Learning Our Colors

So I am sure it is pretty obvious by now that I LOVE making fabric books! I would almost say that I love making them more than Jack enjoys playing with them (well eating right now- he is teething after all!)

I love the idea of children playing and learning all at the same time. And I truly believe that it is never too early for a child to start learning!

So I decided to make him a book to help him learn his colors (hopefully he isn't color blind like his daddy). I also wanted him to be able to learn concepts like shades of colors, pattern, texture, and shapes with this book. Each page is devoted to a different color. I used different patterned cotton fabrics, felt, ribbon, silk, ruffles, fake leather, stuffed shapes, and some fuzzy fabric.

So here it is...Jack's COLORS book...

If you would like to make a fabric "Quiet" book here are a few blogs you should definitely check out....

How to Make a Quiet Book

Homemade By Jill

and Hippos and Dinosaurs has an adorable ABC quiet book...that I definitely see myself having to make in the near future!

Time For A LITTLE Girly Moment

There are so many adorable ideas out there for craft and sewing projects for little girls! However, since I don't have a little girl of my own there wouldn't be any point in trying them out right now.

But since these projects I have been seeing lately are so stinkin adorable and I don't want to just wait till I have a little girl of my own...

I have decided to start trying them any way...and give them to my wonderful girl friends who do have little girls. Remember the summer dress and the little blue dress...proof that I just can't wait any more!

So when my good friend's little girl Zoe turned 1 I jumped at the chance to make something a little more girly!

I have been very much in a quiet book making mood that I decided to make a more girly version of it for Zoe. :-)

So here it is...Zoe's Quiet Book...done the girly way...


PAGE ONE...
...lift up the flowers to see..

Mommy, Daddy, and Zoe looking at me!

PAGE TWO...
....lets fly...

...up...up...up...to the the pretty sunflower!

PAGE THREE...
....hello again to our barnyard friends!

PAGE FOUR...
...pick the apples one by one and count them as you put them in the basket. Do you have enough to make a bushel??

PAGE FIVE...
... untie the ribbon to revel...

Clothes! Time to play dress up :-)

When you are done put your clothes away and practice tying the ribbon!

PAGE SIX...

....Do you know how to spell your name?


That's right...Z...O...E! Button the letters on as you say each of their names :-)

FRONT AND BACK...


Once again I got a ton of ideas and inspiration for this quiet book from Homemade By Jill's blog...here and here is where you can get some more ideas from her...plus templates!

It was so fun to get into the girly groove for a little bit...now back to thinking up some new pages for my little man's book :-)

The pages and covers are made of cotton fabric and all of the details are made out of felt. Plus a couple of buttons, velcro, and ribbon. For the photos on the flowers I simply printed them out on my computer, cut them to fit, and modge podged them on to the felt. I am hoping they hold up okay. If I do something with pictures or paper again I think I am going to laminate them and hot glue them down.

Have fun creating your own girly version of a quiet book!!

FINALLY FINISHED...THE QUIET BOOK

I finally finished Jack's quiet book! Yeah!!!
I loved putting this book together. I was pleasantly surprised that I also LOVED all of the hand sewing parts of it.

The pages are made of cotton and all of the little details are made of felt. I also used book rings to hold it all together so I can add more pages later.

Most of the concepts in the book are a little...okay a lot over Jack's level...but I just couldn't wait that long to make this for him! Besides...he still loves the book...mostly to chew on it - he is teething after all...what else would you expect him to do with it ;-)

If you want some more ideas for quiet book pages and even templates for some of the pages go to Homemade by Jill's blog. Her blog is amazing!!! Tons of ideas and inspiration! and definitely where I got the inspiration and ideas for Jack's quiet book :-)

So here it is for your viewing pleasure...

PAGES ONE AND TWO...



Is that a little red bird up in that tree? He wants to say good morning Jack!



Lift up each ray of sunshine to discover a surprise...time to learn our shapes and colors!

Oh...and don't forget Jack Jack...
YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE!

PAGES THREE AND FOUR...



What is that hiding being those barn doors???

...it is our friends the cow, chicken, and pig!

Time to put on a puppet show :-)

What sound does the cow make??? MOO!!!
What sound does the chicken make??? CLUCK!!!
What sound does the piggy make??? OINK!!!

...now it's time to feed our barnyard friends...

Lets go to the garden and pick some veggies...

You can pick corn right off the stalk, carrots right out of the ground, and lettuce leaves.

Oh and don't forget to say hello to that cute little red bird again!

PAGES FIVE AND SIX...



count it down...3...2...1...

BLAST OFF!
Fly all the way to the moon and back...and practicing counting forward and backward while you do it :-)

Time to play with fishies...

Play peek a boo with some friendly goldfish and a playful turtle. Move them around in the fish bowl...

All of the fish, the turtle, and the numbers are attached with velcro. Go ahead...move them around where ever you want :-)

PAGES SEVEN AND EIGHT...



Okay buddy...daddy needs help fixing up the house...

Get out your tools!

With a hammer, screw driver, and saw my little man can fix just about anything ;-)

Time to check the mail box....

You've Got Mail!!!

Can you read your mail to mommy?

and look...it is little red bird's friend...blue bird :-)

FRONT AND BACK COVER...

Quiet book front cover...kept it simple for now.

Back cover has a pocket to hold any little extras I decide to make for the book -extra puppets, numbers and fishies for the fish bowl, tools for the tool box, and letters for the mail box!

I am really excited to start thinking of more of my own original ideas for pages to add to this book and maybe even make another one!

Coming soon....a girly version of the quiet book...stay tuned!!

Sneak Peek

So today I am going to give you a quick sneak peek at my latest project: A Quiet Book for Jack.

What is a quiet book you ask?
It is an interactive book that helps a child to learn, discover, and play :-)

I first stumbled upon the idea of a quiet book when I found this blog. The momma on this site even provides you with some templates in order to make them. Since we do not have a printer right now I just free handed the shapes.

Since finding this idea for a quiet book I have found many other versions that I am definitely going to make in the future! Some of these books have zippers, buttons, and latches for kids to learn and practice on. One page even had the shape of a tennis shoe with laces tied for a child to practice tying shoes with.

What is my quiet book made of:
Each page of the book is made of white cotton fabric; while the accents and designs are made of felt.

These are not all of the pages that are going into my quiet book, just a couple of my favorites...

The Vegetable Garden
This is the garden page. I actually got my inspiration for this page from the same blog but a different project. This design is actually one that is on the side of a felt playhouse that she made for her son (this project is definitely on my list of HAVE TO MAKE!!)

On this page Jack can pick the carrots out of the dirt bed, pick the corn from the stalks, and pick the lettuce. (the lettuce leaf is attached with velcro) I am thinking about adding an earth worm to the page somewhere...after all what little boy doesn't like worms :-)

The Barn

On this page Jack can open the doors to find a cow, chicken, and pig finger puppet. He can also match the animal to the sound it makes on the page. I am also thinking about adding a duck to his little farm friends!

I still have a few finishing touches to put on a couple more pages and to assemble the book (the pages also look like they desperately need to be ironed!) I will post the finished product when it is all assembled. I can't wait to let my little man get his hands on this book!