Quiet Book Pages

Last fall I spent a considerable amount of time making quiet book pages for my grandchildren.  I've learned a few things along the way - and the next set I make will likely be a little different than those I have completed.  I made some about 1.5 years ago that were very similar in style to the ones I have pictured here.

Even though I will do some things differently with the next set, the desired outcome has been the same - the kids love them.  They do provide a quiet activity for them to do - especially in places like church or the car.  So no matter how you do them, just do something.  I've got some ideas I can't wait to make happen!

The first quiet book I made, I made my own cover.  This one I used a 3-ring binder.  I glued a layer of warm and natural to the binder, then glued the cover to the warm and natural.  I sewed the straps on before it was glued.  Easy peasy!  Although, I probably should have used a 2" binder rather than a 1".  It really limits how many pages can be put in the book at a time.

After the fabric was glued onto the outside of the binder - I flipped it over and glued it down on the inside.  I then took a piece of card stock and covered it in the green striped fabric and glued it to the inside covers.  This covered up the edges of the outer fabric that had been folded over and glued down.

I love the barn page.  I found the cute finger puppets on-line.  I decided to try using the pencil pouch to store them in rather than making a pocket on the page.  Love that!

Another thing I learned ... SEW EVERYTHING!  When I took this picture I hadn't sewn along the outside of the barn or on the white pieces at all.  It wasn't long before those edges were pulling up and the pieces were detaching from the barn even though I had used a LOT of glue.  Before it was given away - everything was stitched.

The I Spy page made from fabric that is on their I Spy quilts.  This was taken before the finishing touches were put on the page.

This was a fun one to do - but if I were to do it again I might use regular cotton fabric as a background and make the bee so he could be moved around.

I used tablecloth vinyl to make the packet and filled it with buttons and beads and all sorts of tiny trinkets I found.  Use your 40-50% off coupons on this one!

This is one that I glued down REALLY well and figured I didn't need to sew anything.  The first time my grandson was on this page, he was picking at the edges and it was already starting to come apart.  Ugh....lesson learned.   SEW EVERYTHING!

LOVE this page!  I chose to not cut out felt numbers and letters.  Got these in a package of foam stickers.  I added E6000 adhesive to the backs of them and they did stick VERY WELL!

And look - the flaps lift up with little jewels for them to count.  Again, I used the E6000 adhesive to glue them down.

Felt strips with a fabric backing.  I wish now I had used all felt....  You can see the fray edges of the fabric.  These can be stuck together to make a chain, or simply connected one to the other to make a long strip.  Good color practice and eye/hand coordination when sticking them together.

 

I think this is one of my top three favorite pages!  The fish slide back and forth along the ribbon.  I lined the fish with vinyl so they would slide easily.  The other critters on top were cut out of fabric and glued to felt with a velcro backing on them so they will stick to the 'sand'.  The edges should have been treated with FrayCheck - not sure if that happened before it was given away!  

There were several more pages that I did - Mr Potato Head, tic-tac-toe, an Easter egg with Easter themed finger puppets, etc.

The one VERY IMPORTANT thing that you need to know about making your quiet book is this:  NEVER TELL YOUR HUSBAND HOW MUCH MONEY YOU SPENT DOING IT!!!   I would purchase things with coupons and on sale, and get things a little at a time, but I stopped keeping track of how much it was costing me because they have truly been a labor of love.

As I said - I'm already planning the next set of pages to do.  I will tell you this:  there will not be any holes in the pages.  I'm looking at a totally different way of putting them together in a book.  Can't wait!