forty-two roads ([info]annam42) wrote in [info]craftgrrl,
@ 2007-10-02 13:59:00
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Close Your Clothes!
I made this activity book for my daughter's second birthday. It's made out of old clothes and some Freecycled fabric, and has pages of clothes-fastener activities with facing pages featuring poems about the fasteners. The pages are each stuffed with two layers of felt I had around the house. I cropped the poems (which I wrote) out the pictures, but I am transcribing them under each page. I'm so happy with how it came out! Good thing too, because it took fo-e-vah to make. Why is everything I do so laborious? I think I must just be a very laborious person. Anyway:

Close Your Clothes book 


Close Your Clothes book - side view

Close Your Clothes book - button page

“Buttons are delightful doodads,”
Says a fishwife who reviews shads.
“They will last through any new fads,”
States a pair of kangaroo lads
To their neighbor, Marilou Gladds.

Adds famed button expert Clay Kee:
“If you snub them when you wakey,
Then you’re making a mistakey,
Coming to eat breakfast nakey!”

Close Your Clothes book - zipper page

There are two sides to a zipper,
Each side full of little teeth –
As you pull the slider upward,
They’re connecting underneath!

These small teeth are not for chewing
(That your own teeth do with ease) –
These teeth keep you warm and toasty,
Even in a frosty breeze!

Close Your Clothes book - snaps page

Let’s unwrap
The word “snap”:
It can be a beatnik clap,
Or a fish biting a scrap,
Or some sudden colder weather that requires a shoulder wrap,
Or a cookie made of ginger that can break in a mishap,
Or an angry little yap,
A quick photo of a chap,
Or a football hiked behind from beneath the center’s lap
Or a task so that is so easy it’s like taking a short nap!

Close Your Clothes book - overalls clasps page

Old MacDonald had a farm (E-I-E-I-O!)
And on his farm he worked quite hard (E-I-E-I-O!)
He herded his sheep, and he milked his cows,
Tended chickens, walked his dog,
Every night went for a jog!

Old MacDonald one fine day (E-I-E-I-O!)
Didn’t buckle his overalls all the way (E-I-E-I-O!)
How his animals laughed when his pants fell down
Cows said MOO-ha! Pigs said OINK-ha!
And his doggie barked a WOOF-WOOF-ha-ha!

Close Your Clothes book - belt page

They sent a new dress to the Duchess of Veldt,
A dress that was loose and too baggy, she felt.
To make it fit better and make her seem svelte,
The shrewd Duchess cinched up her waist with a belt!

Close Your Clothes book - velcro buckles page

A man and his dog were out walking one day
Through a field of dry grass that looked kind of like hay.
Then later he petted his doggie’s soft fur
Where a grass seed was stuck, a seed known as a burr.

He looked at the seed – it was covered in hooks
That held tight to the dog hair’s looped crannies and nooks.
Inspired, he made hook and loop strips to use
As buckles (called Velcro) for everyone’s shoes.

Close Your Clothes book - hairdo page

The silky curls and swirls in Lara’s hair
Are golden, hazel, auburn – scarcely brown –
When loose, they gleam in ribbons in midair,
Twisting themselves into a copper crown
Of knots and tangles that a comb despair;
It’s better in the wind to clip them down. 

--------------------------------------------
Want to read more about us? I blog at forty-two roads.




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[info]injenius
2007-10-02 06:06 pm UTC (link)
Amazing. I love it! :)

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 06:11 pm UTC (link)
thanks so much!

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[info]jessicalois
2007-10-02 06:07 pm UTC (link)
holy gods, that is amazing.

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 06:11 pm UTC (link)
yay thanks!

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[info]michika
2007-10-02 06:07 pm UTC (link)
Thats adorable!

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[info]exousia
2007-10-02 06:12 pm UTC (link)
This is just breath taking. I love childrens picture books and you've done one hell of a job. Congrats!

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[info]meinlimbo
2007-10-02 06:17 pm UTC (link)
What a great idea! You did a great job. It's adorable! That should definitely be passed on down to future children in your family! Even one day your daughter's own child!

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[info]tracktwo
2007-10-02 06:18 pm UTC (link)
that is too cute

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[info]pezessed
2007-10-02 06:20 pm UTC (link)
wow, I love it! The poems made me laugh

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 06:21 pm UTC (link)
yay thanks! it's amazing how long it takes to make up one of those silly poems.

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[info]jabre
2007-10-02 06:20 pm UTC (link)
cutest book ever.

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[info]acidtrix
2007-10-02 06:22 pm UTC (link)
wow. i would have treasured something like that always if i'd gotten it as a kid :)

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[info]gilneas
2007-10-02 06:22 pm UTC (link)
That is adorable, and really impressive - the poems are really fun too!

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[info]humbletulip
2007-10-02 06:27 pm UTC (link)
amazing job!!! I would buy one of these for my daughter!

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[info]sugabeats
2007-10-02 06:42 pm UTC (link)
Wow! I love these kinds of books - you are inspiring!

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[info]scarlett_speaks
2007-10-02 06:48 pm UTC (link)
That is seriously the coolest thing I've ever seen.

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[info]amarafox
2007-10-02 06:49 pm UTC (link)
That is so awesome!

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[info]bitterwinters
2007-10-02 06:52 pm UTC (link)
Aaaah! I used to have a book similar to that when I was a little kid and I loved it. Well done!

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[info]rita0373
2007-10-02 06:56 pm UTC (link)
Holy cr@p that is awesome!

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[info]amerynn
2007-10-02 07:14 pm UTC (link)
Wow. That's fantastic!

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[info]jagnightwalker
2007-10-02 07:30 pm UTC (link)
Did you use actual doll or baby clothes/shoes or did you do those from scratch? I *love* it, so creative!

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 10:43 pm UTC (link)
almost all of them are segments of my daughter's outgrown clothes, but reshaped and changed a lot to fit on the 8.5x11" pages (she's not that small!). the overalls, the belt, and the last page are from scratch entirely.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]snozzcumberpie
2007-10-02 07:32 pm UTC (link)
super cute and super awesome! i love how the girl has blue hair ;D

also the poems are adorable. they remind me a little bit of roald dahl poems i liked as a kid.

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 10:44 pm UTC (link)
thanks! i think they were influenced a lot by the way dr. seuss did his rhymes. we've been reading a lot of seuss recently. :)

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[info]forrent
2007-10-02 07:33 pm UTC (link)
This is amazing in every way! Great job!!

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[info]wash_it_out
2007-10-02 07:39 pm UTC (link)
Wow, I absolutely love it!! Thanks for sharing, and I want to try to do something with this idea now.

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[info]walrusfriend
2007-10-02 07:44 pm UTC (link)
holy crap! this is beautiful! impossible to mass produce, but thats whats best about it!

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[info]annam42
2007-10-02 10:45 pm UTC (link)
that's so funny that you say that - every time my family sees the things i make, they instantly say, "oh, you should make those to sell!" and i'm always like, "um... well, this took me two weeks. want to pay $400 for it?" Lol.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

(no subject) - [info]walrusfriend, 2007-10-03 04:29 am UTC

[info]sbilokonsky
2007-10-02 08:05 pm UTC (link)
i so want that! it is so lovely!!

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[info]jackie_bats
2007-10-02 08:29 pm UTC (link)
That's fatastic! I love it!

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[info]mubeimmik
2007-10-02 08:40 pm UTC (link)
Wow, I want that for -me- to play with! I've added it to my memories, it's awesome!

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