Quiet Book Number One

When Gavin was only a couple of months old I decided I wanted to make a quiet book. I remember seeing some when I was little and thinking they were so cool. I figured it would be a great project to work on while Jim was so busy with school. I was right!  I have had so much fun creating quiet book pages, and it was a worthy project. My boys love it during church. We don't play with it every day, so when it comes out they are excited.
When I started this project I had no clue about sewing. I had not touched a sewing machine since seventh grade TLC class. So we bought the cheapest sewing machine we could find, the Singer Pixie.  Now for about $40 it has worked and lasted me three years. I hope to get a better sewing machine in the future but it was small, easy to use, and perfect for someone who didn't know what they were doing. I researched on the internet and found this blog, How to Make a Quiet Book.  I followed all her directions to get me started. It really was a life saver. Now my pages are not perfect, and some are still a little incomplete, but It was so much fun to make and my boys don't care about the imperfections. So here are the pages of my first quiet book. Please excuse the horrible pictures.

The stocking page
I needed another holiday page to go on the back of my next pages. I made this stocking thinking it would be something I could easily switch around it's contents. You could put treats, small games or toys, or really anything inside. Currently I have a bunch of laminated Christmas pictures inside. My boys are little so this was a great way to introduce them to all things Christmas. They love pulling the pictures out of the stocking and this simple page keeps them surprisingly entertained.

Next comes the Nativity. The Green hill is a big pocket holding finger puppets. The star comes off and is attached with velcro.
 

Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the angel, and the cow were finger puppets we were given by Grandma. I created the wise men, shepherd, and sheep.
 

Next is the Christmas tree and pumpkin.
 

I sewed eye hooks onto sparkly buttons for ornaments. They are stored in the present. My boys love this page. My two year old needs help, but my three year old can do the eye hooks. The pumpkin has lots of shapes to velcro on to create different faces.
 

The turkey page is simple, but both my boys love it. In, it might be the page my two year old plays with the most. He loves pulling the feathers all off and putting them back on. And of course the car page is a big hit. I had always planned on making it a two page spread, but just never did.
 

The boys are too little to tie, but they can lace the shoe, although it is not a favorite page. The bead page is surprisingly popular. They love sliding them back and forth, saying the patterns, and counting the beads.
 

The shapes snap on and off. Neither boy can do the snaps yet, so they usually pull them off and I put them back on. The house page is a lift the flap page that holds pictures behind all the flaps.
 

Noah's ark is a page that everyone does, but is fun. I made animal finger puppets to put inside, but they probably love doing the zipper the most.  The number just velcro on and off.
 

Jonah and the whale and Story Time
 

The whale's mouth is a pocket so he can swollow Jonah. The books have a little piece of velcro to hold them into the pockets.
 

ABC page, once again just velcro.
 

The farm and barnyard are another favorite of the boys.
 

They love the finger puppets.
 

The mail page, I keep stickers, paper, envelopes, etc. in the pocket. Then they can "mail" it to Grandma.
 

The space page is a favorite for sure.
 

Again it is very simple. The rocket slides up the ribbon and the planets and alien are just velcro so they can move around.
 

Making the cover was my most intimidating thing to make. It felt like real sewing, and I don't know what I am doing. But I found a simple tutorial that was really easy to follow. I was very please with how it turned out. There is a pocket on the back that I stick paper, small books, and lacing cards in.
 

And it is closes with a velcro strap.
 

Now there are so many imperfections and things I would do different if I did all these pages over again, but it doesn't matter. My boys love it, I love it, and it was a ton of fun to make.  I have so many more ideas and have found more great ideas online, so I started a second book that I am doing with felt. I found the felt pages to be much more sturdy and easier to work with. I will post all those pages sometime soon. I must say there is something that is very rewarding about creating something with your own two hands and seeing it being used and loved. I am now addicted to quiet book pages.