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Busy Book using Finger Puppets

Busy-Book-using-Finger-Puppets

Today we are sharing a fun IKEA hack with you, our jungle-themed busy book.  Inspired by the IKEA finger puppets, this little book is a crowd-pleaser among the little folks.

Since these little puppets tend to get lost, each is attached by an elastic cord and tucked into the corresponding page.  Let’s take a look, shall we?Busy-Book-using-Finger-Puppets2

We had some leopard and jungle tapestry upholstery fabric that was the perfect weight for the cover.  The closure holds the book closed with velcro and a fabric-covered button.

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Page 1 features three ABC lily pads, which are really felt pockets where the frog can hide.

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Aha!  There he is.  We also scored some Little Golden Book printed fabric for classic end papers.

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Page 2 has a bird peeking out of a nest on a leafy branch.  Most of the cut outs in this book were made with felt, and the nest is lined with a leftover piece of pillow fringe.page-2bWe tried to leave the elastic long enough to make play easy for little hands.

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Page 3 is a woodsy scene, complete with a zippered stream and trees.  It’s fun to find the different fabric prints to go with each design.

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The moose pops out of the stream and a wooden fish is hidden beneath a tree trunk.

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A palm tree is sewn in place on the left side and closed on the right side with two buttons.

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And a silly monkey is waiting inside the palm tree.

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The lion and elephant get to ride in a vintage blue Land Cruiser.

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They can pop in and out of the windows.  A later version of this book had the wheels button on and off of button hubcaps, and the window openings were stay-stitched to control stretching.  (Sorry, oldest grandkids!)

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Sunshine and clouds float on a background that reminds us of bunches of balloons.

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The toucan comes out of the cloud and flies into the sun.  There is a ring on the end of the elastic that can be pulled out of the cloud.

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Big, blocky gray and brown rocks with decorative grass have an eyelet on either side of the curved opening.  This is the traditional busy book idea where kids learn to tie a bow and thus their own shoes.

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One bear comes out of the top rock where the tie is, and the other bear is in the pocket of the bottom rock.

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Tall trees finish the school theme with 1-2-3 and a pocket in the large center tree.

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And the giraffe lives there where he can eat leaves all over the page.

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The end!  And they all lived happily ever after since they all had busy books to keep them quiet and occupied.

Busy-Book-using-Finger-Puppets-top-viewLooking for more busy book ideas?  You can find the free tutorial for our Let’s Go Camping book pages over on Riley Blake’s Cutting Corners blog, along with a whole bunch of other book page tutorials.  What do you think?  Let us know in the comments!

-Diane & Audrey

 

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3 Comments

  1. What a brilliant busy book – love your ideas is there a pattern because I would like to make one.
    Pauline

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