Toddler Romper

I've really been inspired by other bloggers to make more clothes for my son, it's so easy! My latest creation is a one piece romper made from IKEA curtain material. It's perfect! It took me one afternoon to make and I used a 24 mth romper to copy for the pattern. I only have sew on snaps, so decided to go with buttons for closure. I will have to do the dressing and changing though, since my husband really dislikes buttons on baby clothes. :o) The weak point is definitely the button holes, but if you don't look too closely, they will be fine.

final quiet book pages

Here they are! The final pages in my book. I will post later about how I put it all together. The end is near... although I have been getting inspired to make a girly one for my niece... we'll see if that happens :o)

These two pages are only in my son's book. I modeled them after the car playmats I have seen several people make. I found little tiny cars in the model making section of the store and they fit perfect.

The fishing page is one of my favorites! I used magnets inside the water and in the fish as well to create the fishing idea. The pole has another magnet attaches, without any felt covering it, it has a stronger pull to lift the fish off the water (magnet). The weak point of this page is figuring out how to attach the magnet to the pole. I tried drilling a hole and it broke....so hot glue won. I may look for a magnet with a hole in it when I get to a larger craft store.

Classic make a face page! I made two sets of eyes, lips and noses, so the mix and match possibilities are fun!

I've started putting the books togethers, so will post soon about that.

versatile award

Patti from A Crafty Escape passed this award onto me this weekend. Fun to know she has been reading my blog! Thanks so much!!!

Rules for this award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers you have recently discovered and think are great (in no particular order).

4.Contact the bloggers you've picked and let them know about the award.

_____________________________________________________________

about me:

1. I live in Hong Kong, but was born in WI, USA

2. I have an amazing husband who supports my as a stay at home mom for my son (21 mths)

3. I am a Christian and a Christ follower who seeks to honor him in all I do.

4. I just started this blog a few months ago, and before then didn't realize how many other mom/crafters were out there, wow!

5. I like to knit, crochet, sew, scrapbook, make cards, and create in my spare time.

6. I am pregnant with #2 due in Sept.

7. We love to travel and have been all over Asia in the past 8 years.

bloggers who I pass the award to: (confession... I don't have time to do it all, craft, blog, post AND read lots of other blogs... so I don't actually have 15 to pass it on to. I am going to pass to those I do read, and not just go find some random blogs...)

Wendy @ the shabby nest

Tam @ sew dang cute

Jill @ homemade by Jill

Cheryl @ a pretty cool life

Misty @ creative itch

Dana @ MADE

Kaysi @ keeping it simple

Erika @ miss crafty pants

Jenn @ delicious ambiguity

more pages.... almost finished!

I don't even know what the page numbers are for these pages... losing track! But, I do know that I only have two more to go and I will be finished! My son's book will have two "special" pages just for him, which I will show with the final two that all the books have. Then I just have to put them together and take my final pictures! So exciting... On the the descriptions of these pages.

Camping: I think this page is an original design... (please correct me if I am wrong!). I saw other pages with tee pees, but were a little different. I found the great glow-in-the-dark star buttons when I was shopping and had to think of a way to use them on a page. I decided to make a camping page with flaps to find/count the stars. I also made a tent with zipper and a surprise inside!

This page is also an original, made with my train-obsessed son in mind! I did see a page (somewhere) that had a balloon going up and down. I took that basic idea and turned it into a train on a track. The train can go up and down following the ribbon holding it in place. The train is double layer felt with the ribbon running through a casing in the middle.

I saw this page in a quiet book for sale, but have not seen it in a homemade one. So easy! My mom had made something similar for my niece out of a big block of wood, but this is the flat version. The mouse can go in and out in any order, through the loops sewn on the cheese. I put 10 loops on my cheese, but could easily have put more or less. A good lacing activity for kids two little to actually lace a shoe.

The simple, but popular write/color page and mail box to keep them in. The left side is stocked with a crayon and paper, and the mailbox is hollow.

More pages...6,7,8,9

Here are the latest pages... I'm still having fun with this project, which is good, because I still have a ways to go :o) Over half way there though and going strong. I had all the clothing made months ago, so these pages went fast to finish.

Balloons! This page is to facilitate learning how to button, and matching colors. I found really great buttons for the centers, so I was pleased. I have seen this page before with flowers, but because I'm making for a bunch of boys, I used balloons.

The glove page is great, and so easy to make. I've seen both ball gloves and mittens used for this page. I've made some of both. Mittens for the girls and gloves for the boys. Jack loves trying to put his little hand inside.

Getting dressed: This one was so fun to make because of all the clothes. I like that I can make more in the future as well. One good idea (that I saw after I finished) is to make the doll unisex, then have hair at attachments. That way you can make boy and girl clothes. Mine are the sex of the child it's for, but I suppose it could be altered later. The closet side has a zipper on it, which is a surprisingly hard skill to master. Jack wants to pull straight up, which doesn't really work... Will be good for practice.

Here is the boy version:

And girl...

cards, cards, cards...

This week I made a batch of assorted cards for a birthday gift. I like to make several cards at a time, so I can put all the supplies away when I am finished. I was really excited to make these because I just received an order from "Stampin' Up" through a friend of mine who had a stamp party. I may never have to buy another "sayings" sticker! Yeah! Besides the stamps my other favorite card making supplies are:

Card Stock and pre-made cards and envelops

Stickers and transfers that I got on sale at Hobby Lobby ( I love when they are 1/2 off)

Paper stacks from Die Cuts with a View

Beads, eyelets, and other items to make them 3-D

Vellum quotes and pictures

Linked to:

You're So Crafty Monday

Check me out Saturday

We did it Wednesday

Frugal Friday

Just Whipped Something Up Monday

Making the World Cuter Monday

Strut Your Stuff Thursday

Quiet Book: Pages 3-5

Here's my next set of completed pages!

Learn shapes with page 3! Match the correct shape to the outline traced on the page. I used Velcro for the fastener and fabric markers for the outline.

Pages 4 and 5 are the counting pages. The 10 numbers are patches held on with Velcro, so they can be taken off and matched with the correct number of buttons.