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    Home » Craft Tutorials » Kids Crafts

    Our Quiet Book: 12 Layout Ideas

    April 13, 2012 By Brandy 31 Comments

    Children love playing with quiet books, and moms love how they inspire creative play. Here are 12 simple quiet book layouts to add to your fabric quiet book. From farm animals to pirate's treasure, there is something for every age!

     quiet book pages bound with rings

    Our Quiet Book: 12 Layout Ideas

    It's happened! After almost 9 years of wanting to make a quiet book for my children, I have finally done it! And it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and it wasn't as time consuming as I thought it would be! It could be because I've had layouts in my mind that I wanted to make for years, so it was just sitting down and putting them together.
    A friend at church invited some of us young mothers to her house to browse through a couple of quiet books that she had when her children were young. It was a lot of fun and gave me some ideas the motivation that I needed to get started.

    Some things that I would recommend for making a quiet book:

    Minimal Velcro! Velcro is loud. It's perfect for a busy book, but if this is going to church with you, I'd limit how much you use. I think I used it on one page.
    Minimal Felt. Felt will pill over time. I used it in a few places, but for the most part I used cotton. Since cotton frays, I used a zig zag stitch to sew the fabric on without having to hem it. I used sturdy cotton for all of the pages. A large rectangle of it that I folded in half and made 2 pages on. Then I flipped it in-side-out, sewed up 3 sides, slid a thin layer of batting inside, and then sewed up the top and top stitched the entire thing (on my machine, no hand-sewing here....I'm horrible at it) and that created 2 pages. They are a bit bulky, but I was able to fit more pages into my book that way.
    Puffy Paint/Fabric paint works well for adding details. Easier than hand stitching (although hand stitching would probably look better), and it dries within a couple of hours.
    Eyelets are inexpensive and work great to bind the book with rings. This also allows you to take the book apart and add more pages or split it up among a few kids at a time if they all want to use it.
    Here are the pages that I created. I don't have patterns to share, but thought that this give you an idea if you are looking for some fun layouts. Just simple shapes. As you can see, I used a lot of scrap fabrics to create mine. It really helped me go through my stash and organize it. It also helped me create some schemes. I'd find a print I liked and I'd create a page to go around it.
    quiet book farm page
    Barnyard: I bought the wooden farm animals. 4 in a pack at Michael's for $1. They are glued onto popsicle sticks.
    quiet book page with hand and ring. Child putting hand through ring.
    Does it Fit?: My kids love all of the fun erasers that have come out. I used a ring one for this page.
    quiet book camping page with tent and finger puppets.
    Woodland Campout: This page is definitely one-of-a-kind. I asked the kids what they thought should be under the tent and they decided that a penguin in underwear would be funny. So I cut one out of a scrap piece of fabric. Definitely original. It says "Keep Out!" I made little fabric pockets and put woodland finger puppets inside. I'm not sure where I got them from. We've had them for years.
    railroad track quiet book page with small wooden train toy
    Train Tracks: Not my favorite, but it works. I used puffy paint and created a pocket with Velcro for the little train to be stored in.
    treasure chest quiet book page with flap and beaded necklaces
    Treasure Chest: My friend gave me  a little lock and key for this one. She also had a cut out of a treasure box to use as a pattern. I put some fun things inside. It was a lot of fun to make this page!
    fish bowl quiet book page
    Button Fish: The fish button onto the matching color and are stored in the fish bowl which is a pocket.
    zip open jungle themed quiet book page
    Jungle: I made a pocket out of some scrap flannel and added a zipper and felt leaves. Finger puppets (purchased at IKEA a few years ago) fit perfectly inside.
    bugs and insects quiet book page
    Insect Jar: Scrap vinyl worked perfectly for the "glass" on the jar. Wooden bugs (4/$1 at Michael's) and a $1 magnifying glass.
    clothesline and hamper laundry quiet book page
    Clothes Line: Mini clothespins and fleece cutouts. Store in fabric laundry basket.
    flower petal quiet book page
     Numbers/Shapes Flower: Each petal folds over. Numbers and shapes are revealed.
    toddler hands in mittens page
     Mittens: Fleece mittens, left open on the bottom, for little hands to slide inside.
    purse with felt make up quiet book page
    My Purse: The little fabric purse holds Kaylee's felt make up perfectly.
    quiet book pages bound with rings
    Put together with rings and stored in a little tote bag, all ready to go. It isn't perfect, by a long-shot, but it works for us!
    small denim tote to store quiet book

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    About Brandy

    Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!

    Comments

    1. Claudia says

      November 02, 2015 at 6:48 am

      Could you please tell me how to attached the small eyelets or gourmetts to each page. I am to that part in making a quiet book, but I am haveing a lot of trouble the tools I need to finish it. Thank you so much.

      Reply
      • Brandy says

        November 02, 2015 at 7:50 am

        Sure thing! The grommets I used game with a tool that I used. I used scissors to make a tiny hold, then set the grommet/eyelet front and back around that (sandwiching the fabric between) then used the tool with a hammer to set it correctly. Let me see if I can find a link that shows what I used: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YQMEUO?keywords=dritz%20grommet%20kit&qid=1446479319&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 I used smaller grommets, but this was the type of kit I bought. I has a small tool inside to help them snap together when hammered. Hope that helps!

        Reply
    2. Karen Broadwater says

      March 23, 2014 at 7:08 am

      Absolutely awesome! Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
    3. Lisa says

      August 21, 2013 at 3:13 pm

      I love how you don't use felt real heavily. Most people it seems make the entire book out of felt, and I'm just not convinced it will hold up...Beautiful job!

