The Family is Under Attack

The quiet book marathon was fun and is over---for good.

2014 and the challenges it will bring are upon us. I feel strongly the need to set the lightheartedness aside for a while and concentrate on what we can do with where we are to avoid going where we don't want to go. 

The loud minority throughout the world is trying mightily to influence the vast moral majority and . . .




To quote Albert Einstein: 
"the world is a dangerous place to live, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing."

The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home. Children do, for the most part, what they are taught.  We need to make the world better by making the family stronger.

The Bible, Isaiah 5:20, warns
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

I think we are there!  Our being pushed to accept abhorrent behaviors in the name of tolerance is beyond reason. Our being pushed to "political correctness" is over the top.

In 1995 the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon B. Hinckley,  presented

              "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." 

It  has been printed and distributed in many languages, not only to church members and others throughout the world but to government leaders in many lands.

In part, this proclamation to the world states

• marriage and family are ordained of God and central to His plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
• we are all spirit children of God, created in his image (see also Genesis 1:26-27)
• parents have a sacred duty to care for each other and teach their children
• happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ

While not officially in the proclamation to the world, President Hinckley taught:

If there is to be a return to old and sacred values, it must begin in the home. It is here that truth is learned, that integrity is cultivated, that self-discipline is instilled, and that love is nurtured.

And, in 1998, addressing a  gathering of mayors and other public officials, at the U.S. Conference of Mayors he taught:

"To you men and women of great influence, you who preside in the cities of the nation, to you I say that it will cost far less to reform our schools, to teach the virtues of good citizenship, than it will to go on building and maintaining costly jails and prisons...

But there is another institution of even greater importance than the schools. It is the home. I believe that no nation can rise higher than the strength of its families."

I will present the proclamation in its entirety in next Friday's post.

Quiet Book Pages: Will You Allow Me One More --- Sorta Final Finale to This Project?

A few posts ago I reported on a blog I found using old baby clothes to make a cute quiet book. I think I said, at the time, they were so cute I would probably have to make some.

Here is the site:

http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2012/12/fast-easy-quiet-book-made-from-baby.html

And . . .

Here is my excuse for making more pages. I have two friends that want to make quiet books for their two young grandsons but, and this is a big but, neither sew nor craft --- nor do they want to learn.

Another big but is --- they really, really want these books and I won't make them for them.

I found some simple "boy" pages, modified them to make them even easier to do, and am helping them.I don't care if they never do anything crafty again, and I don't expect them to become seamstress-es but I am excited to report they are learning to hand overcast and sew on buttons. I strongly feel it is is important for everyone to know how to do these basics (and maybe a couple more).

 I am Simply, Gail simply doing my part to try to make that happen. . .
and enjoying the process.

The original blog (check it out above, used a onesie for the shirt.  This shirt is
cut from heavy Pellon with the collar (and buttons you can't see under the tie) drawn on with permanent marker.

Polly, from the above site,  has made her double-sided ties out of stiffened t-shirt fabric.  I used 2 different patterns/pieces of felt to make my reversible ties, making it  easier for my friends. I will have them overcast the top part of the tie to securely enclose the magnet because it is a (funny) challenge to sew that part on the machine because the magnet keeps sticking itself to the metal part of the machine.

Polly stacked her ties on top of one another in the book.  I cut the pants from a piece of felt and left the waist open so the ties tuck in there when not in use.

Note: I have them hand overcast stitch any parts when they don't want to use the sewing machine, which is getting them used to the machine because it is so much quicker!

We cut the bottom off this long-sleeve onesie  to fit the page and used a zig-zag stitch
around the edgesleaving the front section of the neck open and the sleeves loose.

Hands were made from a double thickness of felt, overcast around the edges and stitched inside
the bottom of the sleeves. The play-ee can patty cake with the hands, or fold the arms to pray.

With this next page the onesie was too large for the page so we used just the front part and cut it down to fit. We cut the sleeves off and slipped them underneath the front after it was cut down to size. This shirt has the addition of snaps for another learning activity.  You could have something inside if you wanted. She hasn't added the hands yet.

