Lookie what she made: Close Your Clothes busy book

Lookie at the busy book that Forty-Two Roads made! The theme is “Close Your Clothes” and it’s filled with snippets of actual clothing items for the child to practice buttoning, zipping, buckling, etc. My favorite page is probably the shoes. Did she really applique the tops of a pair of canvas shoes to the page? WOW! See more photos at Forty-Two Roads.

[photo from Forty-Two Roads]

Quiet books or busy books are educational book/toys made with age or development appropriate activities for babies, toddlers and preschool age children. They are interactive and tactile. These books usually involve a cause and effect result as well as visual aids to teach fundamnetal learning skills. These books also develop hand and eye co-orindantion. You can find more patterns for making Quiet or Busy books here Etsy.

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I am just smitten with this felt gingerbread house bag. This would make such a sweet special Christmas accessory for a kid. It’s a free pattern at Benzie Design, designed by Gracie from Hello Gracie Makes. It’s packed with adorable gingerbread house details, like swirls and stripes and scallops adoring the doors and windows.

And while all those details might seem like this would be a complicated pattern, it’s actually not. The bag itself is made from felt, which makes finishes edges unnecessary. (All of those scalloped edges are just cut from felt, no edge finishing required.) The strap is super simple, made from rope with knotted ends. And all those details are made with some basic hand embroidery stitches. Sparkle felt makes it extra cute.

The striped scallop roof is actually the top flap of the bag. A magnetic snap makes it a secure closure. The rope straps are attached through felt loops at the side of the bag.

They rate this project as an intermediate level, and it should take about 6 hours to make start to finish. That’s doable for a Saturday project or a couple of evenings. Full color photos step you through the entire process.

The project includes a shopping list for all of your supplies. They’ve got a shop so you can order all of them from Benzie if you like and get exactly the supplies used in the project. I noticed it includes a pair of scallop shears, which makes cutting all the scalloped edges for the roof and around the door a breeze.

Finished dimensions of the little felt gingerbread bag are approximately 6 ½” wide x 7 ½” tall. That’s the perfect size to hold a small book, a small toy, or a notepad and some cute pens.

Go to Benzie Design to get the tutorial and free pattern for the felt gingerbread house bag.

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