Quiet Time Felt Books - Part 1

 

 

I remember having felt books as a kid and I wanted to share the fun with my boys. These special books have been so helpful at church, in the car, at dentist appointments and almost any other time I needed the boys to be quiet and sit still.

 

I was inspired by so many different blogs for the quiet-time books I made. It is so nice having Pinterest and blogs available to feed our creativity and help us find ideas when we have a project in mind! Many ideas came from: Sweet Mama Duck, Mama Duck again, Fieltrunguis, The Crafting Chicks, Scott & Lonica, The Thornock Family, A Back to Basics Lifestyle, Cathie & Steve, Homemade by Jill has some great templates, you can also get patterns off Etsy if you would like.

I loved making these however they are very time consuming so be prepared…

Step 1: Pick your cover fabric and pages. I made my books with 12 pages in each and that is plenty in my opinion. If you were to do more than that your books will be getting very thick. For the pages you need 6 pieces of flannel cut at 10-inches by 20-inches each. For the cover you will need two pieces at 23-inches by 12-inches.  For the binder and button flap you will need 12-inches by 6-inches, there will be more details on this later.

Step 2: Stock up on felt! I used a lot of the solid colored sheets to accomplish my books (I found a nice pack of assorted felt on Amazon). Now I will go through each page with you…

The Clock: I used two different sized bowls to trace around to make the circles. Then I used a piece of chalk to draw the numbers and cut them out. I laminated two blue arrow for the hands (I thought that laminated arms would spin best on the felt without getting stuck) and used a brad as the fastener.  I sewed the large circles together and hot glued the numbers on.

 

You will find in this book I also added verses to each page. If you would also like to do this, print the verses you would like to use on each page and laminate them. I then cut out a square opening and sewed the verse underneath.  It is a little tricky because the laminated paper will slide a bit while you sew if you don’t hold it firm enough.

 

The Cupcakes and Oven: This is one of my favorites! Cut a piece of grey felt to look like a cookie sheet and write the numbers 1-9 on it with a permanent marker. The oven can be whatever color you would like it to be. It is comprised of a large rectangle, a pentagon and a skinny rectangle. I used brads for the knobs and small ovals of white felt for the burners. The window of the oven is some clear plastic tablecloth material I got at Joann Fabrics. You will need some little pieces of Velcro to close the oven.
 

 The Cupcakes: I used 3 different kinds of bottoms with all white frosting. I free handed the numbers again (but I have seen many felt stickers at different dollars stores especially Loopy Dollar, and I used some of these on pages to come). I used a sewing machine to make the lines on the bottoms and then I hand-stitched on the frosting with a bright yellow. I used hot glue to attach the numbers and the gems (found a huge bucket of these cute little bling-things at Hobby Lobby).

The Dress-Up Snowman: Cut out a snowman from white felt (I found some sparkle white that was a lot of fun for this page). Sew on the snowman’s arms then his body and nose. I attached some fun sparkle snowflake stickers and his googly eyes with hot glue. Then cut out the snow bank and sew a decorative line across the top. Next put the snow bank on the bottom of your page and sew to attach it on 3 sides, leaving the top open like a pocket to store the dress-up items in.  Have fun making different things for your snowman to wear. I made some mittens, a top-hat, vest, scarf, Santa hat, a broom and candy cane for him to hold and some coal buttons.

Peek-a-boo Page: This one I just looked at this page and tried to copy it I did most of the sewing on the page on the machine. The smile, nose and mittens were done by hand.

 

 

Game Page: I used 36 - 1 1/5 inch squares for my game; feel free to layout your game a bit differently. I added hand-stitched fruit to this page to jazz it up a little and sandals as the game pieces. (I found a package of felt sandals at Hobby Lobby and used them on another page to come too) I added some of the ruff Velcro to the backs of the sandals so they would stick better to the felt. The spinner I got in a game I bought at a thrift store for super cheap.  I hot glued Velcro onto the back of the spinner and sewed some pieces in the page so if you want to remove the spinner from the game, you can. This game works on colors and numbers and has been a popular page with our 3 year old.

 

Beacuse there are so many pages between the 3 books I have made I will post these in several different parts! Hope you enjoy making these special books for your little ones!

Entryway Table

When I was thinking about how to do the Family Tree and how big I wanted it to be I also wanted to find a way to add a small table to our entryway to set mail, keys and other items on when you walk in the door. I thought a trip to Menards might bring some clarity to my idea and it did….as I browsed the aisles I stumbled upon the answer. As I headed down the aisle with items one would need to assemble stairs a very simple solution came to me! I purchased 1 step, 2 stairway spindles and 2 cans of white spray paint (I got glossy paint; it really seemed to give it that finishing touch). Oh, and one small piece of wood for securing the step to the wall (This will not be seen so if you have a small board laying around that would be perfect for this, I used a 1.25x.75 piece that was about 2 feet long.)

 

Step 1: For this project you will need a basic understanding of a couple power tools or know someone who would love to help you with this first step. I used a chop saw to clip the corners of the step (with 2 little boys running around we try to minimize potential hazards). Then you will also need to trim the spindles down to the desired height of your table.

 

Step 2: Lay out a ton of newspaper or cardboard outside and get to work spraying the step, spindles and small support board. Like I said above, I used white but this is the step where you can personalize your table to your home and personality! You may need to spray a few coats of paint on the wood to get complete and even color.

