The weekend was way too short – mostly because Jax seems to be teething and spent most of it miserable. We all are in need of a good night’s sleep at this point.
I am in the planning stage of our next quiet book page. It is a reader request – an airport! I am thinking of having a helicopter, and airplane that lifts off, an airplane you can load with luggage and more. What do you think?
I’m also sewing a mini felt project that will be a part of the blog. I got it half sewn this afternoon after finishing up some of my freelance.
You can find me on Instagram as username iolstephanie. These are my photos from the past week.
Our latest quiet book page is another beach themed one for our upcoming vacation. Jax is thrilled with it and couldn’t wait to try it out. It is a very simple page featuring sandcastle parts you can build into any structure you’d like, then store away in the bucket.
Here is what I used for this page:the pattern, natural-colored background felt, felt (in natural, tan, brown, medium green, lime green, white, aqua, pink, hot pink, violet, orange and yellow), a scrap of white tulle, white mini ric-rac and seaside buttons (from the craft store – left over from my iSpy page.)
Bucket: Sew the two layers of your handle together. Lay the bucket pieces onto the background and decide how you’d like it to be. I wanted mine to be buried in the sand at an angle. Pin the bottom layer of the bucket to the page, and sew it down across the top. Cut out a scrap of natural felt to be the sand the bucket is buried in and pin it to the top layer of the bucket. Sew across the top of the sand piece to attach it to the bucket front. Pin the bucket front and handle to the page, layering the right side of the handle under all bucket layers. Sew the left side of the handle to the bucket front layer. Sew through both bucket layers down the sides, then sew around the sand on the bottom, making a large pocket that goes from the top of the bucket to the bottom of the sand.
Ocean: Cut a wavy aqua piece of felt to fit in the upper left corner of the left page. Sew it down. Cut a strip of white tulle and a length of white mini ric-rac long enough to follow the ocean’s edge. Pin it down to the edge, twisting it randomly along the way. Sew small stitches through both the tulle and the ric-rac – just enough to hold it down but not totally smush it. Add shell and starfish buttons if you’d like.
Sandcastle: Cut small brown rectangle to use as windows, and sew them to the fronts of the castle segments. Decorate all the fronts. For the starfish, I sewed it down then added a star burst of straight stitches in the center. For the shell, I stitched a spiral. For the door, I only sewed it down across the bottom, and I added a little crab button underneath. I added some leftover shell buttons to some pieces. Sew all your flags together. Layer them between the roof pieces when you sew the two sides together. Sew all fronts to backs, then you are done!
Jax wouldn’t let me put this page away after I showed it to him. He wanted to keep playing with it, and started making castles for his little wooden farm animals. I’d say this page was a success!
How do you normally deal with clothes shopping for your little ones? Last fall I started doing one main shopping purchase for Jax’s wardrobe, then I filled in the holes with any clearance or thrift store finds I come across. We did Old Navy for his autumn clothes while they had a $6 sale on long sleeve shirts. This spring I did a Target.com order to get him some 2T shirts and shorts. The shirts were all $4 – $7, the hoodie $12 and the adjustable-waist cargo shorts were $9 each. At the store, we added the orange hat and green clogs.
I like to choose a basic color pallet for him each season to make the bulk of my purchases go together. This spring I chose bright colors (especially orange, yellow and green) and gray and denim for neutrals. Jax is starting to have opinions on his clothes and he loves the really bright ones. He is in love big time with the yellow robot shirt and green shoes. He really likes the sew turtle polo as well – my love of sea turtles is rubbing off on him!
I still need to find him some comfy sandals in gray, and some thrift store jeans to cut off into more shorts (store bought jean shorts are so pricey!) Don’t even get me started on my wardrobe (or lack there of)… I need a money tree before I could hope to fix that situation!
Abacuses in the nursery. I recently bough a large one for $1.75 at the thrift store. I was only going to paint the frame red, but now I might paint the beads after seeing these!
Here’s a little trick for staying clean as popsicle season approaches!
Here’s how you make your own fabric buttons without a kit.
My next quiet book page is all done and waiting for me to get sewing machine time today so I can sew the page together and take pictures. Keep an eye out for a post later today!
