Time to Travel Ebook Review

If you have little ones, you know how hard it is to sew when they are awake. I mean really, how many times can you throw your buttons on the ground and actually have your child stay interested in sorting them out for you? I think that lasted for all of 0.3 seconds when I offered that game to Thomas. But today, the struggle was a lot easier! That is because I had a ton of great activities to offer him thanks to the new ebook Time to Travel from Sewing with Boys.

 Don't let the title fool you! This ebook is for way more than when you travel! Though it does have a lot of great tips inside for making actual travel easier with little ones. ;)
Everything from beating the "Are we there yet?!" game to how to pack a great mix and match handmade wardrobe. There are lot of super cute printables and coloring you can give you child to keep occupied with. Thomas got a kick out of the airline ticket and the play money.

But his favorite was the MAP!

Oh goodness! It was like his birthday and Christmas all rolled into one! You can of course color this, but Thomas isn't huge into coloring. There are also instructions to make a nice durable fabric or felt map. And actually, Thomas is holding his in his right hand. But the paper one was just as exciting for him.

I did some cheating for our map.

I had planned on taking the elements from the pattern in the ebook and add them to this great panel piece I got from Phat Quarters. But Thomas was waaaay too excited for all that and only wanted the X added. And he watched me closely to make sure I went as fast as I could! I did follow the assembly instructions and used the same button and elastic closure as the pattern states. Please note the shovel. Yes, he really thinks we are going to find treasure with our map and he wanted to be prepared!

Thomas planned his travels with his friend.

And then they were off!

After a quick hike, with Thomas leading us, we found the perfect spot to set up camp and check out some more of the fun activites in the ebook.

Of course, we had to hang our flags to dress up our camp. That makes it easy to find when we set off for more treasure hunting!!

The ebook has an entire alphabet of flags for you and uses layers in the pdf file so you aren't scrolling through a bazillion pages to find what you want. That made selecting the few I wanted really easy to print off! The pattern for this flag is a no sew pattern. Well, leave it to me to do a project at 11pm with a husband out of town on business and a house full of sleeping kids and no heat n bond! So, my no sew project became a simple sewing project. This is one that a child could easily do to get some machine experience in as well! And as luck would have it, my normal rock star status with grommets was leveled out to 3rd grader with a recorder and after half a dozen smashed grommets and a ripped flag, I tacked my flags to the rope. Hey, it worked and it was quick!

Another fun activity in the ebook are some cute lacing cards. I really thought that Thomas wouldn't be very interested in these. He is 5 and has had a taste of hand embroidery with fabric and thread in a hoop. Well, I was all sorts of wrong! He LOVED the lacing cards! And the whole way home he used his laced up compass to guide the way. He kept asking which direction we were going and would turn his card to match. Nobody told me learning was in this ebook!

Not that this ebook needs more coolness, but this happened.

Because every little boy needs his own wallet, there is the Ready, Set, Go! wallet pattern in the ebook. And let me tell you, not only little boys like this wallet. My 17 year old saw this sitting on the counter, picked it up and said "Where did you get this and where can I get one?" Yeah, I make cool stuff. ;)

Of course, the great pattern is what made this coolness happen. There are pockets inside for things like an ID or a starbucks gift card if you are a hipster like my son. Those vanilla steamers don't drink themselves, ya know! The pattern has sections of vinyl, but Thomas is less than gentle, so I stuck with all fabric pockets. He keeps his coins in one of the side pockets and of course his birthday money in the main pocket. The velcro keeps everything tucked inside, but makes it easy for his to open and close himself.

To help you carry all your great stuff, there is the Just Like Papa Brief Case!

 This brief case has gotten a load of use since I made it! I was lucky and got to test the pattern for it and have been putting it through the real life test for a little while now. This thing helped get us through volleyball games, orchestra rehearsals and long, boring grown up talks at restaurants.

There are several different pockets and slots for markers or colored pencils. A section behind the marker spots holds paper or work books. and a clear zipper pouch makes it easy to find a toy to play with or a specific color of crayon.

The double zippers make it easy to open the case out flat so you can easily see everything you have stored away. And let me tell you, you can get a LOT in it! For our treasure hunt, we had the follow in it, three work books, a box of crayons, a dozen markers, three pencils, two erasers, a pair of scissors, four Paw Patrol figures, water colors, four lacing cards, yarn, the Ready, Set, Go! Wallet, a couple glue sticks, our map, both paper and fabric and a pair of sunglasses. Yeah, it holds a lot!

There is a pretty sweet bag pattern that I really wanted to make for this review, but I simply didn't have time. We had some unexpected events take place this past week and it just didn't happen. But you can bet your last gold doubloon that I will be making the Swansea Bag!

Because, you see, we have some more treasure hunting to do and that bag will hold all of our supplies! We took the wrong path this time, according to Thomas. Next time, we need to head northeast to find the treasure!

Luckily for you, you don't have to go through so much effort to find a treasure! Sewing with Boys has a treasure chest full of discounts and prizes. Just hope over here to enter!

Thank you Sewing with Boys for inviting me to join in on your tour! In return for my participation, I did recieve a copy of Time to Travel at no charge. My son's reactions are all true and my opinions on the ebook, activities and patterns inside are all my own. :D Now go create something and hunt for treasure!!!