Lyla's Quiet Book

I wanted to share this present I made for Lyla for Christmas because well, it took a lot of work, and I'm happy with the way it turned out! Plus, I'm sure some mamas out there on facebook have tons of time on their hands and are just looking for a new project ;)

I wanted to make a Quiet book for Lyla after seeing my cousin's. His grandma (great-grandma?) made it for him when he was a baby, and I thought, "How cool would it be to make one for Lyla?" It was full of fun baby/toddler activities like braiding, zipping, making felt faces, etc. Lyla loved it!

The problem... I don't know how to sew (I know, shame on me). I figured I could learn, no big deal. As I started browsing for ideas though, I realized that these books might be a little complex and time consuming for someone who doesn't even know how to sew. So I found some ideas for velcro quiet books that seemed more up my alley (there are also some for magnetic books and dry erase books, also very cool!).

Pinterest has a lot of ideas (I browsed Here), and for some personalization, I started thinking about Lyla's favorite things. She loves letters and spelling her name. She loves shapes and matching. She loves counting. And more than anything, she loves Dora.

What I did:
I cut card stock paper in half for the pages and decorated the pages with scrapbook paper.
I drew and cut out the pieces.. probably the most time consuming part.
I laminated everything to protect it from toddler hands and time. Maybe someday Miss Kallan can play, and I also hope to add pages as Lyla gets older. Erik helped cut out all the laminated pieces!
I hole-punched the pages and put the book together with the binder rings.
Finally, it was time to cut and attach the velcro!

Here's the inside of the book:

Name Page

Map Page.. "First we go to the castle, then Benny's Barn, and that's how we get to the Animal Rescue Center!"

Counting page.. mmm apples!

Match The Shapes! Lyla was quick to point out that my circle is in fact NOT a circle, but an oval. 

Pattern Page

And some close-ups

I'm probably most proud of my drawing of Map!

Now I'm sure you are all wondering.. "Well, how did she like it?" She loves it and plays for it as long as her 2-year-old attention span will allow! I'm a happy mommy!

Paper and Glue Project

Today I decided that Lyla and I would do a little craft. I am not a 'crafty' person, so I wanted/needed to do something really simple with stuff from around the house. I found some construction paper and cut up a bunch of shapes and grabbed a glue stick.. and voila! A craft! 

Some shapes!

 Thinking hard.. where should it go?

Add the glue!

And.. the finished product!

Lyla had a lot of fun with this! I helped her out a bit at first, but it quickly became something she can do on her own. This was just one of three shape pictures she made... and in this one, she started sorting the shapes... triangles together, some squares/rectangles together, circles/ovals together.  Fun AND educational! Woo! Do I get a gold star?!

When Erik came home, she showed him her pictures.... and then tore off all the shapes! I actually rescued this last picture and snapped a picture of it on my phone. Whew. I'm a pack rat... everything is a keepsake that must be saved! FOREVER! :) Speaking of though, my friend Brittany told me about this iPhone app called "Artkive" that lets you take pictures of all your kids' artwork and store them... and soon you'll be able to turn the pictures into a coffee table book!  I thought this would help with my patrackiness, but I still can't get rid of the originals. Anyway the app was free for a limited time, might still be! 

I am going to scour pinterest for more easy craft ideas. I am off bed rest but still taking it easy until Sunday so I needed something today to occupy some of Lyla's time. Crafts will be handy with baby #2 around, too! Which could be any day! Although it could be in a lot of days so I'm trying not to get too impatient. We've still got some preparing to do still... but we can't wait to meet her!