My next quiet book page is currently being sewn (sneak peeks here), but I wanted to share some photos of another crafty love of mine: crewel embroidery!
I grew up in a family where the majority of the females did needle arts – some cross stitch, some all forms of needlework. My mom, who I lost just before I turned 5, embroidered as well. There are pieces around my dad’s house I hope to save. Mostly needlepoint and crewel. Crewel was popular in the 70’s and fit well with the styles of the times.
the original
the original
I’m especially fond of Jacobean crewel. So pretty! I have a tote bag sewn by my mom (most likely from a kit) that I just adore! A few years ago I started recreating the design in updated colors. I started by free-hand drawing the design on the fabric with a water-soluble fabric pen. (The frame I am using here is a Q-snap. Love it!) One day I’ll finish it and turn it into a wall piece or pillow.
I’ve learned a lot along the way – teaching myself the stitches from an old crewel embroidery book of my mom’s. Some of my beginning stitches were pretty bad – I’m definitely going to take out a lot of the stem stitch because it came out like a satin stitch. But, I think it is coming along pretty great!
Crewel certainly takes a lot of patience, but the effect is worth it, in my opinion!
We had a rough start to our weekend. Jax is getting his 2 year molars and barely slept Friday night. This turned into not napping Saturday. He was miserable. It was our 11 year wedding anniversary and I spent a good chunk of it soothing Jax. He eventually fell asleep after 5pm, only to wake up 45 minutes later. A trip to our neighbor’s house for s’mores cheered him up, though he wasn’t interested in the food. He loved the attention once he decided he didn’t have to be grumpy.
I haven’t started my next quiet book page, building a sandcastle, because I was working on another project (along with all the toddler drama. I was sewing myself a summer top! I’ll take photos and post all about it. Tomorrow morning I’ll get the quiet book pattern started before work. I’ll be posting sneek peek photos on the Facebook page.
You can find me on Instagram as user iolstephanie. Click here to get my photos via email – no Instagram account needed!
Do you like the sweet ribbon I used on my ice cream parlor quiet book page?
I think it was a perfect addition to the ice cream parlor awning. I have extra, so I am giving away two 37″ lengths of this cute ribbon to two lucky readers. The ribbon is 3/8″ wide, white with lavender and peach. It says “Ice Cream” and has little hearts.
To enter, leave a comment below. Please include an email address so I can contact you if you win. Winners will be chosen Tuesday, March 20th at noon.
I’ve been quiet here, but busy busy busy! This week has been work, time with Jax and sewing the latest addition to Jax’s vacation quiet book: an ice cream parlor! (If you are a fan of the Facebook page, you can see little sneak previews as I sew up new pages.)
This page is a mostly for-fun one, but does involve some matching (putting the ice cream away) and coordination (stacking the scoops on the cones.) Jax likes to count the scoops as he stacks. Our trips to the beach always involve walking to the ice cream parlor, so I knew I had to make this page! Please note that the pieces on this page are small. Scale them larger for a younger child and always supervise their play!
For this page I used:the pattern, 2 9″ x 12″ sky blue background felt sheets, felt (in purple, orange, lime green, pink, hot pink, gray, white, tan, brown, cream, lime green dots and yellow tie dye), ice cream ribbon, clear vinyl scraps, seed beads, sequins and embroidery floss. I got the patterned felt and spool of ribbon from my local craft store. I chose my felt colors based on the ribbon.
Can’t find ice cream ribbon? I’m giving away my extra here!
Background Elements: Sew down the table, ice cream case and and counter. The case is a simple gray rectangle, and the counter is a strip of pink. Pin your awning scallops under strips of matching felt (mine are purple) and sew a strip of ribbon across.
Bowls & Jars: For the purple ice cream bowl and the toppings tray, sew through both layers of felt along the sides and bottom. Along the top, sew only through the bottom layer, making a pocket. For the sprinkles jar, take a small rectangle of clear vinyl and felt in your background color. Sew up three sides, fill it with seed beads, and sew the top closed. I did this on the sewing machine to insure they couldn’t leak out. Sew the pouch down to the page. Sew a strip of gray felt across the top and a small circle as the jar lid handle. Repeat for the sequin “cherry” jar. You could also use bugle beads to make a jar of “jimmies”, but I didn’t have any in my stash.