Step 3: Now get your tape measure, pencil, a level, screw gun and your beautifully sprayed boards. Use the tape measure to measure the height of the spindles on the wall and mark it with your pencil. Place your support board at the very bottom of that line and screw it into the wall. Use the level to make sure that it is even because your shelf will sit upon this so if it isn’t straight your shelf won’t be either. Next set the step on top of the support board and screw a couple screws down into the back of the shelf going into your support board. (You may need someone to help hold the step while you do this and the spindles) Last part, place the spindles under the table in the place you would like them to be and send a screw down through the step into each one.

 

Step 4: Touch up a bit, cover the screws with a little white paint. Spray some paint on a plastic plate and use a Q-tip to dab paint over the screws.

 

~ A couple weeks after I finished our entryway table I decided I wanted another shelf added so I could put a basket there for the boy’s hats and mittens. I am not talented enough to do this…my husband actually took that part of the project on himself. He added a ½ inch piece of plywood, attached it to the wall like above and put screws through each of the spindles into it giving it maximum support.

Family Tree

So a couple years ago we bought our first home and I love it! It isn’t by any means new but that was part of the appeal of the house. When we walked in I didn’t see baby blue walls and worn blue linoleum and turn and run…no, I saw potential for all kinds of changes and updates. I love to dream big so my husband is good at reminding me what is and isn’t realistic. Okay, well that leads us to this post…

 

I have seen so many great family tree ideas, and I really liked many of them so I took all of those ideas and combined them to make our family tree! ( HERE are a few wall decals I liked and some family tree frames)

Step 1: Draw a picture of what you have in mind (I liked so many different ideas that this part took some time combining my favorites and deciding which ones wouldn’t make the cut). Don’t be afraid to erase and try something new.

 

 

As you can see the drawing above isn’t quite the same as what my drawing on the wall looks like but that is okay, it was my inspiration!

Step 2: Decide where you will be putting you tree and clean the wall, I needed to fill  a couple nail holes in and touch up a bit to prepare the space I picked. You will also need to determine how big you want your tree to be.

Step 3: This is the fun part! You will need several erasers and a good pencil – start drawing your tree ON THE WALL! It is so fun drawing on the wall, most likely because we are told to never do that! I had to erase and redraw some of my branches a couple times, but if you don’t press hard with the pencil it is very easy to erase your “not quite right” branches.

 

For the letters on the trunk I used a font I liked and printed an outline of it, cut it out, fun tacked it to the wall, and traced around it.

Step 4: Get ready to paint! I squirted a bit of my brown acrylic paint into a disposable plastic cup so that it was easy for me to hold while I painted. I also used a disposable foam brush to do most of my painting; only a few times did I use a small paint brush just to do the smaller areas where the branches come to a point. You may need to do a couple coats depending on the paint you picked and the look you are going for.

Step 5: The Leaves: I took two small pieces of tag board and cut out the shape I wanted for my leaves. Then I held the tag board up on the wall where a leaf was to go and filled it in with paint using the foam brush.

 

Step 6: You are almost done!!! This step cleans all of the edges up and makes it look much more finished. I used one of those giant permanent Sharpie markers and outlined the whole thing! It also gave my tree a little more dimension.

Step 7: Last one…get frames (I found mine at Wal-Mart for under $1 each) and fill them with your favorite family photos! My husband has a large family and we plan to add more frames to our tree as more of his siblings get married.

Great Job! You did it! You created a one of a kind piece of art that can display your one of a kind family!

Valentine Crayons

What a fun time of the year to start a new blog! We are quickly approaching a holiday that revolves around love and showing others how much you care about them by making them special Valentines!

This week a letter came home with our preschooler in his backpack letting us know that his class would be exchanging Valentine's at their party on Thursday of next week...my brain got busy trying to think of a clever card we could make for his fellow 3 year old classmates :) And this is what we came up with...

What you will need:
4.5 x 6.5 pack of card stock (I found my pack at Hobby Lobby) but I found the same set on Amazon 12x12 paper
Crayons (all of those broken one pieces sitting at the bottom of the box work great!)
Glue dots (found at any craft store)
Glue stick
Silicone Ice Cream Cone Baking Pan

Step 1: Start peeling :)

 

 

Step 2: Put crayons into baking pan, if the crayons are still large break them into 1/2's or 1/3's. i think the crayons look better if you put the brighter colors in first like yellow, orange, and pink. I feel I should warn you though, we you put these cuties in the oven it doesn't smell like apple pie! So maybe have your favorite candle burning while baking these :)

 

 

 

Step 3: Bake at 350'F for about 10 min, but check them - some crayons seem to melt faster than others. Let them cool for a good 1 to 2 hours. Peel the crayons out of the pan and "WooHoo" you just finished the cutest little crayons ever! You are almost done now! (Unless you have to make 4 batches like I did)

 



 

 



 Step 4: Make small notes for each card. I used publisher and this is what I wrote: Being your friend is a SWEET TREAT, Valentine! Love, Levi. I also added a line below the message for Levi to sign his name to each one. This was probably the longest step of all...a 3 year old can only handle sitting and writing his name over and over so many times before you must take a break :)

 

 

 

Step 4: Attach each crayon with Glue Dots to the card stock and use a glue stick to attach the note.

 

 

20 Cute Homemade Valentine's ready for Levi's class!