Monday, May 14, 2012

Activity Book (Quiet Book)

It's been quite some time since I last updated. I'm not really good about updating frequently, but this time I had an excuse--we were traveling for the past two weeks. We went to visit my family in CA, and hubby had work to do in CA too. It was a long, but good trip. No more traveling for a while since #3 is coming soon (in 5 weeks!!).

I finished the activity book I was working on for my niece and gave it to her...so now I can post all the photos of it (my sister had snuck a peak at the post I had written a while back here...I guess it wasn't fair to tell her to not look...it's like telling someone not to look at a car accident as you drive by...kinda the same thing...?)

Anyway, here it is!



I used my Silhouette Cameo (which I love!!) to make the "cover page". 

1) First, Cally picks her vegetables in the garden. And then plays with her farm animals (Doesn't have much to do with food, but I wanted to include finger puppets.)
For more about these pages, see this post. The only changes I made from the previous post are the flowers which are brads, the sun and clouds, and the buttons for the door handles.

2) Then she picks her apples & strawberries.
Again for more about these pages, see this post.

3) Then "cuts" her veggies & fruit. See below for more details on these pages.


4) She then makes a pie with her ingredients.


5) And she can also "make" cupcakes. This cupcake page is also educational because she has to match the number of sprinkles with the number on the cupcake liners. More details below.

That's it! I wish I had had more time to make more pages. It was very time consuming as is. Maybe I can add to it in the future. Now I'm craving some cupcakes. ;)

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Here are the details for the last few pages of the book.

Cutting board: velcro strips to hold the fruit & veggie pieces.

Beet (these are "puzzles" since she has to assemble them before she can "cut" them)

Strawberry

Apple

Carrot

Weave the pie

This is the only fabric I had that had apples on it. Is it kinda gross that she is baking elephants?

Again my Silhouette Cameo came in handy. 



I used puffy paint for the numbers. For the cupcake liners I used stiff glittery felt.

Cupcakes



 No more activity books for a while. I definitely need a break. :) Happy Crafting!


Update (5/22/12): I'm so excited that I was featured on Sew Can Do. It is very encouraging to know that people are inspired by what I'm doing...gives me motivation to keep creating. It is definitely my stress relief and helps me keep my sanity during crazy days when hubby is traveling and this 8-month preggo belly of mine weighs me down... and my 17 month old is screaming for something... and my 3 year old just wants attention. But life is good and I'm blessed. :)
 

Update (8/30/12): Thanks to all the visitors who have found me through Pinterest. I am so excited that you all like this quiet book. Please take a look around and feel free to leave comments (they are very encouraging and let me know that someone out there is reading this). :) And again, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. xoxo jean

***UPDATE*** (11/24/12): Several of you have been asking me for templates for this book. For some of the pages I used templates I found on other blogs (I have noted those throughout the post so please go to their respective blogs). For other pages I free-handed the items. And the cupcake one I came up with a simple template. Which you can find by clicking here. Hope that helps! :)


68 comments:

  1. This book looks like so much fun :) What a wonderful gift - I ran a search on amazon for a cloth book for my little one...but yours is much more awesome!

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    1. Thanks dear! I will definitely make one for lil d when he is older and can play with it. :)

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  2. Wow!! This is an absolutely adorable book! If you ever decide to sell them, I'd definitely be a customer! :D

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    1. I wish I could say that will happen sometime soon, but I doubt it with baby #3 coming in a month. ;) Thanks!!

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  3. Jean,
    I've been looking around your blog and you have some amazing projects here! Your quiet books are gorgeous!!! I've made some myself and know how time consuming they can be but yours looks store bought and so much fun. I'm seriously impressed at the cute pages you've created and how professional they are. Thanks so much for sharing your inspiration!

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    1. You're so sweet! I actually haven't posted about the quiet book I made for my son, but I used your templates for most of those pages. If I get around to posting it, I will definitely be giving you all the credit. Yours are professional looking too! And I really couldn't have started these projects without all the great inspiration out there from bloggers like you. And thank you for taking the time to make the templates that you did. Made my life easier for the first QB I made. :)

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  4. This is such a darling busybook. I am going to pin it with the hope of getting enough creative time to make it. Thanks for sharing!!

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  5. O my goodness. You are the most creative mom ever!!! This is the coolest thing I've ever seen!

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  6. This is great! Any chance you'll post a pattern? I'd love to make one for my daughter, but I doubt I can get it to look as good as yours!

