Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Finished

I took pictures to send with the box to show what the pockets did, but for my own purposes I also wanted to remember what it looked like not just as individual pieces that I documented as I made them but what the finished product looked like too. This will help if I ever decide I want to go back and do this again. It also sometimes is just nice to be able to look back at completed projects and think wow I did that?

This was especially true for the roof pocket section which doesn't exsist in the pattern but I wanted so the puppets had a home and thuse would be less likely to be lost in the first day of play.

Rooster Finger Puppet

Finally we come to the last finger puppet from Leisure Art's Busy Baby Boxesfarm set.

The only real challenge I had with this project is the wings called for variegated yarn and what I found is most of what I have is actually striped not variegated which made getting consistant coloring challenging.

Cow Finger Puppet

The cow was slightly more complicated to finish in that he required multiple weights of yarn to finish his face. The previous puppets required just a little scap of cotton sport yarn for the details but I found as I tried to make the spot for the cow's face with acrylic worsted yarn it covered his whole face. So I pulled out the cotton sport yarn and made his face and muzzle with cotton sport and DK yarn. By using multiple weights I got the face to fit and all was well in the world.

Horse Finger Puppet

When I reached the last 3 finger puppets of Leisure Arts Busy Baby BoxesI knew I was in the home stretch of this project. I was thrilled because I could see the finish line of what was beginning to feel like an endless project.

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The pattern for all the finger puppets uses the same basic body pattern so I decided I would make all 3 bodies before going to bed one night. That would leave me with just the details of the puppets to finish. Of course then I got distracted adding the pocket to the roof and fixing the fence but that's a whole other story

Other than the black sport cotton yarn scraps I used for the face details this is all made with acrylic worsted weight yarn and a g hook.

Sheep Finger Puppet

I love the design of the puppets from Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesbecause they are very different from the traditional in the round style of puppet I normally make. It allows me just a little more access when working on the faces or adding details to the back side of a puppet.

If you've been following this project you might notice some changes to this side of the barn. First I added a pocket to the roof of the house which I'd mentioned I might do to hold the puppets. I contimplated putting a top on it but the puppets stayed in this pocket despite me shaking the block so I though the open pocket would be easier for little hands to get to the puppets without adult help. So I left it open.

The second change you might notice is the fence is a little more saggy than before. I mentioned in the previous post I found the spaces were a bit tight for the puppets to fit in and that kept bothering me. When I was working on the pocket I decided I had to make this project as kid friendly as I could and I made the choice to make the fence wider so the puppets could be placed easily in and out. It looks less like a fence but it is more focused on actual play than looks with this addition.

I took a bunch of pictures when I finally finished this project to send with the cube to demonstrate what all the pockets could do and I'm sure the child will discover even more.

Pig Finger Puppet

Having finished the farm box from Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesit is time to make the rest of the finger puppets. I've already completed the chicken, but I put off doing the rest until I finished the box.

Most of the finger puppets I've made have been crocheted in the round. These are made in 2 pieces and sewn together. I found this has made sewing the faces and other details on them slightly easier. Even making two sides they work up rather quickly.

I like the play design of this box which allows children to have the puppets interact with the box or they can tell their own stories with the puppets. As I mentioned in a previous post about the bottom section of the box this has led me to consider adding something to the box for storage of the puppets. I've decided to wait until I complete all the puppets to determine how much storage I need to decide what to add.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Bottom

Now we come to the last decorated portion of the Leisure Arts Busy Baby BoxesFarm cube. As I've begun working on the finger puppets I am considering adding a pocket to the roof to hold the finger puppets. Not sure how that will work. Another option would be to attach a bag. My one concern is that while the pockets are a fun place for a child to put the puppets while playing, they aren't a storage option. Lost puppets make for a dull toy.

