November 10, 2012

• Birthday Stuff

  Last week was my birthday! It was so nice because both I and Andrew had the day off, so we got to spend it together, which was probably the best present of all. We went shopping, watched a movie, had dinner out with a friend, and then went bowling! But, of course, I didn’t get pictures of any of it. All I got was the cookie cake! I’m still looking for a good cookie cake place around here – haven’t found one yet. This place was very friendly and made a good cookie, but they couldn’t do decorating very well. I actually ended up taking off their icing and fixing it myself . I’m a bit picky about my cookie cakes!

  

  Next week is the birthday of a little boy I see every week who was born deaf. I’m teaching his parents how to sign and to read books to him in sign language. Andrew and I got invited to his birthday party and as a gift I made him this Quiet Book. I purchased the pattern from a quilting site online, and when I got it it wasn’t quite what I expected. But I still think it turned out pretty cute and I’m very proud of it.

  I traced the patterns onto fusible webbing, and then cut them out, ironed them onto the fabric, and then cut them out again. Like this,

  

  Here are some examples of the pages, after cutting out everything from the webbing but before fusing them to more felt and making thicker pieces.

  

  

  

  Then I tore off the paper back, ironed the pieces onto felt and cut them out again. Finally, I sewed all the pieces/parts together on each page, then sewed the pages together to make book pages, and connected the book pages with circular book clips. Here is each page.

  
  Page two has little bees and dragonflies. It helps with imaginative play and counting. All the pieces can be stored inside the beehive (the door opens)

  
  Page 3 is a Hen with 3 baby chickens and 3 eggs. Also for imaginitive play and counting – and everything gets stored in the wing, which is a pocket.

  

  Page 4 is Tic Tac Toe! This is too advanced right now for the little boy, but he can grow into it. All the pieces are stored in the pocket on the side.

  

  Page 5 is Build A Snowman! The snowman is attached to the base, and the buttons are attached to the snowman. The eyes, mouth, and cheeks are drawn on. Everything else is its own felt piece and can be put on the snowman in various ways. The pocket for all the pieces is on the side.

  

  Page 6 = A bird house! 4 little birds to play with, and they can all be stored inside the house.

  

  Page 7 = Counting sheep! The sun and sheep are all able to be placed around the picture, and stored in the pocket at the top.

  

  Page 8 is a ladybug.  The spots are all moveable – this helps with counting and beginning addition/subtraction.

  

  Page 9 is a tool page!  I love this one possibly the most.  Each piece can be taken out of the took box and played with.  There is a screwdriver, pliers, a hammer, a saw, and a ruler.

   

  Pages 10 and 11 are little carts behind a tractor.  There is a duck, a rabbit, and a pig that can be taken out, played with, and then put back in any of the carts.

  

  The final page has a sign to show that I made it, and when.  I hope it will be a good memory for him!  He has a lot of doctors appointments coming up and such as his parents are planning to get him a cochlear implant.  I’m hoping this will be a good little book/toy to take along to those appointments as he gets older, as well as any other outings that need a little quiet entertainment.  I also love that it works so much on imaginative play – so many toys today limit the imagination.  And there are many, many signs and skills that can be worked on in this book – his parents won’t get stuck on just the words of a book, but will have to come up with signs and interactions on their own.

  So that’s the gift!  Mom, what do you think?

  In other news – I bought/made a little Thanksgiving decoration for our door!  I love it!

  
  I bought the sign thing at Hobby Lobby, which was blank, then I wrote/drew the words on my own.  I think it is so cute!

  • 7:34 pm
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