Last year, I created a quiet book for our family trip to Utah and California. (Read more about it here.) I was really happy with how it turned out. Since then, I’ve brought the quiet book with us to sporting events, plane trips, and road trips. It’s a great way to keep Buddy entertained on the go.
This summer, I decided I wanted to make a couple more pages for the quiet book. Now that Buddy is two, he can do more challenging quiet book activities. I chose two different designs to create.
For this shapes page, I used some large buttons that I had lying around the house. I traced them with chalk and then outlined them with puffy paint. I used hot glue to attach velcro and ribbon to the buttons. Then, I cut out the pocket for the buttons and sewed it to the other end of the strings. Buddy is very into shapes and colors, and he enjoyed solving this puzzle.
Recently, Buddy has been interested in helping me buckle his car seat. I looked at a lot of different buckle quiet pages, and I came across this dog design that I loved. Buddy loves dogs, and I knew the buckle would be extra fun. I found a picture I liked online and used freezer paper to trace it and make a pattern. I sewed together the parts of the dog and used fabric glue to put down the ears. (The fake fur is a mess, but Buddy really liked it.) Then, I sewed the ribbon onto the buckle and the leash clasp. I also added velcro to a dog bone and the dog’s tongue. Buddy was really excited about the dog, but the buckle and leash were a little hard for him. I’m sure this will be a page he grows into and will entertain him as he gets older.
I’m really pleased with how these pages turned out! It was a lot of work to make them, but a lot of fun too. I hope Buddy continues to enjoy them for a long time.
This one I made up on my own. I saw two cute waving monster iron-on patches at Jo Ann Fabrics, and Buddy really liked them. They reminded me a little of the monsters from Monsters Inc., which made me think about putting them behind doors. One opens from the bottom, and one opens from the side. I used an embroidery stitch on my sewing machine to add some interest to each door. I ironed the monsters on the felt by putting a thin pressing cloth on top of the felt. I also used glittery fabric paint for the writing. Buddy enjoyed playing peek a boo with both monsters.
I saw pages of farm animal finger puppets, and I realized how much Buddy would love puppets that were dogs. (He loves dogs!) I found a free template for the finger puppets