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    1. Thanks! Probably not for a while. I did get a lot of the patterns from other sites though (see links above). :)

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  7. Found you on pinterest, and definitely pinned it. :) It is sooo darling, you did an excellent job! It's the best quiet book I've seen yet!

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  8. I cant wait to see your quiet/busy book for your baby boy!! Very interested in that one (since I have a too-quickly growing baby boy!). You are so very talented!! So creative!! I cant wait to learn to sew to make some of your tutorials for him! Thank you for being so kind and sharing with us!

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  9. This is so adorable! :) And it looks do-able! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  10. si vous souhaitez le commercialiser à petite ou grande échelle de distrubution, Cha'gribouille sera ravi de l'accueillir sur sa boutique en ligne de cadeau pour enfant !

    cha'gribouillement,

    pauline de www.chagribouille.com

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    1. Hi~ I wish I could understand what you wrote, but I actually can't read French. My name is Jean but pronounced (Gene, not John). Thank you for stopping by! :)

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    2. She wanted to know if you wanted to commercialize it....her website can help so it can be a gift for other kids too. Along that line anyway.

      A beautiful book--stumbled onto it via Pinterest. I wish I could sew that well!

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    3. Thanks for the translation. :)

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  11. What are the little metal pieces you used for the holes. I have made a few pages for my lil ones quiet book but don't know how to piece it together. Those look easier than what I've been seeing and sturdy.

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    1. I used large eyelets that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I think these are the same ones http://www.amazon.com/Dritz-Extra-Large-Eyelet-Kit/dp/B000YQMEUO/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1346359969&sr=8-10&keywords=grommet+dritz

      I used sharp scissors to make a little hole then pushed the eyelet through. Hope that helps! :)

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  12. this book is adorable! And now you have 3 kids and I don't know how you found the time to do this with 2! my kids are 3 1/2, 2 and 4 months old. I have just about zero time to myself. Not sure if you have an etsy shop but you should sell this!

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    1. Thanks so much for your sweet comment. I somehow managed to maximize every minute the kids were sleeping. Now with 3, it's much harder to coordinate their naps. Mine are 3 1/2, 20 months and 2 months. So close in age to yours! I definitely feel stretched, but I feel so blessed to have these three lil munchkins. :)

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  13. Found you via Pinterest. What a LOVELY book! It's so well made and neat and tidy. Thank you for sharing it and inspiring me!

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  14. How old is the niece you gave this amazing book to? I'd love to make it or something like it...but want to make sure I hit at the right age.

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    1. Thanks! I gave it to her when she was a little less than 3 years old. I think anywhere between 2 1/2 to 4 is good. :)

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  15. Amazing! Love it! I'm adding this to my list of projects to do, thanks for the inspiration! What size did you make the book?

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  16. omg..can I buy one for my baby girl..I absolutely love it!!

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  17. Great job! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  18. Wow. Seriously wow. Such darling ideas! And they look so amazing! I have a sewing machine and I'm quite clever, but crafty? I am not. I truly have respect for those who are. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to buy your quiet books. Truly. I will of course pin this on pinterest, but know that I will never be able to do it. Would you consider selling? Pretty please??? You know, with all that time on your hands with your little ones running around!! :) (I have 4 - I know how it is!) Please let me know if you ever want to sell!
    --Jeanette
    wondernetty@gmail.com

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    1. Thank you for your sweet comments. I would love to try selling it one day. If I ever do get around to figuring out how to, I will be sure to contact you. :)

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  19. I love your quiet book. I just ordered a silhouette and my first project is going to be to make quiet books for my 2 flower girls as their gift for being in my wedding. I would like to know were you got the cupcake pattern? Did you use your silhouette or were they hand drawn? Can't wait to get started on my own. Thank You!

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    1. Hi, thanks! I didn't use my Silhouette for the cupcakes. I have a template that I created. If you send me your email address I can get those to you. bubblesandbobbins@gmail.com

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  20. SO cute! Any chance you have templates you'd share?! I love the cupcakes.
    stephaniesummers44@gmail.com

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  21. I'm making some quiet books for my nieces for Christmas. I love your book, especially the cupcake page! I too would love the template for the cupcakes! Thanks! karrie.e.quinn@gmail.com

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  22. I would really appreciate it if you could e-mail me the cupcake template. I hope to start in a couple weeks. My e-mail is amywerner1026@gmail.com Thanks again

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  23. I absolutely love this book. I am going to make one for my granddaughter for Christmas. I better get busy. Please send me the template. My email address: dideroch@gmail.com
    Thank you so much

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  24. Love this book! Can't wait to have a little girl to make this for :) What kind of felt do you use for your books? My felt tends to fray and fall apart :(

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  25. Just gorgeous !!! thanks for sharing !
    Sylvie, from France

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  26. It's simply fantastic! I also did one quiet book - if you wish here is our address:)
    hobbiko.blogspot.com

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  27. Did you use a template for the cutting page?

