Friday, August 23, 2013

DIY Busy book

Making a busy book for my daughter has been one of the most genius things I have ever done. It really does capture her attention, which is especially great at church or in waiting rooms. There are a million ways to make one, and I am currently adding more pages to hers, but here are some ideas and they don't require a ton of time or "know-how."
*Updated pages added 1/25/14 at bottom of post*

For the cover I did sew on the big "J" but I just used hot glue for her name. It made it go much quicker, especially when I have two kids chasing me down--I need simple and quick.


For the ocean scene I cut out the fish/boat freehand, you can get fancy and use a stencil or pattern, but this was the quick way. I sewed along the left, right, and bottom edge of the blue (water) so that it acts like a pocket and she can stick everything back into the pouch when she is done. For the sun I just hot glued the rays to the back. I also added tiny (like, really tiny) strips of velcro to the back, but you don't have to...it ended up not saving the pieces from escaping and felt sticks to itself really well.


The buttons and zipper were the most time consuming since you have to sew them, but I think it took me around 10 min, so not too bad. Because you want the jacket to open/close, just hot glue the sleeves and outside edges down. For the "lunch" side I made another pouch for everything to sit in. I traced around the items with a sharpie so that she would know where things go. 















For the shapes I drew a smaller version of the shape so that the felt would completely cover it, and I liked that better than outlining them. On the right is a photo of the kids and us that I sewed on and when she opens the curtains she can see us. The pages don't have to be fancy to be entertaining and it doesn't have to take forever to make! I'm making letter and number pages next that I will add to the back of the book!

Side note: It is easier to make it with rings and eyelets if you have all the materials...I don't. I just sewed along the edge to keep all the pages together.





















More ideas:
Matching colored objects instead of just shapes
Cars/roads (like the big play mats that go on the floor)
Dolls & dress up
Monster faces

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