I hadn't realized I had the cute applique covered in the above picture. So, just for the fun of it,
I am printing it again.

Boy baby clothes have come a long way since our boys were born in the 60's and 70's!
I found several really cute ones at the thrift store --- enough to add this type of page
to all 12 of the books I am making.

I found a just for "boys" quiet book site for my friends Barb and Shauna. It has some very cute and quite elaborate pages.

http://allthequietthings.blogspot.com/2013/03/quiet-book-boys.html

I made the tool box from that site with the following changes:

• I used sticky-backed craft foam letters from the Dollar Tree (124 letters in 4 different colors). They are sticky enough that they are almost impossible to move once they are placed on the felt so be careful when you place them. In spite of that, I still hand stitched them also.
• Instead of felt I used, again from the Dollar Tree, 4x6 inch foam sheets (32 sheets, six colors in each package).  I made them double thickness and since the glue didn't hold them together as much as I wanted I hand-stitched them together.  I think I will still try felt --- either the stiff kind or the stiff sticky back kind, but then again, those cost a lot more! And I will probably still feel I have to sew them "to be sure".
• I wanted something else to fill the space on the page so I Googled "free clip art 6 inch ruler," selected the one I wanted and printed it (as many times as I could get on a page since I need 12 plus those for my friends) on colored card stock.  I enclosed the ruler in a section of a page protector and stitched around it, making sure to round off the corners.  I think I will take the remaining 12 rulers to Staples office supply and have them laminated!
• I attached the ruler with a brad so it can be moved back and forth on the page.
• And, purely serendipity, the ruler, when moved down over the tools will help them stay in the tool box!

I think my eyes must see crooked!  Have you noticed how almost every
page is slightly (or not so slightly) off kilter?

Finally (have you heard that before on this blog site?) I happened on a couple of other sites that

I adapted. I always like to give credit when I can but unfortunately 1)  I can't remember where I found 

the original ones and 2) I have changed them so much they probably would not be recognizable. The pieces, on both pages, are simple enough to cut without patterns. And Barb sewed  both of these. 

The original was a regular truck with a felt truck bed and big felt wheels you buttoned onto big black buttons. It did have a pile of dirt, fastened to a cord,  you could remove from the truck.  

We made ours a dump truck.  

• We used plastic craft canvas for the body to 1) eliminate some sewing and 2) to add some texture.  
• We made it "dump" by securing the back corner with a brad.  
• The brad at the front of the truck bed is to (try) to keep the front of the bed from dropping down.
• The wheels are each cut (and sewn) from double thickness of stiff felt.  
• Instead of having them button on, we wanted them to turn.  Originally we were just going to use brads.  Husband Dave came up with the idea of having the brads go through metal washers.  Genius!!! They added so much. 
• But, as usual, even though the fit was good, I was afraid the brad would somehow slip through the washer so we used gray thread and overcast stitched the washers to the page before adding the brad.  I think the stitching added even more to the look. 
• The dirt load is a double thickness of brown embossed felt with the end of the cord sandwiched between the two pieces. The other end is securely sewn under the back wheel.
• The dirt pile is a single piece of the embossed felt.
• The cab has the window hole cut out.  Barb drew the steering wheel on a piece of card stock a little larger than the hole, covered it with a piece of page protector and stitched it to the back side of the window hold.
• We added the same sun that I had used on the earlier barn with animal finger puppets page.

Barb's grandson has three older brothers. She wanted to make them a part of the book. This is what we came up with.  Instead of looking a lot like windows as they had on the original page we found, Barb

wanted to make it bright and basic.  Each of the three top window flaps lifts up to show a pocket (cut from page protectors) that will hold a photo of one of the brothers. The large window on the bottom opens from the middle to show mom and dad. When little Kashton opens the door ---- he will be there!

Barb did almost all of this herself. I sewed the inside section on the door (it was needed to
cover the stitching of the letters and heart) and sewed on the doorknob. 

