Sesame Street Quiet Book - The Summary

This is it, the finale! It has been a very busy week full of quiet book action. Here is a summary of all of my pages and information regarding my quiet book and a flash back to related posts from my previous quiet book. Just click on the link to view more pictures. All of my patterns are available for purchase via my Etsy site. (Link Here) I have had such a blast making this and it's even more special because it was made specially for E. I am excited to get started on my next one!!

Super Grover

Big Bird's ABC 

 Cookie Monster

 Elmo

 Count von Count

 Oscar the Grouch

Page Information and Assembly Instructions

Keeping Organized

 I want to thank you for you're support. If anyone makes one I would LOVE to see you're final products! E-mail me @ stephanie[dot]lauren[at]live[dot]com.

Hair Bow Holder

Do you ever get that adrenaline rush after you finish a project? You're giddy, can't stop staring at whatever it is you've made, and can't wait to make something else? Crafting is my addiction and I'm not afraid to admit it.

 E's hair bows have been scattered everywhere for quite some time. I had a ribbon holding some in our closet. Some tule hanging from her wall in her room which was just tacky and then odds and ends in a basket in the dresser. In summation: chaos! So I was perusing Pinterest for some inspiration when I came across this. HELLO ADORABLE!  Only thing is they wanted $29.99 for it. After doing a quick search I came to find that these things range from $25 - $45!!! I knew I could make one myself and I did! SCORE!

 Supplies: Cardboard box, tulle, ribbon, fleece/ batting, lace, cheap satin, hot glue gun. I got my lace, tulle and satin 50% and I had all the other supplies on hand which put this project at a whopping $2.87. Now that's more like it. All you do is cut and glue. Watch your fingers... I burnt myself more times than I care to admit. If you want it to look more finished you could make two and then glue them together. or simply add ribbon to hide the seams. I didn't really care since it was going to be against the wall anyways.

 I had a feeling Peanut would be tugging on those ribbons so instead of just gluing them to the cardboard I punched holes and looped them through. Then to keep it from sliding and ran it through the sewing machine on a wide zig zig.

 Cover with ribbon, add some bows and a few sparkles and TA DA! You're finished and rather proud of yourself for saving a bundle of money!

 I just made all of those mini polka dot bows this week as well, so this dress is looking pretty full. I suppose I'll have to make another one. What color should I do this time. Best part is I can make it whatever color I want! Oh the joys of DIY!!! Happy Crafting.

Quiet Book Week - Keeping Organized

 As any quilter, scrapbooker, or crafter would agree organization is key! I used a binder to keep everything together and sorted, however you could use whatever you wanted. I'd like to show you what worked for me.

 In my front cover I kept all of my receipts. I purchased a lot of things I didn't end up using and I wanted to track the cost of the final product. 

 My first page was my original brain storm of pages. I threw them all on paper and picked the ones I wanted.

 From there I made a map that detailed which page went where, what backed onto what and what color ric rac I would use around each edge. I am just one of those people that needs ideas on paper. I mean I'm starting to plan Ethnie's first birthday and I have all sorts of notes written down!

The next page was an 11x11 template so I could see just how big everything was on the page. I drew a dotted line where the finished seam would be.

 Each page had it's own sheet protector. Which held all of the goodies. 

 Inside each page was 1) Color pictures of the page I wanted. 2) The pattern printed out on full sheets of paper. I did this so if ever a friend wanted a copy then it would be no problem to whip it out and photo copy it! 3) The cut out pattern in a zippie bag. Lets be serious, quiet books have A TON of itty bitty pieces. I put them all in a zippie with name of the page written in sharpie.

 Same pattern one is cut one is in full. 

 Once I got to the cutting stage I would use a tiny piece of rolled up tape to keep the paper from sliding all over the place on the felt. There is in fact a right and a wrong side to felt so watch out for that.  Once the piece was cut I left it with the pattern taped to it until I was ready to sew it all together. I knew I wouldn't be able to remember what was what. For the most part I cut out every page and then I sewed them all so I could be at the same step with everyone. I found I got discouraged when I would make a page in it's entirety and then be back to square one for the next page.

 If I saw something I liked about a page I would print it out and make a note of what I liked so I could incorporate several ideas into one page, plus if you have a memory like mine you may look back at the picture and say... "Why do I have this?" Small notes take a lot of the guess work out of things!

 For my original pages I did the same thing as I did for the patterns I printed of line. I drew it up and kept a master and then I made a copy and cut it up.

 I would also diagram out my original pages before I started to cut anything. I learned this the hard way. After throwing away a lot of supplies I decided to make the big decisions on paper first. Paper is cheaper than fabric! :)

 For the wise men and other people I wrote out instructions of how to sew them together. It was tough let me tell you. I was so worked up about them I had dreams. I wrote it down so I wouldn't have to reinvent the wheel all over again.

 For my fonts this is exactly what I did. I printed them off of the computer, held them up to the window and traced it on with a disappearing marker. A super simple way to get uniform words!

I know I am OCD. I have come to terms with that, so this book may be a little over the top for you. I'm just telling you what worked for me and I hope it might be able to help a few people out! Happy crafting! May the force be with you!!!