It was my goal to finish this book by my daughters first birthday, and I finished with 2 weeks to spare! I spent under $25 for all of the supplies, and more than 25 hours making it. I am excited to have this for all of my children (it better last that long!). I decided to name it 'Our' Quiet Book, so when there are multiple children trying to play with it, the word 'My' won't be part of it.
Everything is cut out by hand, then glued or sewn together. It's all made out of a heavy felt (cheap and soft).
Red: You have to collect all of the apples and place them in the basket.
The pages are made from a durable apparel cotton-weight fabric. Then there is a layer of interfacing to make the pages a bit more durable. Then there is also a layer of quilt batting to make the pages a big more cushy. They ended up being thicker than I wanted, but it works!
Orange: The fishes snap on and off.
To do all of the words, I used Microsoft Word, found fonts I liked, then printed it out. Cut the words out by hand, then slowly traced them onto to felt and cut them out from there. It was tedious, but so worth it!
Yellow: The flowers button on and off.
To finished the edges of the pages I just used store-bought bias tape.
Green: The tent zips open and shut. The fire also Velcros on and off.
The biggest help in making this book was actual Felt Glue. It doesn't seep through the felt, it doesn't make the felt super hard after it dries, you can't see the glue through it, and it works like a charm!
Blue: Learn to lace up a shoe, and practicing tying a bow/knot.
The thing that took the longest while making this book, was finishing every single piece that wasn't glued to the page (ie., all of these grapes, the fishes, the cupcakes, etc.). The felt would pull and fray if you don't finish the edge.
Purple: The grapes Velcro on and off.
One thing that helps make this book more neat, is doing two layers for the pieces that have Velcro or a snap on the back. It looks tacky if you can see the stitching for something like that.
Pink: The cupcake tops snap on and off.
A project like this may take a long time, but by breaking the tasks up into pages you still feel like you're accomplishing something. I always tried to work on one little thing while we were watching a TV show or a movie so that I felt like I was taking advantage of the time I had just sitting there. With something like this that you're going to have for your family for a long time, it's OK to take a long time making it!
Black: Play tic-tac-toe! The X's and O'x Velcro on and off.
To attach the pages, I decided just to do button holes, then slip in a 3 inch metal ring to keep them all in place. That way if one of the books gets damaged I can simply take it off and fix it or replace it. I can also add pages this way! I'm excited to actually put this to use!
White: The snowman's hat Velcro's on and off, and his body buttons on and off.
