I thought this would be easier for posting all the pictures and ideas out there. Feel free to comment and I will gather all the thoughts and send out a note to everyone. I think we still need more people to make a GREAT book!
I think it’ll be easiest to put the book together with 2-3 rings, like this one.
And to make the pages heavyweight, I think we could just iron-on a stiff backing. I’m guessing it’ll be easiest for everyone to make their page from cotton (instead of all of us trying to find the sameish weighted decorators fabric)
However, that means everyone will need to add an extra $5 or so to help me pay for the backing and other materials to assemble the books.
So each person makes a spread (2 pages that either go together or two different) but because of the rings putting together, the pages must not be attached.
Size? One site suggested 10” by 12”. Leaving an inch border on all sides to put it to the page behind it. We may need to leave a little bit bigger border on one side where I would be attaching the rings. I’m thinking maybe button holes on each page to put the rings through? It may make it time consuming to assemble, but I want it to last through many kiddos! (The one my mom made for my brother and I is still around, though a few things have fallen apart)
A lot of pages may have pieces that you take on and off with velcro. To make it last, be sure to use sew on velcro, not self sticky. A suggestion is to put all Velcro with the soft side on the page, so that pages won’t stick together if the pieces aren't attached.
I think the front and/or back cover should have a big pocket with closure so when the kids take everything off every page, you can just stuff it all in one pocket if you need to clean up in a hurry. ;-)
It would be best for everything to be sewn down. If you're not a sewer, maybe you could get with someone and help each other. One person cuts out everything and one person sews?
A lot of people make many pieces out of felt. You can draw straight on the page or pieces with permanent or fabric markers. The felt needs to be heavy duty. And felt can stretch over time, so some things (like pockets or pieces with button holes) need to be either reinforced or made of a different material. I have seen examples of books and have ideas, so once you decide on what you want to do, let me know if you need help picking materials and whatnot.
Logistics: We will all make our pages and then somehow (mail for some) get them to me. I will then assemble the book (if you'd like me to) and send the book back to you. So for those out of town, you'll be mailing just twice. (Please send me a little money to help me mail it back to you) If you'd rather me send you all the pages, you can put it together yourself. I think it would be nice too then, if you all found your front and back cover material and decorated it however you'd like and mail that too (if you wanted me to put your book together)
And our goal might be a completed book for Christmas. Since I’m thinking this is gonna be a big job to put them all together…
I think maybe 2-3 months for people to get their pages completed, then send them to me and a few more months for them to be put together :-)
One other thought was to make a few extra pages and as a group, we can sell those completed books to help pay for shipping and extra costs of assembling. That way you're only paying for materials to make 10-12 of the same page. Just a thought and idea if you know people that may want a book but may not participate in the making of it.
Ok and here are some ideas that Paula and I had for pages, plus links to more:
1) Shapes matching and/or color matching
2) Hand in something (like an oven mitt or baseball glove)
3) Counting beads
4) Velcro face (like Mr/Mrs Potato head)
5) Dressing a doll out of a closet
6) Ladybug with zipper and her dots inside
7) Page with pockets for pictures
8) Something to tie/braid/weave
9) Pockets with paper and crayons
If theres a page you're super excited about making - claim it now :-) Remember you're really making two pages (a spread) so if you have a one sided page, you will actually need to make 2 one sided pages.
And tell your friends, let's see if we can get more people involved!
www.quietbook.blogspot.com for more ideas
Hey Becky! Just thought I would chime in with what we ended up doing.
ReplyDeleteFor the pages we all bought heavyweight felt from Hobby Lobby (craft aisle). It's a large sheet and we cut them in half. Then we used eyelets (you'll need a punch to snap them in) and binder rings (Office Depot) to connect everything. Worked pretty well, and everyone's pages matched without having to attach an additional backing. Each mom is going to sew the wrong sides of the pages together that way there are no blanks, just flip from activity to activity.
Hope that helps, have fun!