I apologize for the crazy formatting that is showing up with some of the sentences.  I am too tired to try any longer to fix them and I want to get this posted in case any of you are trying to get a book done for the

holidays.

I'm not sure what my schedule will be the next couple of weeks but I will be back on my regular Friday schedule after the first of the year, if not before.

Wishing Peace on Earth to everyone at this time of year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Quiet Book Finale: Putting It All Together

Finally!!!

I researched many ways to fasten the book together . I wanted the pages to be removable so 

I chose this idea: 

http://www.dandidow.com/tag/quiet-book/ 

I have a lot of pages in my book and happen to have 1-1/2 inch binder rings in my stash of stuff so they are a perfect match. 

The photo below my directions will explain what I am not doing  very well explaining with words.

My quiet book pages are each 9x12 inches so . . . 

1. I cut a piece of felt 13 inches long by 20 inches wide to allow for some "wiggle-room". You wouldn't have to use felt for the cover --- denim or other sturdy fabric works well.

2. Laid it out flat so it was a horizontal rectangle

3. Measured 10" in from the edge and used a piece of chalk to mark the center of the rectangle

4. Centered a 13 inch long piece of grosgrain* ribbon along the chalk line and stitched it down both

sides, leaving three channels or tunnels to thread the rings through. Be sure to space the  tunnels so the rings will match up with the holes in the pages.  I'll explain how I did the holes below. 

*Grosgrain ribbon is stronger than other ribbon.  Any sturdy tape or section of sturdy fabric will also do the job. 

5. I sewed a single activity page next to the ribbon, on what will be the back side of the book since I don't plan on doing any decorating on the back.  I have left the inside of what will be the front cover empty until I decide what I want to do with the front cover.  Adding the activity page after decorating the front cover will hide the stitches from the cover design.

The bugaboo (dictionary definition: something that makes people very worried or upset.) of the project is how to create the three holes in the pages for the rings to go through.

I have already said, with the shoe page, I did not want to go through the trouble or expense  of putting eyelets in. And, with the double-thick pages it would really be a chore/trial.

You will have to look closely to see the white stitching where I attached the
sheet protector to the felt.

Sheet protectors, once again, to the rescue!!!

There is a reason I proudly call myself cheapskate; I also think I am creative ---- and I hope you share my opinion!

At first when I was using all the rest of the page protector I was tossing the three-hold section away as useless.

That was then ----

Now I measure about 1 to 1-1/2 inches from the hole-punched section and cut that strip from the rest of the page. 

I choose the two pages I want to be back-to-back and zig-zag them together. 

Note:  I carefully select the two pages I  join so there will be variety but also so they are of the same ability level. More on why, below.

Once again, looking at the picture above, will help you understand the following directions.

I open the flap strip attached to the hole-punched part, slip it over the sewn-together page so it covers both sides evenly, center the strip vertically on the felt so the punched holes line up with the ring tunnels. and stitch it the strip in place.  

NEW IDEA: I just tried stitching the one felt page over the plastic hole punched part. Then I did the same thing with the page that will back it. Then I stitched the two pages together. I think that was easier.   If I have totally confused you, I am posting a couple of new quiet book pages immediately after this post and you will be able to see what I mean if you look closely at the "put on the tie" page and it's back-side page "patty cake."

Another note:  I like to use the sheet protectors that have slightly elongated holes at the top and bottom with a round one in the middle.  These elongated holes give the pages a little space to "adjust" if I goofed a little on the placement.

Yet, still another note: You will want some way to keep the finished book closed. It could be simple ribbons that tie or a buckle-type thing. You can decide. 

A final (?) note:  (make that notes!) I like this loose ring format because it allows the taking in and out of pages ---either as their activity level increases (so either harder ones can be added or easier ones removed). 

I am buying the "soft" (see shoe lace post)  1-inch plastic binders for each set, especially since I can't seem to stop making new pages!!  They will hold 4 or 5 double pages.  

The benefits:

• It is a lot easier
• I am ending up with too many pages for one book
• the pages are easily  interchangeable, as stated above 
• two 1" binders would allow two children to play quietly at once.

