Colors Book for Baby

 My husband convinced me that it would be fun to not know what we're having. Boy?? Girl?? We'll know in May I suppose. It is a bit fun waiting for the surprise, but my hands have been itching to make something for baby. That's when I found the crazy quilted colors book tutorial. EmmmyLizzy sent me there a week or so ago and I immediately got started. It feels so good to prepare something for baby....not to mention, it was a nice break from the quilts I have been working tirelessly on.

A few notes about how I made mine:

...First, I added a page so I could include a few more colors...however, this also added to the bulk. If I were to make it again I would not sew batting onto every page. Instead, I would sew onto batting for one side of the page and then sew onto something like muslin for the other side. I think that would give the book the perfect weight.

...Second, the size of my individual pages were 8.5", 8.25", and 8". So basically, I had 4 individual 8" pages, 4 8.25" pages and then 2 8.5" pages, plus the front and back, which were also 8.5". Make sense?? So I would sew 2 8" pages together, side by side, then I would sew the other 2 8" pages together. Then I slapped those two 8" x  15.5" pages right sides together, sew them (leaving a small hole), turn them and edgestitch them. Once I had all three sizes sewn together, I stacked them and hand-sewed them together down the center (which was right down the middle of the yellow and white pages).

...Third, I use a nice heavy embroidery thread to sew the three pages together. I also had to use my thimble and needle-nose pliers because of the bulk, but it worked and I can't imagine it ever coming undone.

It was a fun little project and I was so glad to use up so of the scraps that I love dearly and hoard for such a project as this.

Back to those quilts I suppose. Can't wait to share them with you!! Just waiting on another shipment my cotton/linen blend from SewMamaSew...




Sharing the love at some of the following:
Monday:
Making the World Cuter Mondays
Keeping it Simple-- Motivate Me Mondays
Skip to my Lou-- Made by You Mondays
Sew Can Do-- Craftastic Monday 
C.R.A.F.T-- Making Monday Marvelous
Tuesday:
Sugar Bee-- Take a Look Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog-- Get Your Craft On!
Creative Itch-- Sew Cute Tuesday
Tip Junkie-- Tip Me Tuesday
Wednesday:
Sew Much Ado-- We Did It Wednesday!
Blue Cricket Designs-- Show and Tell
Someday Crafts -- Whatever Goes Wednesday
Show off Your Stuff -- Fireflies and Jellybeans
Friday: 
Simply Designing
Kojo Friday Fun Finds 
Fingerprints on the Fridge-- Feature Yourself Friday 
Tatertots and Jello-- Weekend Wrap-up
Weekend:
The Girl Creative-- Just Something I Whipped Up
Under the Table and Dreaming-- Sunday Showcase 

Quiet Book: M & N

With family here, I've been doing a lot of baking and eating, but not a ton of sewing and crafting. However, I did finish up these little pages a few weeks back and finally got some cute little finger puppets to add so I can finally cross them off my list.

The 'M' page was heavily influenced by Homemade by Jill's version.

'N' was fun to create. This has already been to church with us and my kids just love the finger puppets. 
I found the sweet little finger puppets at Wee Knit on Etsy. Definitely check her out. She's got lots of cute things.

Don't forget to check out the rest of our quiet book here.

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 Kojo Designs Friday Fun Finds 

Hidden Pictures

So I am always looking for good "busy" activities for my kids for while we are in the car, waiting at offices, flying, and just making our way through a rainy day and when I discovered these printable hidden pictures activities, I knew just what to do with them. I thought I would share the fun with you.

When you visit the site you will find so many to choose from. Since my daughter is just four, I decided to look for some that were age appropriate and not overly difficult. Now, when you print them out it prints out the entire webpage, kind of a drag, but a great excuse to make these a little more exciting. ***The Highlights website has been updated and is now super easy to print!! there is a little printer icon in the upper right of the corner. Easy peasy!***

I printed the pages on regular computer paper. Then I just cut out the hidden picture and the key of items and glued them down to a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of colorful card stock. I did a page on each side of the colored card stock. I then sent them through my laminator (if you don't have one, get one. The possibilities are endless when it comes to childrens activities. I've used mine for so many things.)

Three hole punched, place in a thin binder and voila! In the pocket of the binder I keep a washable dry erase marker and  a piece of flannel to wipe the pages clean. However, I would like to get my hands on a pack of wipe-off crayons. Have you used them before?? Do they wipe off well?? Anyway, I hope you enjoy! ***I have since purchased wip-off crayons and I like them, but they can be surprisingly messy...I actually think I prefer the Crayola wipe-off markers.

I have included the file for my cover page for you if you're interested.
Hidden Pictures

Have fun!! Start to finish is only about an hour. I love me some instant gratification:)

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Blue Cricket Design

Quiet Book: K & L

K scared me. Not gonna lie. But I conquered and am pleased with the result...however, it wasn't all that scary once I did it. So, whatever. Unfortunately, though, I failed to switch my presser foot back to the all purpose one, and it was one of my specialty feet, sooooo, it made some of the detail sewing rather difficult. But I'm so bright that I didn't even realize it until I was halfway through sewing the second page. Brilliant, I tell you.


K was completely inspired by the ABC 123 Craft Book by Phyllis Fiarotta. Read more about here

.

