My friends, I thought today might never come. When I decided months ago to tackle the quiet book, I think I was a bit ambitious--or perhaps crazy! I planned 20 detailed pages for my book, and attempted to finish one page each week. Page by page, piece by piece, the pages came together and I have been dying to show you the finished product! I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to have actually finished this big (more like enormous!) project!
No, you aren't seeing double!! By the time I painstakingly finished each page, with each and every tiny velcro piece, I realized my book would be enormously thick! I finally decided to make TWO quiet books. This way, Little Man won't tire of the same book over and over... I can alternate which quiet book I bring with us to church, the doctor's office, or even on a road trip!! I can also switch out pages and create a whole new combination of quiet book fun!
So come take a peek inside the books with me! I will share some helpful hints at the end of this post...
{Just click pictures to enlarge}
Build a Hamburger Page
Skill: Decision making, food knowledge, imaginative play.
Using burger accessories stored in the McDonald's bag, you can build your own hamburger, complete with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. Accessories are secured with velcro.
Ladybug Page
Skill: Buttoning.
The ladybug's spots can be buttoned and unbottoned.
Stoplight Page
Skill: Matching colors, learning about traffic rules.
This page was the first page I tackled because it was the easiest!! You can match the green, yellow, and red stop light colors to the stop light using velcro.
Road Page
Skill: Motor skills, imaginative play.
A matchbox car, attached with string, is parked in the garage. You can drive the car around the little neighborhood.
Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head
Skill: Knowing body parts, practice with dressing.
This is still my favorite page!! There is a bare potato body sewed on the page, and you can secure the spud face and accessories with velcro. Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head have a variety of accessories, and I love that I can continue to make more! You can see this page in detail here.
Basket of Accessories!
Skill: Using clothes pins.
This page is directly next to the Potato Heads. All of the extra accessories are stored in the basket, and you can hang them up by clothes pins also.
This is how the 2 pages look next to each other.
Balloon Page
Skill: Snapping, knowledge of shapes, matching.
Shape balloons are matched and secured using snaps. The ribbon can also be tied and untied.
Counting Page
Skill: Counting.
Beads are used to count the watermelon seeds by sliding the beads from one side of the ribbon to another.
Peek-A-Boo Bus Page
Skill: Motor skills, guessing/predicting.
Behind each window and each wheel, I sewed vinyl windows. I slid pictures into each window so you can open and close the flaps to play peek-a-boo like this:
Telephone Page
Skill: Imaginative play, snapping, number knowledge.
The phone receiver, attached with a curly shoe string, can be snapped to the phone receiver. You can pick up the phone receiver and have pretend phone calls!
Tic Tac Toe
Skill: Reasoning/logic
The playing mat is also a pocket so that the X's and O's store neatly inside. You can play tic tac toe quietly all through church if you wish... Mr. Daisy and I tested it out today!
Baseball Page
Skill: Motor skills, matching.
The baseball and bat can be removed and matched using velcro. You can put your hand inside the leather baseball glove!
Chick-a Chick-a Boom Boom
Skill: ABC's.
The coconut letters are stored on the next page. The letters can be added to the coconut tree, attached with velcro.
Boat Page
Skill: Zipping.
The coconut letters are stored inside the boat, which is opened with a zipper. Here is a view of the 2 pages side by side:
Barn Page
Skill: Imaginative Play.
The barn doors open to a pocket full of barn animal finger puppets! (That is the one thing I still have left to do!)
Ice Cream Page
Skill: Imaginative Play, knowledge of food.
The food truck is opened with a flap that holds numerous other ice cream flavor scoops. You can build your own ice cream cone by securing your scoops with velcro.
Clock Page
Skill: Telling time, number skills.
The minute hand and hour hand rotate, and can spin to tell a new time!
Gumball Machine
Skill: Matching colors.
Gumballs are matched by color, using velcro to secure them in place.
Tie A Shoe Page
Skill: Tying shoes.
The shoe can be tied and untied.
Notes Page
Skill: Drawing, writing.
I sewed 3 pockets to hold a notebook along with a pen, pencil, or crayons, or little love notes.
Here are some helpful hints for the entire process:
* I chose to sew my pages on white muslin. Each page is 10 x 12.5 inches.
* When I was done with each individual page, I sewed the pages back to back with another layer of muslin ironed onto a sheet of interfacing for extra thickness, stiffness, and durability.