Ice Cream Containers: Sew the labels to the bucket shapes so that you have one to match each flavor. I decorated two of mine first: dark brown stitched “fudge” swirls and little felt “chocolate chips”. Sew the buckets to the ice cream case along three sides, leaving the tops open. I staggered mine a bit to give them a little more room.
Ice Cream Scoops: Decorate both sides of the scoop if needed (I did the fudge swirls and chocolate chips mentioned above) then sew the two sides together. I decided not to use Velcro, snaps or magnets, but you could. I find that Velcro snags the background felt and wears the quiet book out faster. I wanted my ice cream page to be about free-play, so Jax can decide where they go.
Ice Cream Cones: I’d originally planned to have the cones be loose pieces, but the ice cream wasn’t staying on. I changed my plans and sewed three of them down to the table. This made it easier because I didn’t have to embroider both sides of each cone! I used 4 strands of tan embroidery floss and stitched a curving line to show where the inside of the cone was. Then I made long stitches in one direction down the length of the cone. Switching to perpendicular stitches, I wove the thread over and under to make a basket weave effect.
Toppings: I used the syrup pattern only as a guide for the basic shape and size, but cut the drips out different for each topping. Cut two sides for each one. I made three, but could have gone on forever! For my hot fudge sauce, I cut out two of the whipped cream pieces and decorated them with seed bead sprinkles. I sewed the two sides of the fudge together, then sandwiched that between the two whipped cream pieces, sewing them together as well. For the berry topping, I stitched the syrup together in hot pink. I free-hand cut out two oval shapes for the strawberry and one spiky green piece for the leaves. I pinned the strawberry around the top of the syrup with the green bit sticking out of the top and sewed it together. The caramel syrup with a cherry was done the same way, minus the green. I then sewed a sequin on to each side of the cherry to make it match the cherries in the jar.
I didn’t have to tell Jax what this page was (“Ice creams!”) despite him never having had an ice cream cone (we get bowls of frozen yogurt usually.) I did show him how to stack them on the cones and put them in the bowl and buckets and he took it from there. This is a fun page for both of us!
I’d love to see this made in different colors than we chose. Please share a photo if you decide to make this page! Stay tuned for a post with a chance to win lengths of my extra ice cream ribbon!
The weekend was way too short! I got my next quiet book page – an ice cream parlor – drawn and half sewn. I redid a dozen of my braids. I had brunch with my boys then walked to the playground. I didn’t get enough sleep. Time for another Monday…
YOu can find me on Instagram at username iolstephanie.
We made our weekly trip to the kids’ thrift store today. I was a little nervous because yesterday Jax had 6 tantrums in 20 minutes at the mall (and would have had more if we hadn’t left!) And, I had gone there for him to show him a kids’ concert! Ugh. Thankfully, he was a total angel today.
There were massive piles of books this week and they wanted you to pick 10 for $1. It was a little overwhelming to go through them all, but we chose them together until we got to 10. (And took 10 old, baby level books out of his stash to donate once we got home.)
I found two shirts for the summer – orange stripes and a cute retro ice cream design. I found shoes for the beach in his current size. Last year we bought them larger and they wouldn’t stay on. For $1.75, it’s okay if he grows out of them quickly! My favorite find is a pair of mint condition DC skater sneakers! They are a size up and so cute.
The final item was $1.75 and was Jax’s treat for being so good in the store. Since he has been studying the alphabet so much, he has come to love the word xylophone. He keeps asking to watch the xylophone Curious George episode on Net Flix. He was very excited to get this tiger one. It isn’t the greatest, but has more notes than his old baby one and you can use it as a piano too.
We stuck our heads into the adult thrift store, but nothing caught my eye.
The Itsy Bitsy Spider Climbed up the water spout. Down came the rain And washed the spider out! Out came the sun And dried up all the rain. So, the Itsy Bitsy Spider climbed up the spout again!
An animated gif would gave been too big for this page, so you’ll have to suffer through my singing! It was a bit tricky holding the camera in my right hand and opening the flaps/moving the spider with my left hand, but I managed!