Happy Creating ---- and watch for another to follow later today, which might be the post you see first.

Still More Quiet Book Pages --- when I thought I was finished!

I am really pleased with how the wild animal weaving page turned out. Plus----it was simple and quick!!!

Wild animal patterned felt.  What a fun find!

Un-weave the strips and find who they belong to . . . 

I think kids will have fun matching  the
weaving strips to the animals. 

I couldn't pass up these puzzle cards I found at Dollar Tree ---- three different decks in a $1.00 package! 

Each card is double-sided  with different puzzle on each side. 

This is my build-a-word quiet book page using these cards. The puzzle card page is the same only with three sections in each pocket, all cut from --- you guessed it ---- page protectors!

If you look closely you can see I stitched down the middle of the clear pockets, making two sections.
 You can also see
I didn't do a good job inserting the cards, but it gives you the idea.

Again, the cards are double-sided so there are six objects to match.

This one with a pocket to hold the cards. I am going to change
the tie part because it tangles easily.

The third deck of cards is numbers. 

These cute jigsaw puzzles are also from The Dollar Tree.

There are four different 4-inch square puzzles in each $1.00 package (animals, sea critters or fruits)

Each set contains a puzzle with a different number of pieces - three, four, five and six - making them 

great for different ages and ability levels.

I haven't figured out a way to use them in the quiet books but I will keep thinking. 

  I knew I needed a lacing page to complete the book --- especially when I found these bright 45" laces at Hobby Lobby.

12 laces in a package --- ideal for my 12 quiet books!

I checked out several Internet quiet book shoe-lacing pages before starting out.  

The soccer shoe on the following site is great but it didn't lend itself to 1) my bunch of bright shoe laces and 2) the time it would take to make 12 of them

http://allthequietthings.blogspot.com/2013/03/quiet-book-boys.html

I also love her tool box!

My shoe is a combination of ideas. My main goal was to make a shoe whose lacing holes would stay firm and intact without going to the trouble (or expense) of making "official" shoe lace holes.

In my attempts to accomplish that, I tried using a simple paper punch to make holes in a variety of non-woven materials. Not only did the material need to be sturdy --- it had to be fairly easy to punch. I found just what I needed in an unlikely place.

I originally bought this flexible plastic 1" binder  (I loved the bright colors and the price 
of $1.00) to see how it would work as an "auxiliary" holder for just a few quiet book pages, thinking that having just a few pages to entertain at a time would not only increase the interest but allow for different pages of different levels of activity so the quiet book could be suited to, and could "grow" along with, the user. Now I will have to go buy 12 more!

You can see where I have begun to cut out the shoe tops!  I will be able to get all 24 lacing sections

from this one binder---with a lot left over. 

Since most of you won't need that much material, here are a few other things I tried that I think would work: Heavy Pellon interfacing, vinyl, and  non-woven re-usable shopping bags. 

Next week I will show you . . .

how I am finishing the "binding" edges of the pages and
how I am going to fasten the pages in the book. 

Have a terrific week!

Quiet Book Pages #11 and #12 Take a Road Trip Through Town and Country

The center of my quiet book is a two-page layout. When the book is open the pages will be across from each other. There are lots of little things on these pages. 

1. I printed the cute town and country layouts from  thediymommy.com website.
2. I cut the little road signs from a sheet of 12x12 scrapbook paper and fastened them to the layouts.
3. I turned the river into a railroad track using brown and black marking pens  (although it is still             showing blue in this picture) simply because I wanted to use the railroad signs.

Do what I suggest --- not what I did!    I copied the original layout pages before putting on the road signs which means I have to cut and paste the signs on each individually.  Duh!!!!  I should have made the copies after I added the signs, train track, etc.

4. The layouts are covered, once again, with  heavy duty page protectors.

Many of the signs overlap each other but if you look carefully you will see that some
of them are on the top of the overlap.  The white spaces in the paper is where 
I cut mine out.