* I used A LOT of felt. I think I bought 3/4 yard of each of the major colors of felt. I have used most of it!
* I decided to make a 3-ring book because of the flexibility it offered me. I could take pages out to pass them down to children down the pew. I could take them out to wash them or even to fix up the sewing in case of wear and tear! I could make the book bigger or smaller, or even add pages to it! (I am already dreaming of a Halloween jack-o-lantern page or a Christmas tree page!)
* I used large eyelets and used a piece of notebook paper as my guide to create the holes and then put it all together with book rings.
* I sewed my covers with regular cotton fabric, slightly larger than the pages. Again, I sewed a sheet of muslin with interfacing in between them.
* Each quiet book has a button strap to keep it closed... I don't want all of those goodies spilling out any time soon! On the back of the book covers, I sewed a pocket just in case I feel like throwing in a treat, a love note, or in the event that some pieces that DID fall out last minute. Or maybe it will just hold some candy for ME!
Whew!
Can you see why this took months to finish?! I think it was probably crazy for attempting this, but I am so glad I was that crazy! I {heart} these books! Little Man gave his stamp of approval today in church, and I can only imagine that they will get years of experience and use!
*********************
Now, I realize I didn't go into a whole lot of details about the creation of each and every page. I wanted to show off the entire product first!
SO now it's your turn, my dear and lovely readers!
* Do you have a specific question about the process?
* Would like to see one page in more specific detail?
* Would you like me to create a downloadable template for a specific page?
Leave me a comment with your questions, and I will probably type up a question and answer post if there is enough interest.
Enjoy your week!
You can see the Quiet Book Question & Answer post here.
You can download your own 9 templates here.
PS Thanks to these blogs for the inspiration:
That is so fabulous! You're amazing! I love it and want to make one too! I love it!
I ADORE QUIET BOOKS AND THEY ARE A MUST IN CHURCH! very darling, thanks for sharing! Jen
This is so cute! I can see why it took so long. But that is just awesome. Lucky little boy you have to play and learn with those.
Holy cow!! You AMAZE me!! Seriously, way to go, I would LOVE to do this…someday:)
Love this, girl! Again, you inspire me. But ah, the sewing! I can't even finish my Christmas advent calendar (ongoing four years and counting!) I think next time I'm in Deseret Book I'm going to pick-up one of their quiet books… 🙂
It's so well put together!
I took on the quiet book task.. a year ago… and uh, yea I never finished.
Yours came out perfectly though!
Wow! That is a big project! I love the potato heads! I bet your little man is going to have a lot of fun with this 🙂
WOWZERS! You did a super job with this, Alison!
You need to win an award for the BEST MOM of the year! This is incredible!!!!! Well done!!!!!
Alison! OMG you are so creative. These are amazing. Yes please on the templates. Couple things: You must link this up to A Crafty Soiree on Thursday AND Etsy shop? These are amazing. I am not sure how much time they take but my gosh I bet they would do well on Etsy.
xoxo
WOW! You did a great job!! And, really, it was done quickly–I have one that is not quite done and it has been 7 YEARS! I started it with my oldest and haven't even finished it for my youngest. Yikes–but, this is totally inspiring!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful book!
OMG This is amazing!! I really love the quiet book that you made!! I think u can make lotsa money selling it too! hahaa! GOOD JOB!!! Yr ideas are magnificent!
WOW that is great!! You have been busy!
Too cute!!! It is beyond fantastic! How did you even think to do each page? They are amazing. I think the school bus is my favorite page. I love the peek-a-boo effect! Your little guy is going to adore this!
Ok – that is so stinkin cute – I only wish I had that kind of talent- How much??? LOL!
This is AMAZING! You did a fantastic job! Your hardwork really paid off. These will make some happy kiddos for sure!
Nice, very nice. thanks for all your work and sharing.
This is genius! Hard work but well worth it. Fantastic job.
ALISON! Seriously – that is so great. That's pass down to your grandkids someday great! I love all the pages. Fantastic Job!!!!
Super cute. You came up with some really cute ideas of the pages. I was just wondering how you did your letters for the cover and for chicka chicka boom boom? Was it hard?
I am just in awe of this wonderful idea. Your little one will always remember these books – forever! You are so dedicated! Love it!
Great job! I'm visiting from Made bY you Monday! I want to feature this in a "quiet book" post SOON! 🙂 Stop by Sassy Sites when you get a chance! xoxo
Marni @ Sassy Sites!