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    1. Hi Andrea,

      No I didn't use a template. Sorry I can't help you more with that~

      Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  28. Love this! So you said you used your Silhouette for some of the pages, but I was wondering what kind of material you used with it? (If that makes sense!) It looks like vinyl, but I don't know how you would get that to stick to felt... Anyways, it looks very professional and I would love to use my Cameo as well, but am not sure what you used to achieve this look. Thanks!

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    1. It's the Silhouette Smooth Heat Transfer vinyl. You can buy it on Amazon or from Silhouette. Hope that helps! :)

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  29. Hi, i'm from germany an i found your activity book. It is so beautiful - i like it a lot.. i wondered what kind of material you used for it.. did you just use felt or also some sort of fleece/non woven material.. i wondered mostly about the light blue background material you used.. it seems to be so soft..
    i hope you could tell me that :) i would like to make an activity book for my niece soon :)

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    1. Hi! Yes it is felt. It comes by the yard at a store called Hobby Lobby here in the states. I'm sure you can find something similar in Germany. :)

      Have fun!

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  30. This is absolutely beautiful! I'm currently working on a quiet book for my toddler. I love the pie weaving idea. I may include that in my book! Thanks for the inspiration!
    xoxo

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  31. Hi there- I am making my own version of this page for a quiet book, and I wanted to know if you glued the beads to the cupcake tops or hand sewed them on? Thanks!

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    1. Hi! I hand sewed them onto one layer of felt, then glued a backing so the thread on the underside wouldn't show. Hope that helps! :)

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    2. Thanks for the reply- I ended up sewing two pieces together and blanket stitched them together. Here's my completed project! http://starb37.blogspot.com/2014/01/post-christmas-pics.html

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  32. I love your book! I made one for my daughter and used your cupcake page! I posted it on my blog with a link back to you! If you have some time I would love for you to check it out! italwayscrafttime.blogspot.com

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  33. Hi! I am making a busy book for my nephew and have a quick question: I noticed that the little deer looks like felt that's printed; did you buy printed felt and cut it out or do you have a way that you're printing on the felt yourself? It's such a professional look that I'd love to do it in my own busy book. Thanks!

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  34. What a fantastic quiet book. I am making one for my Grandson and a dress up doll one for my Granddaughter. I love some of your ideas and the book looks very well thought out. Thanks for putting the pictures up as they are inspiring.

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  35. Great post. I used to be checking continuously this blog and I am inspired! Very useful information specially the remaining section :) I handle such information a lot. I used to be seeking this certain info for a very long time. Thanks and good luck....
    kraanuitloop

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  36. Will be making one for my grandchildren.
    Beti

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  37. We've take a look at your website publish and i a extremely helpful along with experienced
    hardstenen werkblad

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  38. fell in love with your book :) i shared your page on my blog hope that's ok :)

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  39. Its so inspiring to read that another crafty mommy that has two babies an is pregnant with third. I don't have a blog yet and am creating crafts for my girls ages almost 3, almost 2, and I'm almost due. 3in Nov,2in Dec, due in Aug. All 3 girls. N they love trying to make things with me my oldest has a mini sewing machine an sews with it since age two. Any who we love your book n especially the cupcakes page since the oldest is daddy's cupcake! Good work n thanks for the motivation

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  40. CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME QUITE BOOK SO THAT I CAN TEACH MY BROTHER THE LESSON PLEASE

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  41. I have noticed that some books use velcro, some magnets, and some do not look like they use anything. So my question is this,if you do not use magnets or velcro, does the felt stick to the felt without anything else to hold it?

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    1. Hi! It will stick, but almost all the pieces I used either velcro or a snap. Thanks for stopping by!

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  42. Hi. I plan on recreating your “cutting board with fruits and veggies” and I was wondering if you used two pieces of felt sewn together for each fruit/veggie? This will help me sooo much as I begin tackling this project!

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