5.  The very cute little car stickers (in car wash and at parking lot) are from Dollar Tree.  There are 15 on the sheet! They are plastic and dimensional. As always, for the safety factor, I sewed around the edges.
6.  The car wash "flaps" are pieces from the fleece strips I found (and used on the hair braiding page).
7. The signs are made using permanent marking pen on heavy pellon interfacing strips.
8. The gas nozzle holders are sections of the reinforced edge (where the holes are punched) of a page protector. I cut these sections  large enough to fit under the pumps.
9. The gas pump hoses are made from a 27" shoe lace. Originally I was going to use a short length cut  from
each end of the lace so the tips were the end of the hose.

Then I decided I wanted the hoses to be able to pull out from the pumps --- and that seemed easy enough if I just cut the shoe lace lengths a little longer and fastened them between the pumps and the base sheet except, and this is a big EXCEPT, how would they "recoil" once they were pulled out.

I finally came up with the following page which  backs the gas pump page. The pages rely on each other to "work." I was discouraged with the plainness/bareness of the page but Carissa, a good friend of mine and mother of three small girls (who wants to make these books) loved it --- so I guess simplicity is okay ---- and maybe/probably  even good.

Ooops, how can I even question simplicity when I am Simply, Gail !

#A You can see the basting at the top of the page.  I wanted to see if my idea worked
before I machine sewed the two pages back to back.

10.  I placed a rectangle of heavy pellon interfacing on the back side of this piece of felt as
reinforcement for the buttons. I sewed the buttons on using heavy buttonhole thread (dental floss also works well). I also placed a small button under each large one sewing through the holes in both  make room for
the "winding" of the shoe laces.

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.
#B. Hopefully this picture is will help you understand what I am trying to describe.

I didn't stitch the pellon rectangle down. I think the buttons do the job of holding it in place.
I punched two holes in  a small folded piece of the pellon and stitched it to the rectangle.

The red stitching lines are the lines of the pumps. It doesn't show here but I left very small un-stitched sections at the base of the pumps so the laces could thread through.

The white stitching lines are the lines of the hose holder (cut from the page protector) including the part that goes beneath the pump itself.  I have punched a hole in the plastic to reinforce where the laces go through. I made small holes through the felt right where I punched the holes in the plastic.

I pinned the two pages together, back to back. Then . . .

a. On the blue page I put the middle of the shoelace over a button.
b. Poked the laces through the two holes so they come through on the wrong side of the blue page.
c. Poked the laces through the wrong side of the town page so they come out at the base of the pumps.
d. The hoses now come out of the pumps and tuck into the pump holders!

The hoses can reach all over the pages when they are not winding around the buttons.  They are pulled back to their proper length at the pump when the button page is played with. 

I am pretty excited about how it worked how. I hope those playing with it will like it also.

Here Come the Vehicles!!! 

They are shown in the very first picture at the top of this post. I made them two different ways. They were fun to make by hand but since I am making 24 of them, I worked out another way.

I used two layers of stiff felt (I don't know any other way to identify it except to call it what it is --- stiff.) for the cars.  I used 2 colors so that the two cars actually became like four cars (depending which way they were going!) Before I found the stiff kind I made the red car (the hand sewn one) with regular felt and sandwiched a piece of heavy pellon between the two pieces.

In the picture it looks like there are only two wheels on each car but there are actually two on each side ---- each set sewn together at the same time using heavy thread or dental floss.

BONUS!!! I had no clue when I made them, but they actually stand up by themselves!

For mass producing the cars: Using chalk, on one piece of the felt, I traced around the cardboard pattern I had made.

I laid the chalked piece of felt on top of the second piece and slowly machine-stitched inside the chalk lines, starting with the straight line across the bottom of the cars. It went amazingly fast.  And,  I like to think the slightly misshapen cars simply add to the "charm."

No, it's not snowing nor is it dandruff.  I found some glittery stiff felt.

I think I covered everything.  I hope I covered enough to give you some ideas.

I will wrap (hey, that's almost a pun) this quiet book project up by posting on how I am going to do the wrap/cover as soon as I decide how I am going to do it. I am working on a three ring design so pages can be added or removed as the play-ee outgrows or "ingrows" them, as the case may be. Or, as each page (which is actually two pages) is finished --- kinda like a page of the month gift!