      Reply
      • Brandy says

        August 21, 2013 at 3:20 pm

        Thank you Lisa! I've noticed with other projects that felt tends to pill too and look ratty over time so even though it was a little more work, zig sagging the cotton seemed to work well and it's held up great so far! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

        Reply
    4. carol cox says

      August 13, 2013 at 10:22 pm

      that has to be the cutest baby book i have seen in years... thanks for all the work that went into to it, including the tutorial... i will be making this...

      Reply
      • Brandy says

        August 13, 2013 at 11:28 pm

        Thank you Carol! It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it!

        Reply
    5. tara-scrap says

      August 11, 2013 at 6:22 am

      the book is beautiful !!!

      Reply
    6. Carissa Rasmussen says

      May 18, 2013 at 5:22 pm

      i am ALWAYS looking for new quiet book ideas. totally pinning:)

      Reply
    7. Lauras Crafty Life says

      May 18, 2013 at 4:36 am

      I have been wanting to do some busy bags and quiet books for my kids. These are really cute ideas!

      Reply
    8. 2Momma2 says

      May 18, 2013 at 12:17 am

      These are so great! I'm pinning so I can get inspired sometime. Thanks!

      Kristin
      http://Www.exploringdomesticity.blogspot.com

      Reply
    9. Alese says

      June 11, 2012 at 6:36 pm

      My son is 18 months so queit books have really been on my mind lately! I love this post! I blog over at http://www.2cratfy4myskirt.blogspot.com Every Friday I feature a fellow crafter. I would LOVE to feature you and this project in an upcoming Friday. If you are interested please let me know!
      Alese Stewart
      [email protected]

      Reply
    10. Lea says

      June 03, 2012 at 5:37 am

      What a beautiful and creative book! I love it!

      Reply
    11. m@rta says

      May 30, 2012 at 8:03 pm

      so beautifful ! I admire your book:)
      also feel invited to my page
      http://marta-mojepasje.blogspot.com/2012/03/quiet-book-3.html?utm_source=BP_recent

      m@rta

      Reply
    12. Stephanie says

      May 04, 2012 at 12:51 pm

      That is the cutest quiet book I have ever seen!

      Reply
    13. Amy Fountain says

      April 24, 2012 at 1:51 pm

      This is a great project! Very ingenious!

      Reply
    14. Shannah @ Just Us Four says

      April 23, 2012 at 3:05 pm

      This is a great project! I could totally use some of these quiet books around my house. Would you consider linking it up to my Pinworthy Projects Linky Party over at Just Us Four?

      Reply
    15. Liz Evans says

      April 20, 2012 at 5:45 am

      sigh...this makes me wish i knew how to sew! love this book!

      Reply
    16. Artistic31Mama says

      April 19, 2012 at 5:07 am

      This is such a great post!! Thanks for sharing all these wonderful ideas for a quiet book! I've been wanting to make one of these for my children. Thanks so much! I pinned this!

      Reply
    17. cheapcraftymama says

      April 18, 2012 at 12:33 pm

      Oh wow, those are SUPER adorable!! I would love for you to share this (and any other creations) at "Pin It and Win It Wednesday" @ http://www.cheapcraftymama.com!

      Reply
    18. FionaR says

      April 14, 2012 at 1:21 pm

      Superlove this! Been wanting to make one for a while - thanks for sharing your awesome pages!

      Reply
    19. Liz says

      April 14, 2012 at 7:34 am

      I love your book! Lot of work, I think, but the result is great!! Liz

      Reply
    20. Falafel and the Bee says

      April 14, 2012 at 4:23 am

      You did an amazing job!
      I have always wanted to make one of these, but it seemed so daunting.
      Now my girls are way too big for it, but maybe I can make one as a gift!
      Thanks for the inspiration.
      ~Michelle

      Reply
    21. Sue says

      April 14, 2012 at 3:12 am

      Wow, certainly worth the wait! It's adorable! Time to pin!

      Reply
    22. Urban Hoot says

      April 14, 2012 at 1:10 am

      Wow! That looks awesome! Super creative and I love all the details.

      Reply
    23. Sara @ Mom Endeavors says

      April 14, 2012 at 1:07 am

      Just saw this on TT&J--LOVE it!!! I've been wanting to make a quiet book for a while now also, but haven't done one! Thanks for some inspiration!!

      Reply
    24. Rhissanna says

      April 13, 2012 at 5:16 pm

      This is a brilliant creation! Imaginative and creative and yes I love that you could add on new ideas as needed.

      Reply
    25. Pam says

      April 13, 2012 at 4:21 pm

      Oh this is wonderful! My kids would have loved to have one of these when they were little. I love all of the little details.

      Reply
    26. Amanda @ Gratefully Growing in Grace says

      April 13, 2012 at 1:31 pm

      You have a great quiet book! I love the camping page. I especially like how you used non-fabric things throughout; especially on the barn page. I made a similar barn in my recent quiet book but I think I like yours better!
      http://gratefullygrowingingrace.blogspot.com/2011/07/quiet-book-last-one.html

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Cardstock Busy Book {No Sewing Required} says:
      September 24, 2013 at 12:21 pm

      […]  you are feeling a bit more adventurous, you can check out our other Quiet Book that took a bit longer to make, but the kids love just as […]

      Reply
    2. Keepin’ Busy With Indoor Activities | Modern Alternative Mama says:
      September 24, 2013 at 5:00 am

      […] Glue Sticks Blog […]

      Reply

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