Lilah's Quiet Book

I finally finished Lilah's Hanukkah gift: a felt quiet book! There are so many cute ideas on various different blogs (some of you ladies are geniuses!), so I adapted my favorites for my skill level (and came up with a few ideas of my own). I drew my own templates freehand and put the book together with a combination of sewing and hot glue (mostly hot glue). Take a look and see what I created.

I didn't spend as much time on the cover as I could have, but she's not meant to spend any time playing with the cover. I just made a basic one so that when she has a sibling one day, they can differentiate between which book belongs to who. 

I forgot to take a picture of how I constructed the cover (and I'm already camped out on the couch, so your loss), but basically the cover is just one piece folded in half. I cut four slits in the spine (two up top and two on the bottom), and slid these rings all the way through so that the hinge shows on the outside, but the rings open on the inside. To insert each page, I just cut very small slits in each page that correspond with the rings.

Jellyfish Sensory Page
This was the first page I planned and I'm really proud at how it turned out! I used a combination of various ribbons (some of them curled in the oven) so she can feel the different tentacles. Since she's only going to be 8 months old when she gets it, I tried to make this page more "sensory" than activity-oriented.

Hair Braiding Page
I sewed each strand of yarn to the silhouette from nape all the way up to scalp, so Lilah can practice any kind of braid or hairdo she wants. Right now, there's just one hair ribbon, but I plan on adding little clips and barrettes when she's a bit older. (They'll attach to that vertical ribbon.)

Counting Beads Page
Every quiet book has one of these! I decided to follow a rainbow pattern when stringing the beads, in hopes that she'll understand the concept of sequential numbers. (At any rate, it looks pretty!)

Find the Chick Page
My dad calls Lilah "Peep" (she was due on Easter Sunday), so naturally I had to include a little chick inside an egg! The chick is stuffed with felt scrap pieces and sewn shut.

Menorah Page
Since this is going to be a Hanukkah gift, I had to include a menorah page! The flames attach with velcro and fit inside the little box. Now she has her own (safe) menorah to "light" during each night of Hanukkah!

Nativity Page

Of course, I couldn't leave out Christmas! I wanted to include an activity I hadn't done anywhere else, and I wanted to keep it religious (Jesus is the reason for the season, after all), so I did a quick stable, manger, and three finger puppets. I sewed the finger puppets shut, but hot glued all the rest. The manger is a little pocket that the Baby Jesus can slip into.

Garden Page
This is probably my favorite page! She can harvest and plant two carrots, two potatoes, and an onion. The vegetables are embroidered to look like their real-life counterparts and stuffed with felt scraps to make them more three-dimensional.
 

 Tree Page
Apples and leaves velcro onto the tree and store behind the grass when not in use. Perhaps one day in the future, I'll create autumn leaves or other fruits so she can switch things up a bit.

Zipper Page
Toddlers love to fiddle, so of course I created a zipper page! This page is actually sewn onto the next one, so the zippers open up into a real pouch that she can use to store little toys or other felt pieces for the book (like the autumn leaves, maybe). I sewed the zippers on first, then cut a slit into the felt afterward. 

Sandwich Building Page
Okay, this is my other favorite page. I actually came up with this idea on my own, then started seeing a bunch of similar ones on Pinterest. I glued one piece of bread down on the bottom, then mayo, lunchmeat, cheese, tomato, lettuce, and a final slice of bread fold over to complete the sandwich. Everything is attached with yarn so nothing gets lost.
 

Ribbon Pulling Page
I wanted to make a ribbon pulling page that was actually cute, not just a bunch of ribbons sticking out all over. So I turned them into caterpillar legs and antennae!
 

"Paper" Doll Page
This is the one page I can see providing the most entertainment and distraction as Lilah gets older. I started with two gender neutral "gingerbread" people (I embroidered the faces on, then hot glued them to the page).

Then the back inside cover has a pocket that seals simply with one velcro coin.

Open it up, and find all the clothes, hair, and accessories!

I made both girl and boy options. These are my favorites!

I had so much fun coming up with ideas and I know that my options will grow as she gets older. I made the book so that the pages are interchangeable, so I'll be able to create new pages as her interests grow and take out the ones she outgrows.

I hope this inspires you to create a quiet book for your own little ones!