I am no creative genius, but since having kids, I have found time and again that making something myself was better than buying.  Generally, I make it myself if it is 1) cheaper, 2) better quality, or 3) better tailored to what I want or need.

Shortly before my first son was born, my grandmother gave me one of her old sewing machines, and at once I put my decidedly mediocre skills to work making nursery decor — crib sheets, a dust ruffle, and a valance. I couldn’t find anything I liked in the store, so I picked some fabric and just went for it. (Pro tip: I started by making a lot of things on striped fabric, which really helps the inexpert seamstress keep a straight line.)

I can’t overstate how inexperienced I was at sewing. Just to illustrate: I had to watch a couple of YouTube videos to figure out how to thread my own machine.

Then I made a carseat cover, i.e. a rectangle with loops that button onto the carseat handle. More YouTube videos: “How to sew a buttonhole.”

Those early projects went reasonably well, and my DIYing drive grew from there. Whenever I wanted something and couldn’t quite find what I wanted, I tried to make it. A quiet book. A nap mat. Play food. Extra risers for our train set. Other decor items. Simple toys.

If you are new to DIY, try not to be intimidated out of the game by what you see on Pinterest.  Remember that everybody had to start somewhere; nobody was born with hot melt glue gun in hand.  (Yikes.)  Here are some basic principles to get you started, illustrated through my Quiet Book project.

A quiet book — or “busy book” if you prefer — is a book designed to help young children practice fine motor skills.  Pages vary greatly, but most include small parts to manipulate, such as buttons, zippers, snaps, or pockets, as well as a variety of textures for little hands to explore.  Commercially mass-produced quiet books are a bit uninspired, but to purchase a high-quality handmade option on Etsy can get pretty $$$. Instead, I opted to make one myself.

    • Start small.  With any DIY project, biting off more than you can chew will overwhelm you and stall your project.  Find one simple idea that you like, and execute it.  In this case, I started with a page, not a book. Quiet book busy book button flower page I liked this flower idea — blossoms that button onto their stems.  I am semi-respectable at crochet, so I began where I was comfortable and made up a pattern.  I could just as easily have cut them out of felt.
  • Getting out of your comfort zone is great, but start by taking one small step out of your comfort zone.
    • IMG_2806Use What You Have.  Do not run out to the craft store and spend $300 on supplies for a project that may or may not work.  Scrounge.
  • This alligator’s mouth unzips to reveal a little fish attached with a ribbon.  The zipper came from the packaging on a set of bed sheets.  I made up the crochet pattern for his head, and the background material was leftover from the curtains in our nursery.
  • Basements and craft rooms all over America are stuffed full with supplies people have bought for projects they’ve never finished.  Be wise.  Start by looking at what you already have.
      • Don’t Overthink It.
        IMG_2947
        The simpler, the better. Ten strands of yarn with beads on them — counting up to ten.  Easy.  This page became a jellyfish simply because I had a scrap of fabric that looked sort of jellyfishy to me.  It’s all held to the background with hot melt glue.
      • There’s No Rush.  I started working on my kids’ quiet book when my oldest was about six months old.  I managed to add a new page two or three times a year for a few years.  My kids have been happy to play with this, regardless of how many (or how few) pages it had at any given time.  Maybe we’re done now.  Maybe I’ll add more later.  The beauty is in the flexibility.
  • When you make something yourself, you also make your timeline.  Give yourself the freedom to come back and add to a project later, rather than trying to cover the whole scope of all your brilliant ideas at once.
      • Be Persistent.  We’ve all seen the scores of “Pinterest fail” memes.  Sometimes a project doesn’t work out.  O well.  Don’t let that deter you from trying again.  Keep in mind that most of us are our own harshest critic, and if at first you don’t succeed, watch some more YouTube videos and try again.

    Good luck!

    Other page ideas from our book:

    Quiet book bison texture page
    A texture page with a bison to pet. (Note: Don’t pet real bison.)
    quiet book piggy bank page
    A piggy bank page. Once our kids stopped eating everything, we gave them real coins to put through the slot into a zippered pocket on the other side.
    Rocket to the moon quiet book page
    Rocket page, designed purely because I had little star-shaped buttons I wanted to use. The ship slides up and down a ribbon to the moon.
    Marble maze quiet book page
    Two pieces of felt sewn together to make a maze. There is a marble between them that the kids can push along to move it through the maze.


    How and Why to DIY
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