DIY Customized Bookmark II
Here is a DIY for a customized bookmark I made this week for Nick (obviously! lol)
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post here , he requested a bookmark recently, so I got busy making him one. While I never seem to get stumped on making stuff for females, I find it a challenge to make manly looking things. I had to think about this task for a while before the idea came to me.
I used a page from an old paperback that I rescued from the trash, in spite of its broken spine and missing pages, because I liked the way the pages had aged. Paired with some dark brown card stock, it made something quite suitable for a man, I’d say! But changing the background colour would make it good for a woman too.
I revisited an idea I recently used to make the name-plate for this customized notebook. It is a way of laminating smaller pieces of paper using regular packing tape. It seals things up perfectly, so the bookmark will last much longer than plain unprotected paper would.
Supplies for a Handmade Customized Bookmark:
– a page from an old book or magazine.
– a print-out of the word you want to use, sized appropriately. The simple font I used is Arial, and I sized the word to be 5 inches tall.
– a piece of bookmark size heavy paper. Note, this must be narrower than your packing tape.
– three pieces x 8 inches of coordinating embroidery floss.
– small bits of two sided tape and regular sticky tape.
– two pieces packing tape, at least 3 inches longer than your bookmark will be.
– A sharp cutting blade, ruler, pencil, scissors, hole-punch and cutting mat of some sort.
What you’re going to be doing is cutting the letters out, but through two thicknesses at the same time. Line the book page up to the back of the print-out and lightly tape the edges. Using your ruler as much as possible to get straight lines, cut through both thicknesses of paper.
Remove page from print-out and cut to size so that the bookmark heavy paper is about 1/4 inch wider. Use small pieces of two sided tape to tack the word page to the bookmark.
Anchor the pieces of packing tape to your cutting mat, (as shown in the picture), by folding the ends under, so the sticky side is facing up. Carefully place your bookmark on one of the pieces to tape so there are edges of tape on all four sides. Pick this all up, turn it over and stick it down to the second piece of packing tape, effectively sealing the bookmark within the two pieces of packing tape. Rub the tape down well so everything is completely sealed. I used the side of the ruler and my fingernails to get it really sealed well. Trim the excess packing tape leaving a tiny edge all the way around.
Punch a hole at one end and thread the embroidery floss through. Fold in half (so you have 6 ends) and tie in a knot. Divide the 6 strands into 3 and braid to the end. Finish with a knot and trim the ends. Done!
After I’d finished and proudly showed it to Nick he said he really liked it. But he also said that when he had asked me for a bookmark, he meant “Can you please pass me a bit of any old scrap paper so I can mark my spot?”. Nonetheless, he appreciated his new handmade customized and laminated bookmark!
This is the second of two customized bookmarks I have made. See the other one, which features a cross-stitched name here.
Thanks for checking out my DIY. Hope you give this a try!
loulou
