Flannel Friday: Pete the Cat and his popping buttons

Pete the Cat has become one of my most favorite book characters.  He just has that special 'it's all good' attitude.  Plus, you can sing his books in story time, and who doesn't like to sing books in story time?  Plus, they have great repetition which is good for those toddlers.  So, I was super excited to see that Pete's (or Mr. Litwin's) newest book was, once again, perfect for story time.

Several other Flannel Friday participants have already flanneled Pete the cat and his four groovy buttons, but I am going to share mine too.  I decided to fit my version into my pajama themed story time because I could not wait to use this story and many pajamas have buttons, right?  So, I made Pete out of craft foam using an image for the shape of his head and free handing the rest.  I gave him some groovy flannel pajamas adorned with real plastic craft buttons.  And he has some yarn whiskers.

I decided that I really wanted my buttons to 'pop' off of Pete, so I rigged them with some fishing line.  I wove the fishing line in and out of the button holes a few times, tied them tight, and left a long tail.  I placed a piece of sticky back velcro on the back of each button, then I wound the end of the fishing line in a complete loop around a small piece of sticky back velcro that I then folded in half so that the stickiness would hold the line in place.

This one is a bit blurry, but you can see the wire going through (actually around) the folded velcro)

To set up the board, I have Pete on front with his buttons and I wrap the fishing line around to the back (my board has felt on each side, otherwise I would have added a soft side of velcro or just taped the wire down).

After taking this picture I cut the wire down so that the velcro reaches just past the back edge of the board. 

Then, as Pete's buttons pop off one by one I pull on the fishing line and POP!  Off fly the buttons!

Until, all the buttons are gone.  That is, all the buttons except his belly button!

The kids and parents really enjoyed this one, there was lots of giggling over his belly button (parents and grandparents included).  Just like the with the other Pete books they were signing along with me and shouting 'goodness no!'

You can find the round-up this week with Shawn over at Read, Rhyme, and Sing.  Past round-ups and everything else Flannel Friday related can be found at the website, or you can visit the Pinterest boards by clicking on the Flannel Friday button on the right.