bookmark tutorial

back around christmas, the girls and i made bunches of picture bookmarks as gifts.  we're making a new batch to take to taiwan, so i thought i'd post the idea.  it's one of those crafts that can be cute, personal, made with materials on hand, and yet functional and polished - a winner in my book =)

personalized photo bookmarks
small photos (see below)
wide packing tape (i used 1 3/4")
colorful cardstock or spare greeting cards
glue stick
single hole punch
ribbons

1) make collage prints of the photos you want to use.  i used snapfish, but i'm sure most photo providers offer them.  eight pictures to a 4x6 worked well for me.

2) cut cardstock slightly narrower than your tape.  for the christmas batch, i used the armfuls of cards we got in the mail from charities and dressed up some with wide ribbons wound around.

fold in half and glue if using cardstock

3) stick on your pictures, leaving a space at the top for a hole punch.  this is a great cooperative craft for your preschoolers.  the girls and i had an assembly line going with a picture-gluer, a sticker-adder, and a tape-applier (me, see below).  if your kids are anything like mine, they love seeing their own pictures and reminiscing about each scene

4) cover it all in with a piece of packing tape slightly longer than the bookmark.  repeat on the other side.  now it's nicely laminated =)

 

5) punch a hole at the top, trim up the tape, tie on a pretty ribbon, and voila!