I am so, SO impressed! These are incredible! Great job!
I am stopping by from Craftastic Mondays at Sew Can Do!
I have always wanted to make a quiet book for my little one but have not gotten started yet because I know it will be a big job. I would love for you to post all of your patterns so that I get started and take it one day at a time. Thanks for all of the details.
K.S.
This is insanely adorable. I cannot believe all the pages you have. I had a quiet book when I was little and I loved it. 🙂
I featured you over at craftsandsutch.blogspot.com! 🙂
Have a super week!
Erin 🙂
You did a great job!!!! This is incredible, my boys would love it! If you want come visit me and enter my giveaway!
My little man is outgrowing the quiet book I made him when he was ~12 months old, so it's time to make him a new one. Thanks for the inspiration!
Here's my question: is the 10 x 12.5 page size you mentioned the size of the muslin before sewing, or is it the finished page size? I'm trying to decide how big to make mine so it doesn't take over the diaper bag!
This is just fantastic!! I love all the attention to detail. Now I'm thinking that you need to put a tracking device on each of the pieces. Just remember, if any gets lost, look first under the kitchen range or refrigerator…or the scatter rug. I once spent hours looking for a puzzle piece that turned up under a scatter rug.
Wonderful work you've done on this project. It's really a family heirloom! Kids and grandkids will love it. 🙂
Visiting from The Girl Creative Party Blog.
This is absolutely fantastic!!
I don't have a little one anymore, but I wish I had somthing like this when mine was small! You've included enough pages that he won't get bored anytime soon with it either.
The only thing we had when my Doodle was small were those board pages with shoe string that you could lace around the edges. They were awesome too…but she got bored quickly with it.
I will definitely keep this is mind when Doodle, many, many, MANY years from now, LOL, has kids. 🙂
Your quiet books are AMAZING!!
That is an amazing book. Helpful in so many ways. My son is older and I am still tempted to make it just because it is so cool. My question is approximately how many hours did this take? ANd how much did it cost?
Thanks for linking up to the Mad Skills party!
madincrafts.blogspot.com
Your quiet book is amazing! I've recently fallen in love with making quiet books. I have made 2 for my daughter and am currently making a third. You should check out my blog sometime and see the books I've made.
justenoughstyle.blogspot.com
Those are fantastic! I love your pages!! 🙂 Thanks for sharing! (stopping by from the many linky parties! I've seen you posted on a couple and can't remember which I actually clicked.) 🙂
following along! Have a great day! 🙂
Thanks for sharing!! This is just what i have been looking for, with 3 girls at church… is hard to keep them quiet!! I´ll love to make one of those!!! Thanks so much for the great Idea!! you´re awesome!!!
I love the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom page!
Amazing!
Um, this is amazing! I do not have the patience for this, but i wish i did.
You worked so hard at this and I love how cute and creative each of the pages are. Little Mister is so lucky to have such a talented mommy.
Cute! This is definitely on my to-do list! Thanks for linking up to Mad Skills Monday!
Adorable! Must have been quite the undertaking to plan this and get it done. Are you sure you want to let him play with it???
This is amazing and I love it and I'm inspired! Wow!
I love it! I can't even imagine how much time and effort went into this project!
I'm your newest follower from Night Owl Crafting's link party. 🙂
Feel free to stop by!
michaelcreations.blogspot.com
That is FABULOUS. Really. Definitely worth the investment of time and money and energy. Love love LOVE it.
Darling pages. I love the potato heads!! Cute.
Your book is pure delight. As a retired nursery school teacher, every page I look at screams, "Developmentally Appropriate." Many of the quiet books available commercially have tactile surfaces that appeal to adults, but are not easy for little fingers to handle. Every minute of work you put into this book shows. I'm sure Little Man will be delighted with your labor of love.
Found your page off of ABC & 123. These books are AMAZING! Some day I hope to have the time to spend on making some of my own. Good work!
Oh my gosh this is so super duper fun! I can tell a ton of work went into it but what a great variety of designs. If I put this much time into such a fabulous project I'd have posted only one a day to get the most blogging milage out of it☺ How fun to see it all at once! I am in awe and very inspired! Thank you for joining me at both Show and Tell at ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative and A Crafty Soiree at my personal blog.
Wow, just awesome! I was just thinking today that I need to make one of these for my little guy. He loves snaps, hooks, and zippers, so I'm totally going to borrow some of your great ideas. Thank you so much for sharing!
