Rainbow Busy Board

I made this board as a little experiment to see if I could keep Rhys occupied at an upcoming doctor's appointment.  I wanted to make something with several activities, but didn't want to spend a week sewing it together.  I used my sewing machine for this entire project (as opposed to hand sewing), and it only took a little under 2 hours to make!  Most of that time was spent sewing the buttons on and finding/arranging all of the pieces I wanted to use.  Rhys was more interested in playing with it at home, and couldn't get enough of the zippers!  He played with it for a few minutes at the doctor's office, but is much more interested in exploring his surroundings when he's in a new place.  I'm still really happy with how this turned out, and plan to make more with different activities in the future.

Both sides are made from a piece of 8x8 inch felt with a layer of firm interfacing sewn on the back.  The blue side has three zippers sewn down and a button lacing activity.  The zippers and buttons are all sewn through the felt and the interfacing to keep them secure.  The top three buttons have a string tied around them, and the string can be laced around the buttons of coordinating color.

The green side has a vinyl window full of multicolored sequins and two overlapping strings of beads. The window was made by sewing a square of yellow felt and a square of clear vinyl to the green felt (and the interfacing), on three sides.  I left one side open and filled the window with sequins and 5 silver trinkets, then sewed that last side closed.  After the window was finished, I sewed four strips of blue felt on the sides for extra security and to give the window a little border.  Lastly, I hand sewed a button to each corner.

I installed four small eyelets through the green felt and the interfacing and threaded a string through each of the two holes on the right.  I tied each string off with a double knot to secure it behind the eyelet, then strung them both with 12 beads.  I threaded the other sides of the strings through the remaining two eyelets on the left, and tied the strings off with a double knot on that side as well.

Before sewing the pages together, I cut 12 squares out of felt in rainbow colors, and two strips out of green felt.  I sewed the two green strips together to make a handle and positioned the handle between the tops of both pieces of felt, then sewed the pieces together along the top side.  I placed six felt squares on each side in between the pages so that the were sticking out on both sides of the board.  Then, I sewed around all three remaining sides to close up the board.