Handmade books make terrific children’s gifts!
Want to make an heirloom-quality gift for a child you love, but don’t want that gift to be yet another quilt? The struggle is real! I just mailed off a THIRD handmade quilt to my niece who is only four years old, ahem. At this point, I really need to promise myself that I will not sew her another quilt until she is at least seven, because seriously, how many quilts does a small child actually need?
But still. The only way I’m not giving that kid a handmade gift for Christmas is if I lose the function in my arms before then, and even if that happened, I’d learn how to sew with my feet before I acted like a normal aunt and picked her out something from a proper store.
So what do we crafty people who have barred ourselves from gifting yet another quilt do for the next gift-giving holiday? We switch products, that’s what! Instead of giving your favorite child something they can cozy up in, give them something they can read, or something they can write in. These gifts can still be heirloom-quality, and you can even still sew many of them, but they’ll be a fun change of pace all around.
Check out my list, below, of my favorite tutorials for handmade books for children. Your favorite kid’s next favorite gift is on this list!
DIY Board Book
Did you know that you can make a board book entirely from scratch?!? This tutorial walks you through the entire process. You can print hand-drawn images on glossy photo paper for a similar look and level of durability, or consider sealing handmade images with clear packing tape sheets.
Fabric Baby Book
This is the sweetest, softest baby book, and I LOVE that it’s made entirely from scraps! I don’t use a lot of fusible interfacing, but it comes in VERY handy for securing these small fiddly pieces while appliqueing them.
Printed Fabric Book
Don’t worry if you don’t know how to sew–you can still make a fabric baby book! The secret ingredient in this tutorial is printed fabric, which you can achieve via printing onto iron-on transfers or uploading your graphics to a print-on-demand fabric company like Spoonflower.
Quiet Book
Handmade quiet books are a Whole Thing on the internet, so you are not going to suffer from lack of inspiration. Nevertheless, this tutorial gives you a few simple pages to get you started.
Patchwork Color Book
If you’ve love to sew and have the fabric stash to prove it, then this project is meant for you! A color book is a great way to show off all your matching prints, and how cute would it be to use a different quilt block for every page?
Appliqued Colors Book
We crafters love to make books of colors nearly as much as babies love looking at them! This book has a lot of appliqued elements, so if you like to use fusible interfacing, you could make this a nearly no-sew project.
Cricut Maker Quiet Book
If you can get your hands on a Cricut (hint: some public libraries now offer them in their Makerspaces!), you’re about 90% of the way towards this no-sew felt quiet book. The least eco-friendly material in this tutorial is the iron-on used for the detailing, so if you want to get a little craftier, you could substitute hand embroidered embellishments for the iron-on ones.
Made-from-Scratch Tunnel Book
If you’re feeling especially artistic, use this tutorial to make an entire children’s book from scratch! A tunnel book is a nifty concept that’s not as hard to create as it looks, and it’s SUPER fun to read.
Upcycled Cereal Box Notebook
Or cracker box! Or macaroni and cheese box! Even if your favorite kid lives in an ingredients household, there’s probably some novelty food item in a cute package that they’re obsessed with. This project upcycles that cardboard food packaging into the covers of a handmade book, making it the perfect DIY merch. Fill the inside with notebook paper for an older kid, and blank paper or printed (or hand-drawn!) coloring pages for a little kid.
Mini Book with a No-Fuss Binding
The binding for this book is so simple that you can make it for a kid in minutes while out and about. You don’t need staples or sewing supplies–just scissors!
Do YOU have a favorite way to make a book for a favorite kid? Tell us about it in the Comments!
