Mom builds kids magnificent mini town

By Emma Dunn via SWNS

A savvy mom built her kids a mini town to play in as their Christmas present – and put it all together herself with a budget of just $500.

Kara Fidd, 32, started making gifts for her two children after not being able to find a suitable ‘Jurassic Park gate’ after her son, Aiden, seven, asked for one last year.

The stay-at-home mom decided to get creative and make the gate herself with leftover scraps of wood and paint.

Kara upcycled a sled she found in a thrift store and turned it into a Frozen-themed sleigh for her daughter, Reagan, five.

When her kids asked for homemade presents this year, Kara came up with the idea to create a whole town in their basement.

With a budget of just $500, Kara has spent every moment she could over the last four weeks constructing a stage, school building, rescue squad and police station.

She used scraps from her home renovation projects and sourced items such as a school desk, chalkboard, and an old telephone from thrift stores.

Kara, who lives with her children and husband, Bryan, 34, who works for the air national guard, can’t wait to surprise her kids with it on Christmas day.

The content creator, from Lake George, New York said: “People gave me lots of ideas of what I could build my kids this year.

“My daughter loves playing teachers and my son loves anything emergency response-related.

“People said build a stage, ambulance or a school.

“So I just thought it would be really cool to combine them all.

“I’m trying to make the whole thing functional as well as fun."

She added: “Hopefully it will be finished in time for Christmas.

“I’m 32 but I am excited to play with this.

“The kids know I am making something, but they don’t know what it is.

“I’m going to wrap a large box and put a note in it to say, ‘go downstairs.’

“Then they’ll walk through some wrapping paper at the door and then see it.

“I don’t think we will ever top this.”