This page was a request on the Facebook page (come join in the fun!), and one I though about a lot before creating. While it would have been more accurate to have the spider crawl up inside the spout, it would have obscured the view of him and made it hard to show the rain “washing him out”.
I decided what was important to me was being able to show the various stage of the rhyme, showing the weather (and the before/after that happens when the weather changes) and letting Jax control the spider.
For this page I used: The pattern, background felt in a 9″ x 9″ sky blue square, green felt cut into fringe for grass, felt (in dark red, red, orange, yellow, yellow-orange, gold, green, sky blue, aqua, black and cream), light blue ric rac, tiny white ric rac (I didn’t have black), thin blue ribbon, thin gray ribbon, green looped ribbon, a button, sequins and embroidery floss.
To start, I pinned down the side of the house and the grass, then pinned and sewed the gutter on top of it. I pinned a piece of green ribbon in place for the flower stem then sewed the grass in place with 4 stitches at the bottom of each stem.
Sew the face onto the sun circle. I did a dashed line of stitches for a smile, three little stitches close together for a nose and sequin cheeks. For the eyes: I made a stitch, but before puling it tight, I made a tiny stitch across the center of it that held it in an arch shape. Pin the sun to the page on top of the rays and sew it down. I left the rays loose.
To decorate the “rainy” stage of the water spout, I sewed down some ric rac and felt raindrops. This goes on the water spout sewn to the page. To make the flap that covers it, sew the second (partial) water spout onto one of the house flap pieces, then sew them together, Sew it down to the page along the left side.
Next I made the rain scene. I sewed faces on the rain clouds the same as for the sun, but with French knots holding the sequins on. I sewed raindrops back-to-back onto the ends of ribbon scraps to make the rain. Pinning the clouds and rain to one side of the sky flap, I sewed everything down. Make sure the rain is not so long that it sticks out when the flap is folded down (the rain clouds will be upside-down when it is closed.)
I sewed two identical ladybugs. They have dashed smiles, French knot cheeks and eyes and black French knots holding the wings on the body. Lay everything for the ladybug rain scene out and sew it down: a dashed line down the middle of the leaf, a few stitches for each petal, a bunch of French knots at the flower’s center, a scrap of ribbon for the umbrella stem and stitches around the top and on the spines of the umbrella (leave the bottom open and stretch the felt a bit for a curved look). I added a button at the top of the umbrella – just because buttons are cute!
Figure out where on the page your sky flap needs to be so it covers the sun completely, then sew down a bit of the flower stem ribbon onto the other piece of the sky flap so that it lines up with the one on the page. Sew the flower and leaf the same as before. I place my ladybug in a slightly different spot, just because.
Sew the two sides of the sky flap together (the rainy side upside-down) and sew it to the page along the top.
For the spider I sewed eyes and a mouth on the front piece then layered ric rac and the end of a ribbon between the two sides of the spider’s body. I cut 4 pieces of ric rac and had them cross in the middle so they stuck out both sides. Sew around the spider’s body.
When sewing your page down to the backing, make sure to catch the other end of the spider’s “web” ribbon at the top so he is attached to the page. Stop and start at all the flap folds so you don’t accidentally sew the flaps closed. I used some cute paisley patterned felt as the back side of my page.
Jax can’t sing Itsy Bitsy Spider just yet (he does a great Twinkle Twinkle!) but he is starting to sing along to some of the words now that we have this page to play with. He especially loves the umbrella, which he calls a “boo-ya”!
Another week has flown by… Have you ever noticed how if you start doing something only once a week at the same time, life seems to speed up?
I am working on sewing and embellishing the Itsy Bitsy Spider quiet book page. I want to add some cute details and really focus on making it so Jax can “control” the weather and follow along with the rhyme.
Since I am at the sewing stage, I am already thinking ahead to the next page so I can start planning it in my head. I have a poll up on the Facebook page so you guys can help me pick what to do next: an ice cream parlor, bonfire with s’mores or sea life finger puppets!
Here is my week in Instagram photos. You can find me there at username iolstephanie.
You can find me on Instagram as username iolstephanie. These are my photos from the past week.
. Love it!) One day I’ll finish it and turn it into a wall piece or pillow.
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. That one is a bit advanced and has paper pages, but I loved the illustrations.
