Mini Quiet Books

Ever since I used name badges to make mini photo books, I’ve been in love with all their possibilities.

This week I made darling little quiet books for my one year olds, and really love how they turned out. The size is perfect for their little hands, and the plastic protects the pages from chewing and spills. They are easily tucked in to a diaper bag or purse, taking up hardly any room at all.

They’re simple to make…here’s how:

Mini Quiet Books

ITEMS YOU NEED:

  • plastic name badges (12 pack for $2.44 at Walmart)
  • silver book rings (16 pack for around $3 at Staples)
  • scrapbook paper
  • cardstock
  • ribbon
  • double stick tape
  • distress ink
DIRECTIONS:

1. I opened up a new Word document, then inserted all my desired pictures and re-sized them. The name badges were 2.55×3.35, so I tried to get them as close to that as possible, while maintaining the proportions.

2. I printed the document out on a light cardstock. After cutting them out, I matted them on some cardstock that I cut to fit the name badge exactly. This made up for the pictures not being exactly the same size, offering some uniformity, and filling each name badge completely.

3. When all the pictures were matted, I slid them into the name badges.

4. I created my desired text in another Word document (font Gentle Redhead), printed it, cut it out, distressed the edges, matted it on cardstock, then again on to my scrapbook paper. Once I placed it in the top name badge, I slid each of them on to the book ring, and finished it off with the ribbon.





I just love the look of this! For Christmas, I’m making the babies ABC/number books using these name badges, and I’m excited to see how they’ll look. Other ideas?

  • a great place to keep color and fabric swatches! When we were building out house, I kept all my swatches and color samples on book rings, but after being carried around in my purse forever, they were worse for the wear. I wish I had just tucked them inside the name badges–
  • themed mini-scrapbooks (vacation, holiday, etc.)
  • baby’s first year scrapbook
  • baby’s first words book
  • birthday calendar
  • YW values book


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30 Comments

  1. I love this idea so much! I'm planning a trip to Wal-Mart tomorrow to buy some name badge holders! :)

    Thanks so much for sharing!
    Erin

  2. Love it!!! I've had a bunch of church pictures forever with the intention of buying a laminator but never got around to it. This will get my quiet book made!

  3. This is a great idea! I think I will be making a few for my one year old.

  4. This is great! I bought these name tags a while back to use for labeling toy bins. Each toy bin gets a nametag – that way if the bin changes someday I can easily replace the tag with something else! Love those badges!!

  5. I always love your creativity! I featured your Halloween Story Countdown on my blog. Stop by and have a look.

  6. What a great idea!! I immediately thought about making one for my grandson, but then I saw your idea for keeping paint and fabric swatches and knew I would be making one for myself as well. Thanks for sharing!!!

  7. these are so great! and i love how they are slobber-proof — i will be making these this week for sure!

    thanks for the idea :)

  8. what a great idea! i have two little nephews that these would be perfect for! thanks :)

  9. Those are great! You know, that idea is great for special ed teachers too. They can be used for portable picture schedules, communication cards, etc. Great idea!!!!

  10. Great idea! Giving you an award tomorrow at naptimecrafters.blogspot.com

  11. This is a random question not relating to the adorable quiet book…where did you get your foam stamps? I've looked at both Joann's and Michael's and they both have mostly capital letter foam stamps. I love your lower case ones on all of your burlap projects. Please let me know the brand or something so I can find some. :)

  12. Lisa–I bought mine at a scrapbook store a long time ago. They are by Making Memories. I searched online, and I found this link to the Making Memories site: http://www.makingmemories.com/Products/detail/foam-stamps

    It looks like they have a few to choose from. I would also check your local scrapbook store, if you have one–they might carry them.

    Good luck!

  13. I featured your quiet book over at Sassy Sites! Come by and check it out! :)

  14. I have a book I made for my little boy that looks almost the exact same! SG Temple and all :)! I just discovered your site and I have been having a blast reading the whole thing. Thanks for blogging!

    Laurel
    blog.scrapbookexpress.com

  15. This is an AWESOME idea! I may have to do this for my 18-month old. I really loved your idea of carrying fabric swatches/paint chips, too. Love it.

  16. Those are awesome! Great Idea–love your stuff. I made a learn your colors book you can check out here: http://melissasprojects.blogspot.com/2010/07/picture-color-book.html

  17. Thanks for the info on the foam stamps!! Can't wait to do all these cute projects you've posted.

  18. Kierste…these are too cute!! Perfect stocking stuffers :) Thanks for sharing! BTW…I featured them here:

    http://thecreativecrate.blogspot.com/2010/10/mini-quiet-books.html

    Thanks again! :)

  19. What a wonderful idea! I love your blog & all of your awesome ideas! Would you be interested in doing a blogswap with me sometime? I would love to feature on of your projects! Let me know what you think!
    http://craftycierra.blogspot.com/

  20. Love this idea, but I am going to use the badge holders for all the wallet size pictures of not only my children but my friends children…and maybe make one for Grandma so she has all her grandkids pictures in one place…thank you so much for the idea

  21. What a great idea. I'm new to your blog and I love it! Will you tell me how you distressed the edges of this project? I don't think you used a drummel :) Thanks. alysawhitlock@yahoo.com

  22. This is a great idea! I may use it for my daughter's flash cards for school. Having them all connected and in something cute might make practicing more appealing. Thanks!!

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