Make a Kids Felt Book

Keep the kids occupied on long road trips or flights with a travel book that combines a little felt, some buttons, ribbons, and snaps, and a lot of imagination. The book can be customized in so many different ways….the sky is the limit! Have fun getting creative!

Supplies:
3 Ring binder
Zipper binder pouch
Felt rectangles– 2 per page
5/8” grommets – 3 per page
Small scissors
Grommet setting tool
Self-healing mat
Decorative scissors
Fabri-Tac Glue
Scissors
1 piece of 3 hole punched paper
Marker

Decorating pages supplies:
Buttons
Lacing
Ribbon
Felt scraps
Rhinestones
Beads
Charms
Permanent markers
Snaps
Snap setter
Additional grommets
Fabri-Tac glue

Steps:

1. Use fabric tack to glue two rectangles of felt together. Allow the page to dry.

2. Lay a sheet of 3-hole punched paper over the felt squares, use a marker to mark the position of for the holes. Use a small pair of scissors to make a very small snip where each grommet will be attached.

3. Push the male piece of the grommet through the hole. Flip the felt page over insert the female piece of the grommet over the male. Attach the grommets using the grommet setter and a hammer. Repeat for the other two grommeted holes on the page.

4. Cut around the edges of the page with decorative scissors.

5. Repeat steps 1-4 for each page you wish to make.

6. To make a “Buttons & Snaps” page: Cut two small identical panels of felt and attach two grommets to each panel to make a “lacing section”. Place in the desired location on the page.

7. Cut another shape from felt for the “snap” section. Using a purchased snap kit, attach the male piece of the snap to the top of the shape using a snap setter. Attach the female piece of the snap at the appropriate position on the page by cutting a small hole, pushing the piece through to the front and using the snap setter. Snap the felt piece to the page.

8. Cut another shape from felt for the “button” section. Slice a small hole into the felt shape to make the button hole. Use a pen to mark where the button should be stitched. Stitch the button using a needle and thread. Button the felt piece to the page.

9. Use Fabri-Tac Glue to attach the outside edges of the grommeted lacing panels, the bottom of the snap panel, and one side of the button panel to the page. Allow the glue to dry.

10. When the page is dry, add decorative stitching such as whip-stitching where the panels attach to the page. Lace the grommets of the lacing section with narrow ribbon.

Other Ideas for decorating pages:

Seek and Find Page: This is great for road trips! Make cut outs of road sings, buildings, cars, animals, trucks, etc. Use craft glue to attach them to the page. Have the kids look for them while on long trips.

Alphabet game: Cut out each letter of the alphabet and attach to a page. Look for the letters on buildings and signs as you head down the road

Tick Tack Toe: Cut strips of felt and glue them in the crisscross pattern. Ct X’s and 0’s for the game. The game pieces can be stored in the zipper pouch.

Lacing: Cut a shoe out of felt and attach mini grommets to the shoe, add a shoelace. This great way for kids to practicing tying.

Getting Dressed: Cut out a small felt person and attach to the page. Cut out all sorts of clothing, shoes, hats and accessories. (store the clothes in the zipper pouch) Kids will be entertained four hours getting them person dressed.

Counting: Cut out numbers and/or mathematical symbols (age appropriate) for counting and adding.