Tuesday 7 May 2013

Tutorial: How To Make Bookmarks From Cards - Upcycling



Since it's only a few days away from Mother's day here in Australia I thought I would post a few quick and easy projects over the next few days that you could complete in a short time. So if you are pressed for ideas or time (or both) these simple ideas are great and handmade gifts really are that much more special than some store bought gifts. These are also fabulous to make and sell at Mother's Day stalls at schools.

This project is a great way to use up any beautiful cards that you have kept but don't have any room for anymore. This is the reason I threw alot of my cards out, I wish now that I didn't but never thought before to reuse them in this way.
I came across a pin on Pinterest on making bookmarks with Christmas cards which is from the blog belonging to the frugal girls .com. It had me thinking instantly that the same thing can be done with any type of card, for any occasion, providing it has a design you want to work with and it is a suitable size.
So here is my version of bookmarks for mother's day.

Materials

  • Card/s (new or used)
  • Ribbon (6mm wide, about 52cms in length for each bookmark)
  • Hole punch
  • Ruler
  • Lead pencil
  • Eraser


Directions
1. Select a card that has a suitable design (one that you have at home or one that you have bought). I bought mine for about a dollar each from my local discount store as I didn't really have any at home that I could use. The size of my cards were 21 x 8 cms.

Firstly cut the back of your card off neatly along the crease/fold. If you are only using a select area of your card for one bookmark create a template the size that you want your bookmark to be using the back of the card. Trace around the template onto the area you wish to use for your bookmark.
If your card has a patterned design all over like mine then you can probably create 2 out of each card. Mark out the area of the design that you want to use with lead pencil, using a ruler to make sure that the lines are straight. I like to use the back of the card to mark on so that there are no marks or dents on the front of the card.
I made a line directly under the happy birthday header on both of my cards and then drew a dividing line down through the middle of the cards, creating two of the same sized bookmarks from each card.
The size of each bookmark was 14 x 4 cms. You can create yours wider or longer if you wish and if your card/s permit.

2. Now cut out your bookmarks or bookmarks.
If you have unsightly pencil marks around the edges of your bookmark/s you can now gently rub them out with an eraser (only if you want to).

3. Using a hole punch, punch a hole at the top centre of each bookmark.

4. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon in a complimenting colour for each bookmark. The length I used for each piece was about 26 cms in length. You can make these shorter or longer as you wish.
Thread all of the ends (from two pieces of ribbon) into the hole in the back of a bookmark and pull through until you have a small loop sticking out at the front. Thread the end of the ribbons through the loop and gently pull making sure that you adjust the ribbons as you go to ensure that they look like the picture below.

And there you go, bookmarks from cards that took you minutes to make but look so lovely and functional. This is a great activity that you can do with kids, ask them to draw a picture or write a quick message on the back to personalise the gift and make it that much more special for the recipient.
I love these and will be making more for myself, I am in the middle of a few books and am always needing a few bookmarks to keep my place on the various textbooks I am reading for university all the time.

If you are looking for more simple but quick ideas you can check out my Mother's Day board on Pinterest, follow me while you are there as I love to pin projects that are fun and easy enough to do.

Thanks for reading, let me know if you attempt these, I would love to know how they turn out.




15 comments:

  1. I love your blog...full of great ideas..thanks for posting

    Love and Hugs
    Phoebe x

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    1. Thanks Phoebe, such a lovely comment to read :)

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  2. Great Mother's Day tutorial! Returning the visit from SomethingCreatedEveryday.blogspot.com. Welcome to blogland!

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    1. Thanks Lynda, I love that you are a thrifter like me :)

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  3. Very pretty bookmarks! Thanks for visiting my blog. You're off to a good start! If you can add 1 or 2 posts a week to your blog, at the end of a year you'll have 75 to 100 posts and it will grow in no time.

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    1. Thanks Noreen :)
      I am in the middle of 2 assessments due in the next few days and have a final exam coming up in about 3 weeks so my time is taken up with that and looking after my kids. But I am itching to post and blog more, have so much to share. I am aiming to get better organised so I can post at least once a week in the near future, thanks so much for the tip :)

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  4. Thanks so much for letting me know about your link party, I joined up and it was great. Will be looking out and joining regularly. I have even added your badge to the side of my blog.
    Thanks so much for the comment :)

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  5. Hi

    Thanks again for visiting my blog - and what a lovely blog you've got!

    These bookmarks are just so cute - love the colours and the patterns!
    Just started following your blog on Bloglovin.

    See you.

    Hugs,
    Helle

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    1. Thanks Helle,
      I have also started following you on BlogLovin', looking forward to seeing more of your work :)

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  6. What an awesome upcycle idea!! Visiting back from Desperate Houselife :)

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    1. Thanks Angie, your kind words brightened my day :)

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  7. What a fun project for kiddos! 'Love it! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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    1. It is simple enough for kids to make, plus there is room on the back for them to personalise them as well :)

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  8. Dropping by for a visit from Growing Up Madison. This is such a great idea! We're always throwing away the cards after reading most of the time. Why did we never think of doing this. Super cute. :)

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    1. Thanks. I have learnt that you can upcycle almost anything :)

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