If you have a little one that loves matchbox cars, then you’re going to love this idea I came up with for my son! This Traveling Matchbox Car Bag and Mat combo is a great boredom buster, and even better for traveling! Seriously perfect for home or on the go.  Put your little one’s cars in the bag for storage, fold-out the mat, play, play, play and then when it is time to pick up, fold the mat up, put the cars back in the bag, and off you go!

This DIY Traveling Matchbox Bag and Mat idea came to me while trying to figure out something fun to make for my little guy. Several methods of execution went through my head – movable road with velcro, the mat folds out of the bag, etc – but in the end, decided that this was the best way for me.

DIY Traveling Matchbox Bag and Mat

Pretty simple to do, but it was a bit time consuming cutting the road and fitting everything together.  Unfortunately, I was a bad blogger and didn’t take pictures throughout the process, but I still wanted to share the idea for those of you that may want to try to execute it on your own!

Basically, I cut out the tote squares and then measured the mat piece so that it could fold twice and velcro to the side of the tote.  I sewed the road and scenery pieces onto the green fabric and then sewed the mat to the tote fabric.

Next, I sewed the top seam of the tote and the left side and bottom of the outside tote section. I placed the road mat into the seam of the right side of the tote and sewed that shut.  Next I added the velcro to the tote and the mat.  I then sewed the tote liner, placed it inside, and stitched the two together.

Super simplistic, but this little thing has been used over and over again!