Well, Gabriel’s birthday is coming soon ~ and yesterday I finished making one of his birthday gifts. A Quiet Book, made from felt. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for each page, and figuring out how to accomplish what I had envisioned in my head (or had seen online in random places). I considered buying a pattern, but am very glad I didn’t. It worked really well for me to just experiment and play it by ear. I never really ran into any big snaffoos, which was pretty handy. Thanks to my mom’s well-stocked craft room & handy sewing machine, as well as my neighborhood Jo-Ann’s & my own crafty prowess… I am ready & willing to show y’all the final result. 🙂 This was a really thrifty (and fun!) project. If you have any questions, ask away!
Cover: For all of the pages I used “craft felt” from Jo-Ann’s, which came in 8.5″x11″ pieces. It is stiffened, and great for this type of craft. I used embroidery floss to “write” on the cover. I put three eyelets in the side of each page, and then put cording through to bind them together. If I ever wanted to add more pages, it would be super easy. I have a closure on the side of the book, using a ribbon & a buckle. Buckles happen to be Gabriel’s current fetish, so even if he isn’t fond of the rest of the book, he will love that buckle. 🙂
Page One: four zippers. Every toddler loves zippers, and my son is no exception. These were random old zippers from my mom’s collection (she inherits craft supplies from practically everyone!)
Page Two: match the color/shape. Each shape is outlined with Sharpie on the white background in the same color as the felt shape, and they are attached with velcro. The velcro isn’t as quiet as I hoped… but oh well. 🙂
Page Three: pocket o’ animals. Gabriel loves pockets, and putting things in & out. My mom had this super cute, old material that was easily cut into squares, with each square having an animal on it. So there are five double-sided squares in here, stiffened, and attached with elastic – so you can pull on them & play with them & take them out & put them in… but they will not get lost.
Page Four: The ladybug has a zipper, and inside there are three (you can see two of them here) baby ladybugs to play with. These are not attached, so they could get lost.
Page Five: a mitten that will easily fit a child’s hand inside. And the little rip-cords are just for fun. I also used fake fur for the cuff of the mitten to add some fun texture.
Page Six: wacky pants with a nifty belt! Another type of buckle that Gabriel will really enjoy. The pants are flannel for another texture.
Page Seven: modern art type puzzle. 🙂 Similar to page two, where each shape is outlined in Sharpie on the background, and the pieces are attached with (not-so-quiet) velcro.
Page Eight: rocket flying to the moon. Steven and I love this page – it’s our second favorite. The craters on the moon are buttons, as are the other little planets/stars. The felt rocket is attached to a piece of elastic, and it can be moved up & down the elastic as though it is rocketing straight to the moon.
Page Nine: flower field. The three flowers in the middle have buttons for their centers, and they can be removed from the buttons (and could easily be lost; maybe even ripped, since I did not zigzag around the buttonholes).
Page Ten: barn on the farm. This, perhaps you can tell from the number of pictures, is our favorite page. 🙂 If you’ve ever read the kid’s book “Barnyard Dance,” you’ll know why “Oink Moo Cockadoodle doo” is funny. 🙂 The barn doors open up to reveal three animal finger-puppets (ooh, I hope these don’t get lost), which are super fun. I have to admit, even I could be kept quiet & occupied for a while with this page!
Page Eleven: one, two, buckle my shoe. That’s actually what I am going to write next to the shoes, but forgot to do it. 🙂 The dress shoe is for lacing, the mary jane has a snap, and the tennis shoe has two velcro flaps.
Page Twelve: a bunch of balloons! The ribbons are kind of fun, but the best part is that the pink, orange, and yellow balloons snap on & off (again with the getting-lost possibility).
Back Cover: I pilfered a sweet label from my mom’s stash. 🙂
Happy Birthday Present to Gabriel! (ssshhhh, don’t tell him what I made!) 🙂 lol.
Wow, you’re incredibly creative; I’m SO impressed!!! =D
I can tell you put a lot of thought, time and energy into this gift and I’m sure Gabriel will love it. And who knows, maybe it will last so someday Gabriel can pass it down to a child of his own. I hope so 🙂 This is just incredibly special.Love ya,Sam
I love the idea, so creative and fun! Gabriel is getting a great gift! =)
I ran across this idea and thought it was a cute one:http://sewliberated.typepad.com/SweetPeaPilotCapTutorial2.pdf~Jaclynn
Melissa,
This is way clever & cute. What a fabulous gift. I keep coming back to look at it. I totally love the rocket ship!
This turned out super cute, Melissa!! You’ve inspired me to start collecting things to make one for Kara, since she prefers sitting with Daddy and Mama in church