes yes
ReplyDeleteI'm going to copy..my kids may be older but they still occasionally play with them and never ever ever put them all away and if you don't tread on them ..the most expensive bits go straight up the vacuum!!!!
I'm going to copy ..AND am sending you a huge THANK YOU :0)
That is super smart. I will have to make one of these once my little guy is big enough to have legos.
ReplyDeleteI love how you added the pocket for the little books. =)
ReplyDeleteLegos have been outlawed in our land. :-( The King of the castle had instructed his minions for YEARS to clean up the land from evil Legos that had escaped confinement. However, the minions ignored their King and let the Legos run free and wild. One day, when the King was taking a tour through his land, he was viciously attacked and brutally injured by one small, but seriously sharp Lego. Afterwards, the King made it law that no longer were Legos allowed in the land. He then sent his soldiers out into the field to defeat all remaining Legos and erradicate them from his dominion.
ReplyDeleteThis mat is a great idea! And, IF we ever do the Lego thing again, I will definitely make one of these. However, I do think it is too late for us. *sniff, sniff*
Hope you have a super day! :-)
Heather
This is great! My oldest son informed me yesterday that they now have 728 Lego pieces and 2,383 Kreo pieces. Yep! They counted them all (smile).
ReplyDeleteI love this mat idea!
How nice is Lego Storage Mat: for moms who hate Legos as much I do ! I like it . Thanks for sharing this post. For more lego storage bin .
ReplyDeleteI HATE LEGOS! My son only asked Santa for two things last year, and unfortunately one was Legos. I understand why kids would love them, ... ilegostorage.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteMy son is being given a 400 piece set of lincoln logs for Christmas this year from Grandma. What?!?! 400 pieces? I am so making this for those, and once we do legos I will make more! Thanks for the great idea. I will check out the tutorial you linked to. I really like the instruction bag idea too.
ReplyDelete400 logs!!!! Well at least they are bigger than legos and hopefully easier to pick up!
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