This section is the pig pen and the dark green and lime green both are open for puppets to hang out. The brown circle area is the pig pen. I did end up altering the pattern for the green areas as I couldn't get mine to work out as detailed so I designed ones that worked for me. While I am really glad I put the extra support of plastic canvas in for the walls I will say putting the details in like the lazy daisy stich for the sunflower were not a good deal of fun working through the plastic canvas once the block was put together. It is something to consider if you decide to make you make this project.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Side 4

This is the final barn side of Leisure Art's Busy Baby Boxes. The last side is actually the bottom of the barn.

Until I started making the various sides I hadn't realized how many nesting places the birds have in this toy. This side has a basket for the chicks. I ended up making a bigger basket because the chicks are attached by what I'd call saftey lines to the basket and can hang out over the edge and then be stored back inside. The original basket I made was too small to fit all the yarn and the chicks. I decided the best choice was to make the toy child friendly and thus a bigger basket was made that makes it much easier to store the chicks and their safety lines in the basket.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Side 3

I'm continuing to work on finishing the Farm Activity Cube found in Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxesthat I've been writing about for several weeks now.

This side reminds me of several barn projects I've made previously with the hayloft and the hay hanging out of it. I do love the pockets for the various finger puppets. Those are still on my to make list once the sides are made. The remaining sides are the most complicated. I didn't choose to leave it that way. For once I decided to follow the directions. I've been completing the sides in the order suggested by the designer.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Side 2

For some foolish reason when I looked at the pictures I thought this side of the farm Busy Baby Boxeswas going to be easy. Foolish me. Honestly the tree was pretty straight forward. The windows not so bad, although a little challenging to sew on with the plastic canvas behind the barn for some reason. What my brain would not wrap its head around was the joining the fence posts. I could have just sewed them together but being in a stubborn mood I was determined to follow the directions and figure out how to crochet them together. Well they are together. If I do this again, I'd likely just sew them. It would have been easier in the long run.

Another change I'd make is I would sew down the middle of the posts when attaching them as to leave more room for the puppets to fit in the fence openings. I have this need to make sure things don't fall off so I tend to try to attach things tightly but in this case I think it is over tight and would do better looser.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Side 1

I finally got around to crocheting and sewing on the pieces for the first side of Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxes Farm.

You may recognize the chicken finger puppet. I made that back in August as a quick project in between other projects. I will likely not get to the rest of the finger puppets prior to finishing the farm. However, the cow will go inside the barn doors in the yellow pocket. I am hoping to post the finger puppets in their new homes as I finish them.

My mailing deadlines are coming up so I do need to get a move on for this birthday box and the Halloween one if I hope to get them there with time to spare.

Busy Baby Box Farm Activity Cube Frame

I made the squares for Farm box found in Leisure Arts Busy Baby Boxes back in the summer but while the pattern doesn't call for it I wanted to back the squares with plastic canvas to make the box a little stronger. This required ordering plastic canvas and that took me longer to get to and thus I finished the frame for the box this week and wanted to post my progress and notes for future reference.

I edged the plastic canvas squares before sewing them to the squares. I learned this trick when making the castle I wrote about earlier. Plastic canvas has a way of edging through crochet sometimes but if it is covered in yarn it isn't an issue. Sewing them on was not an issue from there. I did not line the roof pieces. The roof is the one area of the busy box that doesn't have any attachments. The red loft area does have some windows, but I'm not worried about these needing additional backing. I believe the structure should be solid with the base provided.

The premise of a busy box is that it provides young children with activities on the box to keep them amused. Each side generally has something different for the child to explore. The one exception as I mentioned above for this box is the roof side. Most of the boxes I've seen are flat on all sides. One of the things that drew me to this project was that it was more than a box. The farm theme has been popular and I thought sacrificing one activity side was worth it to continue the farm theme.

After sewing the plastic canvas to the sides I was concerned about assembling the box but that proved to be easier than expected. The directions are clear and used for both boxes in the pattern set.

This leaves me with five sides of the box to decorate and five puppets to make as I made the chicken over the summer. I think this is doable with my deadline. The big hurdle was finishing the box.

My box is not as wide as the box pictured I believe because of the plastic canvas which I preferred. I wasn't crazy about the overstuffed look in the book's pictures.