Quiet Books and Nephews

At the beginning of this summer, my two adorable nephews (one baby and one toddler) moved to Texas for a couple of months and as a going-away present I made them quiet books.  I wanted to give them something useful, because I hate cluttery gifts, and I figured quiet books could be useful in a four-day car trip, as well as in church.
It was probably one of the most time-consuming projects I have ever done, but well worth it! And a lot of fun too.
Here are the end results:

Tyson's book:

 I made the cover out of old jeans I had lying around.

 The truck bed dumps rock out.

 Number pages. I sewed objects underneath the flaps to correspond with the number.

 The pirate pages are some of my favorites. 

 The treasure map helps him learn how to tie bows and knots.

 The treasure chest unlocks and locks. Haven't decided if this is a good thing for him to learn so young, or not. But I think it is pretty cool all the same.

 Car pages. A car can be stored in the little red "garage." What? Those blue and green things? They are supposed to be houses, not cupcakes. And no, I don't blame you for being confused.

 Since both of the boys are so young, I wanted them to have pictures to help them remember their extended families so they would remember people when they moved back. The pictures are removable so Kara and Brad can keep them updated, or stick whatever pictures they want in them. 

I Spy page.

The rocket page probably was the most difficult. As he pulls the rocket up towards the moon, it unzips and a flap opens to reveal flames. BLAST OFF! Good zipper practice. 

This page is just a place for a little notebook or paper and pen/pencil, so he can have something to draw or write with if he so desires. 

As much as I'd love to claim I was the brilliant genius who came up with all of the designs, I only came up with some of them on my own. The truck page, pirate pages and rocket page were all inspired by Stephanie's blog: http://www.imagineourlife.com/. She has some pretty incredible felt artwork and quiet pages! I altered her patterns a bit because all of my backgrounds (and treasure map) are fabric, and not felt. I also wanted all of the pieces attached to the pages, since I didn't want them to be choking hazards or get lost. 

Baby Kyle's Book!

 Again, made the cover from some old jeans.

Left: Inside of cover.

 Right: Sun is puffy, and he can touch the ribbons attached around the sun, which have different textures.

 Left: Buttons move up and down on the string. I made sure they were on really strong thread, and sewed them onto the page really well because I didn't want them to break and become a choking hazard.

Right: A chick "hatches" out of the egg. 

 The chick 

 Left: The whale and fish page is one of my favorites. So cute! They move back and forth on the string. 

Right: A touch and feel page, with fun textiles.

 Left: Peas-in-a-pod page 

Right: clear vinyl sewn on holds little bright buttons and sequins for the baby to move around and look at.

 The peas  : )

 Felt animals attached with Velcro. 

Again, most of the page designs did not come from my own ideas. I got most of the ideas for Kyle's book from the following post: http://thecraftingchicks.com/2011/01/beths-adorable-felt-book-for-baby.html. 

The sun and pea page were entirely mine though. 

I was pleased with the result and hope that my adorable nephews are too. I miss them. Thanks Tyson and Kyle for giving me an excuse to make some quiet books! Maybe I'll make another for my own children someday. 

Maybe.