Homemade Quiet Book Ideas
Growing up my mother had made a few quiet books for us kids to entertain ourselves during church. Me being the youngest of 5, by the time I played with the books many of the pieces were missing. But it didn't matter. I loved those books. As I got older I knew it would be one of my first priorities to make for my own kids so they could have the same memories that I had.
Because making your own require A LOT of time and resources, I've been putting it off until now. I knew this summer would be the perfect time because I had the time and Avery was getting to the age of being able to actually enjoy them for their purpose.
Most of the pages I copied from my mom's books, but some I made up and others I found online. If you are interested in how any of the pages are made or would like me to provide traceable printables, don't hesitate to ask! I traced most of the drawn ones from her books and I can make some for you to use for yourself!
* Some tips I have learned from making mine are:
1. Don't buy a permanent fabric pen! Unless you plan on washing it, just use a fine-tip sharpie or maybe even a pen. Don't waste $5 on something that can be cheapily replaced.
2. For the pages that look like they're colored, it's because they are! I found out that you can color on the fabric with colored pencils for some nice color without all of the bulky felt fabrics. (But again, only do if you plan on never washing it.)
3. Machine sew as much as you can. It'll keep it lasting longer through all of the tugging from you little ones.
Every page is made out of basic materials consisting of mostly felt and notions. I'll mention what type of notions I used for each page, but know that most of the main material is felt.
Book One:
Colors, Shapes, Misc.
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| Stoplight and Vase of Flowers (velcro and buttons) |
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| Ice Cream Cone and Fruit Basket (velcro) I had a LOT of fun making the fruit! Ice cream cone idea from here |
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| Animal Eggs and a Weave (glue gun) These animals were also a TON of fun! Egg idea from here |
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| Apple Tree and Shapes (snaps and velcro) |
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| Christmas Tree and Caterpillar (velcro and snaps) |
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| Weather Girl (velcro) Now, I made this one up, so we'll see how child-friendly it is! |
Book Two:
Bible & Book of Mormon references
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| Ruth and Baby Jesus (Yarn and snaps) I remember my older sister really loved braiding Ruth's hair so that one was a must for my book! |
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| Peter Fishing and Noah's Ark (tool, zipper, & glue gun) These animals were also a blast to make! Although I regret making them all a profile. |
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| Liahona (snaps) |
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| Ancient Temple and Joseph's Coat of Many Colors (velcro and snaps) |
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| Tithing/matching game (velcro) |
I LOVE how these turned out and it's such a relief to have them finished! I seriously feel like I have all of this time on my hands now that I don't have this nagging me. That won't last long. Time on my hands, but I'm really glad that they're finished!
Seriously, if you have questions you want answered don't hesitate to email or comment. I mostly just copied my mom's pages, but that's much easier to do when you're able to touch and examine it. As for the binding, I didn't have the tools to make holes for rings, which is why I reverted to the bold hand-stitching. I actually like it. It makes it look playful, like a child did it and it also holds up well. I do want to do something with the covers, but I haven't thought of anything yet, so it sits blank for now.
2 comments
Such a wonderful idea! You are really talented! And I've seen Avery and Brody both just play and play with them during Sacrament Meeting!
ReplyDeleteOur Fairy Tale
Cute Tiff! Yours will probably hold up better than mine. I just started my scripture story one. I actually found the patterns online that are the same as from mom's book! They even had a couple of extras! So I'm probably going to do too many pages, but it's hard to narrow it down!
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