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Monday, March 10, 2014

"Quiet Book Patterns" Book Review & GIVEAWAY!


*Disclosure: I was given a copy of Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children for the purposes of this review. The opinions that I express are definitely my own. :)

Hey everyone! Today is a very exciting day because it is the day of the Quiet Book Blog's first giveaway!


A little while ago I was contacted by Amy Pincock from the popular craft blog Serving Pink Lemonade. She has recently published a book of quiet book patterns and instructions: Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children.

Not only is this book stinkin' cute, it's full of instructions of how to make a quiet book, has lots of pictures, instructions, and templates for twenty-five different pages, and comes with a CD with printable quiet book templates. (You can also access the templates online once you've purchased the book.)


To try out the book I made two of the different pages: the "sock match" page and the "season tree" page. They were both pages that I've been wanting to make for a long time, but both seemed too complex for me to try making them. This book really simplified the process and made making them easy!

Here's my sock match page:


I really like how it turned out. I personalized it a little bit - did a tan hamper instead of gray, added a heart to the red sock - but for the huge majority of it just followed the template and instructions exactly. I used velcro to attach the socks with their partners, and instead of sewing the velcro on I just hot-glued it. Just as effective, and easier and faster. I was all about easy when making these pages.


And here's my season tree page! I looove this page. Ever since I first saw it on Amy's blog, waaay back when I was gathering ideas for my first quiet book, I've wanted to make one. I just think it's such a fun page. But, like the sock page, I was intimidated by how hard it looked to make. Especially the tree trunk and branches - I pictured sewing that on and it was like, no way.


Again, the book made this page so much easier. It still took a while to make - I had to cut out all the pieces and attach them together - but with the instructions on interfacing and the templates I could just print, it was a lot better than I was expecting.

Here's the pocket for all the extra leaves:


I used velcro again because it's easier for my daughter to use than snaps. I sewed the velcro on to the flowers and autumn leaves before it occurred to me I could just hot glue it on (I made this page before the sock one), so that's what I did for the rest of the leaves. Hot gluing from the start would have saved me a lot of time.

I really like the way it turned out!


I really like Amy's pattern book. It's both really cute and very useful. It would be a great starting point for someone who's never made a quiet book before; it starts on square one and tells you where to begin. It's also great for people who have made quiet books before (as I can testify); it helped me tackle some pages I've been wanting to make but thought would be too difficult. And I think it would be a great gift; I can think of a couple people I know who might be getting one from me in the future. To top it all off, it's super cheap.

To find Amy's quiet book pattern book on Amazon, click here: Quiet Book Patterns: 25 Easy-to-Make Activities for Your Children (CD Included).

So here's the super fun part for you: Amy is giving away a copy of her book to one Quiet Book Blog reader!

The giveaway is open from today, March 10, and will close at midnight (Pacific Standard Time) on Monday, March 17. Be sure to enter every way you can, and you might win this book!

Good luck! :D


58 comments:

  1. The sock matching page has to be my favorite! I haven't seen one like that anywhere else.

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  2. The season tree is my favorite. Its colorful and just an fun way to teach about the season's

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  3. I love the Seasons tree page. I Think I would like to find a way to have snow for the winter too.

    Ally

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  4. I love the ladybug zippy pocket but the Season Tree is my favorite!

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  5. I love the castle play scene! thanks for the giveaway, joc!

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  6. Love the seasons tree page! So good :)

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  7. love the socks page,it is too cute,but tempted to put some "lost socks" in to make it more realistic,my grands will love it

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  8. My son would love the car mat pages. Thanks so much for the giveaway!

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  9. I love the sock matching! We play the real version at home.

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  10. I loved the trees and the different season they can learn

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  11. my favorite is the season tree page!

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  12. I love the train with the finger puppets. Kids in the hospital would love this.

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  13. What a great book! I like the gumball machine and the paint pallet, lots of color! :)

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  14. The track runners are just adorable! I'm also a fan of the castle scene. My daughter loves princesses, so I'm sure it would be one of her absolute favorites. Good golly miss, you have so much talent!

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  15. I'm a huge fan of Serving Pink Lemonade! I think Amy's blog was the one that really got me going on quiet books, I'm so happy she wrote a book! I love the tree page.

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  16. I have a grandson and I want to make the car mat for him! Love all of them, actually!

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  17. My favorite is the castle play scene! Though they are are adorable.

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  18. I love the gumball machine. In fact the whole book looks great.

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  19. The tree you made is really cute.

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  20. The Sock matching one is my favourite! Too cute!

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  21. Hard to choose...all really cute...Love the seasons of the tree:)

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  22. Love the season trees page. Just beautiful

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  23. Love the whole lot and wish I was as talented as you are!

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  24. The trees with seasonal changes!

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  25. It's so hard to choose but I think I like the car mat the most. So cute! My 2 yr old would love that page.

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  26. I love the trees. But these all look like so much fun.

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  27. the season tree...that's my favourite page! i LOVE it!!

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  28. I love the seasons tree and the Pond Scene. I want to make those so bad!

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  29. I really like the trees, it looks like it would be fun to make and to play with!

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  30. my favorite has to be the zipper page. my boys love to open and shut zippers!!

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  31. I love the create a face one.

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  32. I love the create a face and sock match....too cute!

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  33. I like the castle. pond and the road.

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  34. There are several adorable pages but, I think my favorite is the "sock match!" Such a great idea!

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  35. I LOVE the socks! How many moms don't care to match the socks anymore? :)

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  36. I LOVE the season tree on page 22. It's my favorite. The socks are second. :> I NEED some help with my book! (to-be)

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  37. I like the train page. My little guy LOVES trains!

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  38. The ballet shoe is such a cute way to learn how to tie!

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  39. I really love the castle playscene

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  40. I am having trouble accessing the look inside feature from my mobile device but I did manage to see aNoah's ark page and a robot page that I would love to make for my grandson.

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  41. I like the pallet page, and the zipper page best. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway!!

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  42. Just found your blog tonight and love it! The castle scene and the road mat are my two favorites from the book!
    toesintheh2o

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  43. I love love love the season trees!

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  44. I love the car page, the dress up page, and the barn. Oh beck, I love then all. I have a goal to make a quiet book for each of my married kids family. I finished one so far. Having pre-made templates would sure make it easier. Please consider me when you are making decisions.

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  45. Can we order this book? I want to make a quiet book for my grand baby. I need some patterns to get started. Help!

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  46. Since the last comment I made, I have had another grandbaby! Would love this!

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