Quiet Books

This past Fall I worked on quiet books for the boys for Christmas.  There are a few of you who wanted to see them, so I am posting it here as that is easiest. I have wanted to do a quiet book for some time but am seriously lacking in all things creative.  I also have limited sewing skills.  Not a good combo for making a quiet book.  Still, I was determined to do one.  I began looking online for ideas and became very daunted by the project and gave up for a time.  The desire hovered and I began looking again for ideas and came across a great blog found here HERE.  I do not think I would have started this project without the help of this blog.  Thank you, Amy, whoever you are!!  This wonderful woman not only created a great quiet book, but offered up her templates and instructions for free printing!  I was sold.  I am very grateful to Amy for helping those of us who are not blessed with such talent.  Upon nearing the completion of my book, I decided to do a second one so that the boys wouldn't be fighting over the one book at church (which is where they will be getting the most use).  The whole point of a quiet book is to keep them quiet, right?  I wanted to make the second different than the first, but was almost out of templates.  Armed with a little more confidence, I searched the "quiet book blog world" again and created my own templates based off the ideas and talent of others.  So, another thank you to all the women who did it first and allowed me to use your ideas.

To give credit where credit is due, I have marked all the pages created from Amy's templates with an asterisk.  All the others are those I created, but based off ideas from others and have included links to the sites where the ideas originated.  I doubt any of the few who read this blog want to get involved in such a project, but if you do and would like my templates, please let me know and I will gladly email them to you.

Book 1

I used Amy's method of using Wonder Under for a good portion of the pages.  Being one who doesn't know the art of sewing, the concept of Wonder Under was foreign to me.  I got familiar with it very quickly and am glad I did.

Wonder Under is amazing stuff.  It made this project SO much easier.  I now know I would never try tackling such a project without it.

The Wonder Under instructions are found here.

Also, a large portion of my book is made from stiffened felt.  Another Amy idea!  That also made this project easier as well as giving the pages a more finished look.

Four Season Tree*

The leaves and blossoms snap on and off.

The pieces not in use are stored in the grass pocket.

Winter...Spring...Summer...Fall.

Barn*

Open the barn doors to find the barn animal finger puppets.

Shapes

Match the colored shapes to the correct outlined shape.
The button color matches the color of the shape to be buttoned on.

The shapes can be stored in the pocket.

Almost every quiet book I borrowed ideas from had a "shapes" page.
One idea of a shapes page can be found here.

Abacus

Counting from 1-10.
The idea for this page can be found here.

Mailbox & Pocket*

The mailbox opens and is a pocket where mail can be placed inside.  The "write" pocket holds the notes to be mailed.  The flag moves up and down.

Road Map*

The garage is a pocket to park the car.  All the road signs have velcro on them and can switch places with the other signs.

Weaving Tennis Racket*

The tennis racket strings can be woven.

This will probably be difficult for our kids, but maybe they will eventually get it.

Flower*

The petals velcro on.  The large numbers on the purple petals are matched up with the smaller numbers on the outlined petals.  The petals can be stored in the pocket.

Circus Monkey*

The balloons velcro on.  The shape of the balloons are matched to their outline.

The color wheel turns to reveal different colors.

Book 2

Paint Pallet*

The paint splotches velcro on.  The paint brushes can be used to pretend to paint the quiet book.

Shoe

Tie the shoe lace.
I was intimidated by this shoe, but it ended being fun and one of my favorites.

Luke still needs to learn this skill...we are hoping this will help.

The idea for this page can be found here and here.

Kite Puzzle*

The puzzle pieces velcro on.

(I hadn't found a yellow permanent marker yet for the yellow puzzle outline when I took this picture)

Apple Tree

The apples snap on.  The basket stores all of the apples.

The idea for this page can be found here and here.

Tic Tac Toe

Play the game tic-tac-toe.

The pieces are stored in the pocket.

Not sure how appropriate this game is for church, but hey, my siblings and I played it at church regularly growing up!

The idea for this page can be found here and here.

Garden

This one is definitely my favorite.  How fun to pull vegetables out of the garden.

The idea for this page can be found here and here.

Flower

The flowers button on.

The idea for this page can be found here.

Noah's Ark

The finger puppets are placed inside the pocket.

The idea for this page can be found here and here.

Clock

The hands move.

The idea for this page can be found here.

Gumball Machine

The gumballs hook on (hook and eye).

The gumballs are matched to the right color.

The idea for this page can be found here.

Everything with an asterisk (*) was made from Amy's templates...found here.

Covers

There is no pattern for the covers, but Amy gives some brief instructions as a help.  This was the most stressful part for me because I didn't have an exact pattern.  It is relatively simple and would be a breeze for someone who sews.  I changed a couple of minor things on mine...the buttonholes are directly over the holes in the pages (instead of on the spine) and I used book rings (instead of ribbon). 

This is how the book looks when open.

I did a pocket on the back cover of the second book to hold the gumballs.

The gumballs have a tendency to fall off and I didn't want to lose them.