Just found your blog. I've been thinking about doing a quiet book for my granddaughter. You gave me the inspiration to get started. How many days until Christmas?
Just amazing! Are eyelets hard to work with? I've never used them, but it was just genius of you to use them and make this something that can be changed out. I LOVE that idea. So smart, so that you can add to it as they grow, rather than throwing out all of your hard work once they get tired of the pages! I'm just amazed.
WOW, you did an amazing job on this! How creative!
What a creative and amazing job you did! Love it! Thanks SO much for joining in on Thrilling Thursdays @ Paisley Passions. I hope to see you again next week 🙂
~Lori S.
Thrilling Thursdays @Paisley Passions
Love these!! So cute! I am new to your blog and love it! Hope you will stop by mine~
Simple as 1-2-3
Thanks for sharing this I love it!
Way cute! Your experience sounds much like mine when I made my quiet book. I ended up with two also. So many cute ideas its hard not to do them all! Love how yours turned out.
Cami
Oh wow!! These are amazing!!! Are you an Occupational Therapist by any chance? It just reminds me so much of working with children and training them up in different skills…that's fabulous!! And thanks for sharing them!!
That turned out so cute! Great job!
You did an excellent job, Alison–I love it!
loving the shoe, clock, and counting pages. This would be great as a preschool book.
We did this giant project as a swap. So, even though I only made one page…I made twenty "copies". I'd highly recommend doing it that way. Once I got my assembly line going, all went pretty smoothly. But you have some pages I'd love to add to my books. Would you ever consider sharing your templates? Friends in church ask when we're going to make these and I love collecting more ideas for pages. Anna, who does the "How to Make a Quiet Book" blog, is a good friend. Glad she inspired you. She inspires me daily.
I used your Mr. Potato Head template in my Quiet Book and it turned out really cute. Thanks!
Wow! Great job. I can tell that was a LOT of work!! I think I'll start with one page and go from there…My boys love ice cream, so I'm starting with that! Thanks for the inspiration!
Yours turned out great! I'm a quiet book fanatic myself, so I can commiserate. Check out the ones I've made at
http://www.thecraftpatch.blogspot.com
Oh my gosh, this is absolutely amazing. I am floored at how cool this is! Did it take you forever?! I love it!!!!
You're my hero–months on a project, and I'd have lost interest! Of course, there's the whole purpose of the book to keep you going. I wish I could convince you to make one for my daughter as a Review & Giveaway promo… I'm a little to daunted (and inexperienced) to try one myself!
Following now, follow back?
http://graphoniac.com
Have a great day!
just wanted to say thanks for sharing your quiet book templates and ideas. your blog was a great resource as i made my own quiet books. thank you!!!
this looks fun and enjoyablb to do
I love your book. You did put a lot of time and love into it. I love your great ideas. I made quiet books for my daughters when they were little. They are now 31 and 35 years old. I said I would never make another. Then came 4 grandsons so now I have made 4 more books. I individualized them as you did. You did a great job. You should make a booklet/pattern with the how to do it and sell it.
So I have a very funny story for you. Today at church we sitting in the foyer and this dad walked in with an adorible little guy in a pin stripe suit so we stated talking and then his wife and little girl walked in and she had this huge quiet book, I’m totally in love with them and always looking for new page ideas so I asked her if I could take some pictures of it and we got talking about it and she said her mom might sell the template she wasn’t sure but her sister had one on her site oopsy daisy! You could have knocked me over with a feather since I found your site last night while blog hopping (and followed by the way, I totally love it! Really sad I missed that black desk contest that it’s just what I need!) So needless to say it is a very small world and I got some great new page ideas! Thanks for posting!
Wow, so many details…such creativity…so lovingly done. Fabulous!
This is adorable! SO SO cute! I am going to feature this Friday! Thanks for sharing!
jen
Great job Alison! How creative and sweet. Love it.
That is amazing. What a great idea! I cannot believe all the work you put into that, but such an amazing project and something to treasure forever!
This is simply gorgeous and the detailing on it is beautiful – how lucky is Mr Daisy to have someone so creative in his life!!!!!
Absolutely LOOOVEEE!!!
WOW!! Just WOW!!! I wish I had the knowledge/experience to do this. This is SO impressive!! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for sharing this. I am thinking about making one for my kids. I’m not sure mine will be as involved, but a great project to start on. (Great church activity) You are extremely talented! Thank you again!
So cute! How did you do the lettering?