Marking the Read Across America Week!

Being the last day of Read Across America Week, I decided that making some bookmarks would be more than appropriate. I am so happy that I made some bookmarks. I tend to use random things I find (scrap papers, business cards, etc.) to mark my page, but I think my books deserve better. Here are the bookmarks I made:

 

I tried to make quite a variety, and all are so easy to make! I'll briefly explain how to make each one.

Starting with the simple orange one (top left), I used these three items:

The first is a piece of cardboard I cut out from a box of plastic utensils, the second is a piece of scrapbooking paper and finally, a doily left over from Valentine's Day. I just glues the three together to make a study, lace looking bookmark. 

For this next bookmark, I just used some paper. I took a strip of scrapbooking paper and folded it in half. Then I took a black piece of paper and cut it into a shape. I chose the circle to mimic the pattern on the paper. I have always liked bookmarks like these because not only do they mark your page, but they also mark the exact line, which helps to easily pick right up where you left off. I also decided to have some fun and write the word "read" on this bookmark, which can be read both upside down and right side up! Kind of a challenge, but I think it ended up working well. The important thing to note for this bookmark is that you want it to be able to be versatile. It should look "right side up" when it is flipped every which way.

For the next bookmark, I simply placed sticker letters onto a piece of paper to spell out my name. Then, I cut the paper with an exacto knife to make a thin border around the letters. This works best with cursive letters so that it is one continuous chain, but you can also choose to use other letters too and let the background paper be the connector. Other words like "imagine," "discover," and "dream" are also great to use!

Finally, my last bookmark I created by cutting a picture. Find an image that you can easily cut into a bookmark shape/size. Then using an exacto knife, cut a shape into the top of the picture. Make sure that you do not cut the entire shape! It looks best if you cut out all but the highest points of the shape. You can see how I cut out my heart shape in the picture. This is definitely simple, personal, and looks great! 

I hope that some of you try out these bookmark designs! I would love to see your pictures if you do :)