Keep an eye open for next Friday's post.

I will show you how I made the cover. Plus, just as I feared, I have come up with  more page ideas (thanks to Dollar Tree and their fun stuff) and will include them. And, I finished the wild animal weaving page and will show that.

While some of my quiet book ideas are time-consuming, many are easy and quick enough to make  you could start now and have a book completed by Christmas.

Simple No-Sew Activity Books to . . .

help you out if you don't sew or are in a time crunch for making gifts for those you love. . .

and/or for those who need a little love. 

'Tis the Season for gift-giving but for those in special circumstances or who have special needs there is no special season.  Anytime is the right time if you have a little extra time.

Besides your own children or grandchildren, think of all the places (even for adults) were they would be lovingly welcomed:  Safe Houses and Homeless Shelters, Nursing Homes, Rehabilitation Centers, Hospitals, personal homes of those we may be aware of who are less fortunate than we are. 

These books are simple, quick, inexpensive, adaptable for any age and ability level, and can be used over and over again.  No sewing nor skill required.

Simply 

1. Remove coloring or activity pages from magazines or coloring/activity books or print them from the computer. (There are many free printable pages available for all age and interest levels).

2. Insert the pages into page protectors. You can put the two sheets back-to-back in each protector.

3. Put in a thin 3-ring binder. 

4. Include a small box of dry-erase crayons or markers and a small piece of cloth for erasing.

I buy most of my binders at thrift stores.  They often come with page protectors already in them. Even if you buy them new, there are soft vinyl ones available, in bright colors, at Wal-Mart for $1.00.  When I need new page protectors I use 50 percent off coupons  at craft stores. A inexpensive zippered pencil pouch that has holes to fit the binder rings is great for holding the crayons/markers and cloth.

If you want more information, here are three helpful.

http://www.feltwithlovedesigns.com/2013/08/08/busy-bags-dry-erase-binder-and-markers/

http://www.feelslikehomeblog.com/2010/06/dry-erase-activity-book-for-preschoolers/

http://www.buildsewreap.com/2011/05/quiet-book-for-o.html

Button Up with this Quiet Book Page . . .

I'm posting  this extra middle-of-the-week quiet book page in case you  are making one for a Christmas present.  I made this page early in my marathon project but forgot to include it..

It is another simple and quick page which teaches a very important skill.

The flowers are just something I had on hand from other projects and added for
 extra texture. I probably won't do it on the others.

I searched the 25 cent rack at the thrift store and bought shirts
that had large buttons.  Using pinking shears (so the edges wouldn't ravel) I cut out shirt shapes and sewed the shoulders, arms and sides to the quiet book page.

For our kids quiet books 45 years ago a simple shirt shape cut from felt completed the button page. Well, almost completed it, I did have to sew a button and cut a button hole! They were completely happy with simply buttoning and unbuttoning with nothing else to do on the page.

This time I added something to find when the shirt is unbuttoned. I didn't mean to have it showing beneath the shirt however.

Another pre-made pocket, this one with a pocket flap providing an additional button. 

You can leave the pocket empty---or fill it with a small note pad
and pencil or any number of things. They items could change as the child got older. I found these little magnetic hair activities in a package in the birthday party favors section of Wal-Mart and couldn't resist.  I haven't seen these in ages and have never seen mini-ones. Our kids loved them when they were kids (and when I showed these to a visiting 40+ son recently, he was excited to see them again!)

Before I close I want to refer you to another great quiet book site where all the pages are made from used baby clothing.

It is so cute!!! I may have to make one myself. 

http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2012/12/fast-easy-quiet-book-made-from-baby.html

(If you don't have baby or toddler clothes laying around, they are easy to find at garage sales or thrift shops. In our area, most of the thrift shops sell their baby clothes for 50 cents each)

I am posting again tomorrow. A special post on NO SEWING books that are simple, quick, and inexpensive. For those you love and/or for those that need a little love.