Lincoln"ville".

Lincoln's 3rd B'Day

and Nanny (me) is looking for a perfect gift.  

He loves Thomas the Train, Big Rigs, and all his cars.... 

so I was thinking of one of those car play mats that also had a train station. 

I looked online and couldn't find one that matched what I wanted.  

But when I went to price them, it was outrageous.  Ranging from $60 to $200. 

Well that blew that idea. 

LIGHTBULB!  But wait,

what if I made my own?

I shopped around at some local discount stores, Mesa Sales, Big Lots, and Walmart.

Knowing I was going to paint the carpet I chose one with the least amount of "nap" possible. 

I chose a 60"X40"green low piled area carpet from Walmart.  Price $9.97

I gathered all the acrylic paint I already had,
and added a large Black, White, Gray, and Brown

cost $2.97 ea = $11.88

The other colors I already had.  Cost $Free!

 With paper and pencil I drew out the design.  

What would I include? I wanted to personalize it for Lincoln

What are some of the favorites in his life?

After I made my design, I "chalked" it onto the carpet.

If you decide to try this, remember all roads must connect,
all buildings must have road access 

all water must have bridges....etc...

It's quite the engineering effort getting it all to work.  

So glad I had some chalk to draw and erase!

Then I took a deep breath, and decided the first thing to do 

was paint the railroad tracks, the road, and the stream. 

 It worked!  
It was a little hard on the paint brushes (use old or really cheap ones)
The first coat was really watered down, then the second coat was full strength.
I found that sometimes it better to "dab" than to brush.

So here is the "Hospital" with a drive thru ER  (Daddy's job) 

and a Fire Station just for fun.

a LDS church, 

 our family "2 mile ranch"  in Prescott, 

Nanny's house,  and a river with a railroad bridge

Uncle Beau's Auto Shop and gas station (including some stacked tires)

 and a Uncle Klete's "Kletewood Construction" yard with a tunnel for the train

See the partially built houses, piles of dirt and stacks of wood?

Won't the dump truck, cement mixer, logging Big Rig be perfect?

 And Lincolns favorite store. 

I think "Target" was one of his first words! (including some shopping carts)

And it just wouldn't work without Sodor Train station!

Although its not a perfect painting, I think it turned out pretty decent.

Total Price $25.  but I am hoping
to Lincoln 
LINCOLNVILLE will be PRICELESS!