Audrey's Christmas Quiet Book

Merry Christmas! Sorry the blog's been quiet for the last couple last couple months; my excuse is that I was nine months pregnant, and then for the last six weeks I've been adjusting to having a newborn in addition to my toddler! It's been great fun, though, and we're very happy to have our new little daughter with us.

Today I get to share a Christmas quiet book with you. Made by Audrey from The Sensible Home, this book has lots of holiday-themed activities. There's a Christmas tree with lots of textures, a present to tie the bow on, stockings with fun little things hidden underneath, a dress-up snowman, a hot-chocolate counting game, a cookie color-matching game, Santa's boot to lace, a coat to button, a pie to weave, a mitten to wear, and a reindeer to help fly. It looks super fun, and would be such a great book to have! Take a look!

Interview

What's your name? Describe yourself in one sentence. 
Audrey -- I'm a Southern girl at heart turned Northern transplant, balancing work, motherhood and homemaking with a smile (and healthy sense of humor).

Who did you make this quiet book for? How old are they? 
I made this quiet book for my two-year-old son, Owen.

What's your level of sewing experience? 
I'm a total amateur. I have had a sewing machine for almost six years but was too intimidated to turn it on until about six months ago. My late grandmother was an accomplished seamstress, and I took one lesson from her when I was in middle school -- and hated it. Now, I wish I had paid more attention! I'm an experienced cross-stitcher, so that helps, but otherwise I'm teaching myself with books, YouTube videos and the help of a local sewing shop.

How long did it take you?
This book took me about a month to finish, working only 1-2 hours a day (and not every day). I started it just after my son's second birthday on Nov. 10, and didn't do anything with it during the week of Thanksgiving, and only worked on it an hour or two at night or during his nap time on the weekends (another 1-2 hours). All told, I'd say about 50-55 hours.

Did you use any templates? Where can they be found?
I did! I linked to all of them in my blog post here: The Sensible Home: Christmas Quiet Book Look-Through. If there's not a link, I just used free clipart or freehanded them.

How did you bind your quiet book? 
I followed the tutorial offered by Serving Pink Lemonade here: Serving Pink Lemonade: Quiet Book Cover, with two exceptions: I used felt, not flannel, as the cover fabric, and I went with metal three-ring loose-leaf binder rings instead of ribbon for the binding. I also didn't add a cover page as she did.

What material are the pages made out of? 
Like Serving Pink Lemonade, I went with Pellon for the pages, with stiff colored felt added to some of them to change up the all-white backgrounds.

What other materials did you use? 
Mostly felt, but also some cotton fabric, laminated card stock, ribbon, faux leather, shoelaces, buttons, and embellishments like mini pom-pons and pipe cleaners.

How much did all the supplies cost you? 
Good question. A lot of what I used was already in my craft stash (like the embellishments, the fabric and about half of the felt). I'd say I spent less than $50 -- the most expensive purchase was the Pellon, and I also bought a bulk roll of fusible webbing to help affix pieces to the page. The remaining pieces, like the felt and thread to sew it all together, were just a few dollars.

What's your favorite page? Why?
I have two -- there's a two-page spread that I'm pretty proud of, with one page featuring a hot-chocolate counting game and the opposite page featuring a color-matching cookie game. Both pages were ideas I came up with completely on my own, and they turned out really well, I think. I'm also a big fan of the piecrust-weaving page -- getting the scallop cuts correct was a bit tedious, and I think the final version turned out super cute and polished.

To read more about how Aubrey made the quiet book, to find the templates she used, and to learn more about each page, check out the Christmas quiet book post on her blog: The Sensible Home: Christmas Quiet Book Look-Through. Thank you so much for sharing your cheery and fun quiet book with us, Audrey!

Have you made a quiet book that you'd like to share? Click here for instructions on how to submit your own quiet book!