Then there was L. Other than trying to sew around all those little circles with the incorrect presser foot on my machine, this page was quite simple. This is my own design.

 See more quiet book pages here

And have you checked out the Quiet Book Club Flickr Group?

Sorry for the hiatus in quiet book posts. I will keep them coming. It ain't over 'til it's over...right? Right, guys? yeah.....Have a glorious weekend!

Quiet Book: I & J

Both of these pages were inspired by the book ABC 123 Craft Book by Phyllis Fiarotta, only I definitely added my own style.

It was a bit of work to embroider all those little letters, so these had BETTER not get lost;) But then, the embroidery is a bit crooked, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to do them over...But then no. Too much work. And I have more letters to get to:)

J for jellybeans. This page could not have been much easier. And if the jelly beans get lost (which I know they eventually will, with how small they are), it is easy enough to just cut come more. Gotta love that.

Wanna see the rest of our quiet book pages?? Click here:)

Quiet Book: G & H

G was just plain fun to create.

And just in time for us starting our real garden.

The little hinges I used are for scrapbooking, and they secure pretty tightly, so I don't think I have to worry about them much.I tethered the veggies since they are a bit small.




And now, all heartache aside, I am quite pleased with how H turned out as well.

The original had this hand on it, but it was much longer and had no cuff (the green sleeve that is now there.) I whipped it up, added the fun little faces, was so excited and directly to it to my test committee and she couldn't even get her hand into it at all. My heart sunk. So then I cut off the narrow-ist part of the bottom of the hand and added the wide cuff. Still no. So then I picked it out again and decided to sew the bottom of the cuff with elastic thread and voila! We have success. And she likes it!

Quiet Book Flickr Group

So, I'm pretty sure I haven't told you about it yet because it's a brand spankin' new group. The Quiet Book Group. How has this not yet been set up? I don't know. As of now, it sits at 2 members. Me and the creator, Andrea, of the Quiet Book Club. So, if you have any quiet book pages, or are looking for inspiration, head on over to the Quiet Book Flickr Group.

On that note, if you have been wondering where our own pages G & H are...they're coming. G (which is for Garden in our quiet book) is complete and I am very excited about it. H, however, is causing unnecessary drama in my life. Therefore, it may be another week before it becomes complete. *sigh* Crafting joys. ;)

Catch you later;)

Quiet Book: E & F

Another two pages down...20 to go. Whew! But I have some fun pages planned, so the motivation is still thriving. The 'E' page was fun and simple to make. And I thought it would be good to throw some counting into this book. so here you go. 1 through 5.

'F' was not quite as simple, but it's definitely a sweet little page. All 3 flowers button on and off, and it takes quite a bit more fine motor development than the pulling in and out of the 'E' page. Which is good, because the whole point of this quiet book is that it will occupy both of my children, who are 2 years apart.

Quiet Book: C & D

Here are the next pages. This is so much fun! And these two pages I thought up all by my little 'ol self. I saw these little clothes pins in a craft store and knew they'd be perfect for Goose's fairy haven...but alas, they were sucked up into this quiet book instead. I know she'll have a fun time with this one.

I did use a snap with the laundry basket in hopes that the clothes won't end up all over my church bag (there is already laundry all over my house...I don't need it following me to church...).

As for the 'D' page. I am so thrilled with how this one turned out. First I cut out the door. Then I cut out a piece of blue felt that would be behind the door. Then I drew the outline of the opening and cut it out. Then I cut out a piece of clear vinyl the same size as the blue felt and and sewed it to the felt, but only laong the top. Then I attached it to the page along the other 3 sides. Then came the door (made with two pieces of felt for sturdiness). I think the kids will enjoy seeing their pictures behind the door. Another idea would be to sew on a little plastic mirror (like the ones you see in baby toys??).

Our Quiet Book

So, I have been wanting to make a quiet book for my not-so-quiet-at-church children. So I did a search. And let me tell you. There is NO shortage of ideas out there. I have two specific sources of inspiration that I am using in particular:

How to Make a Quiet Book - This blog is an excellent source for how to put a book together in a way that will last forever. She also has several pages that she give tutorials and patterns for. All FREE! Love that.

**construction of a page** I follow much of her construction of her pages. I used muslin for the base of the page and ironed on interfacing to the back of each page. Then, when I was finished with two pages (say, A and B) then I sewed them right sides together, left a 4" gap on the bottom, turned it right side out and topstiched all the way around. My finished pages are approximately 9 3/4" x 11". So, when cutting your pages be sure to add at least a 1/4" seam allowance.

ABC 123 Craft Book by Phyllis Fiarotta - For some reason Amazon does not have a picture of this book, but believe me. The pictures are bright and colorful and give you instructions on doing pages for each letter and numbers 1-10. Whoa.

This is our Quiet Book in progress. There is a link below each page directing you to the original post with some details about that particular page.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I hope that these pages inspire some ideas!! And if you have a quiet book, I'd love to see it! Please share the pictures with everyone at the Quiet Book Club flickr group.

 Details HERE

 Details HERE

Details HERE

Details HERE

Details HERE

Details HERE

 Details HERE

Details HERE

Always a work in progress...Less than half of the book to go.  Let's do it! http://hipposanddinosaurs.blogspot.com/2012/04/quiet-book-o-p.html