(tutorial) dry erase quiet book

Back about a month ago, I had the opportunity to guest blog over at one of my fav's I am Momma Hear me Roar.  This was my fun little project that I did over there, and just in case any of you missed it, here it is...it has been sooo fabulous to have in church!

I'm always on the hunt for QuIeT things for my kids to do in church, that are more...church-y.  

It's not my favorite to bring monster trucks to church, but most of the time, that and marshmallows are what will keep my 4 year old quiet (ish).  So, one of my cute sisters came up with this...and I put together my own little version of the

Dry Erase Quiet Book

for my kids to use in church.

{This is the project I chose to make my kids for Easter this year!}

Have you seen these crayons?  I got these at Wal-mart.  They are amazing!  We've gotten a few packs for friends for birthday presents, coupled with a mini white board, and I've heard that they've been a big hit!  

Here's the stash you'll need to make you're own church-y dry erase quiet books (but you for sure could print out some letter tracing, coloring pages, etc from workbooks, or their favorite coloring books! 

-Skinny 3-ring binder

-Package of clear sheet protectors (make sure they are the really clear ones!)

-A few back issues of the friend (an LDS magazine) OR activities or workbook pages of your choice

-Box of Dry Erase Crayons

 I started off by making a cute cover for my quiet book...(mostly just to please me)  I took some old paper and coordinating embellishments and stickers, and with the help of my Cricut to cut out their names, went from this:

 to this:

After I finished the covers, I went to work skimming through my older copies of the Friend Magazine to find all the mazes, coloring pages, connect the dots and hidden picture pages.  I wasn't able to tear out a ton from our magazines because they have been WELL-loved, but I was able to find and just print the pages I wanted from this website, which actually was better because the computer paper is more solid than a magazine thickness of paper, and it fit exactly in the page protectors, (rather than having a torn-out page which could shift a little.)  

I also google-image-searched for things like CTR, Missionary, Temple, Thomas S. Monson Coloring Page, etc.  There are so many fun things you could put in these books!  Once you've gathered a nice stash of church-friendly activities, stuff them in the sheet protectors!

For the torn-out pages, I found that gluing them onto a solid piece of cardstock, and then putting it in the sheet protector works better.  Who wants a picture that shifts around when you're coloring it?!  

I also thought it would be fun for my kids to be able to color a picture of themselves...and then to make it church-y of course, we just plugged in the text: 'I am a Child of God'.  I recruited my friend Kim from Tickled Pink Studios to figure out how to turn a picture into a coloring page using photoshop...She's a whiz with that program!

Here's a little tut from her on how to personalize your book:
1-Open your picture in photoshop
         Right away-- I always "Save As"-a different file name (just so you don't accidentally save over the original and lose the copy of the real pic)

2-Crop as 8 1/2 x 11.. Resolution doesn't matter too much..

3-reset your colors to default black and white
4-select "Filter" from menu bar
     --select "Filter Gallery"
     --select the "Sketch" Section
     --then select "Photocopy"
            --I did mine at Detail: 16 and Darkness: 18 (but you can adjust to whatever you think looks best)
     --Select "OK"

5-You can be finished or you can edit a little more and get rid of lines that you don't like by using your brush tool and painting over any spots you don't want in the default white color (just to save ink alone I like to do this step ;)

And Voila! You have a fun coloring page!
{thanks so much, Kim!}

The box of dry erase crayons comes with a little mitt that erases their coloring perfectly!
Half the fun is just erasing!
So, basically, this little quiet book is a re-color-able version of The Friend Magazine, omitting the fun stories that my kids can't read themselves yet, and adding a few month's extra activities and a few more pictures to color.  And...they can do this one all by themselves!
Both of my kids LOVED it during church!

  

 I can't wait to see what you guys do to make it your own!