Quiet Book DIY

I have been wanting to make Van a quiet book for a while now, but kept putting if off because I knew it would be time consuming. Now I can see why they are so expensive to buy handmade! It wasn't until I started making it I realized how fun it was and I made 1-2 pages a day for about a week until it was finished. I gathered ideas of quiet book pages I had seen on Etsy and Pinterest that I liked, and created my own without any complicated patterns.

Quiet books are fun little activity books for babies and toddlers that you can take to church or anywhere you need them to be quiet but kept busy. They are designed to teach different motor and learning skills, first words, counting, and colors which is a big plus! I chose a variety of activity pages for different age levels so Van and future littles can all use it.

^ cover page 

^ lion page / activity: touch, texture

^ car page / activity: stop and go

^ shoe page / activity: learn to tie shoe laces

^ mirror page / activity: self reflection

^ laundry page / activity: hang the clothes on the clothes line and put in basket

^ gumball machine page / activity: touch, texture, count, colors

^ dog page / activity: buckle the dog's collars

^ rainbow page / activity: counting, colors, touch

^ back cover page 

You will need:
- 10-15 pieces of felt, assorted colors
- embroidery floss
- tacky glue
- sewing machine
- pack of binder rings
- metal eyelets/eyelet tool or hammer/stamp block
- sticky felt letters
- yarn
- mini pom poms
- 1 freezer ziplock bag
- colorful beads
- small buckles
- googlie eyes
- buttons
- paracord/ribbon
- mini clothes pins
- pack of small round mirrors

Where to get supplies:
- Michael's
- Joanne's
- Walmart

Budget:
- $25

Directions:
1. Cut your felt pages into even squares, I did 9x9"
2. Layout items you need for each page, cut felt pieces, glue, then hand stitch around the edges for a nice finished look. Add other items as needed and make sure they are secured.
3. When the pages are done sew them back to back with your sewing machine for a clean finished edge.
4. Mark each page with the spots you want to put the rings and poke scissors through and create a round hole in the felt. I didn't use any fancy tools to install the metal eyelets, I just hand set them in and then hammered them tight with a thick piece of leather over it to prevent damage to the eyelet. Make sure you do this on a flat hard surface if you don't have a steel stamping block or something like it. Insert the rings and you're done! Plus, you can always add new pages if you want to later.

Many of these items I already had laying around my house left over from other craft projects and I used craft store coupons for the things I didn't have. I gave this quiet book to Van for Christmas and he really likes it. Hope you enjoyed my tutorial, and if you're not into this sorta thing you're probably just happy this post is over, haha.