Being an avid reader (well...more so when I wasn't chasing after a 1-year old) and having multiple book lovers in the family, we really try to instill a love for reading in our children. Emma loves to read and does amazingly well in reading at school. Alexandria already opens her books and babbles as she turns the pages.
Because of this, I thought it would be neat to make bookmarks for everyone in the family that likes to read while occupying Emma during an uneventful day. We had done this in the past, so I definitely have some lessons learned, but wanted to make some more for the holidays (and because Uncle Jason directly requested a new bookmark).
Things you'll need:
- Paper - I use the white scrapbooking sheets that come pre-filled in the clear pages since I have a bunch of that extra, but you can use any kind of paper/color you like. I'd recommend something thicker than printer paper in case you use markers so it doesn't bleed through to the other side.
- Scissors
- A few sheets of laminate (more on this later)
- Pencil, pens, markers, crayons - whatever they want to draw with
- Ruler or straight edge of some sort
First things first is to decide how big you'd like them to be. The first time, we made them about 6 inches by 2 inches (worked well cutting the 12x12 scrapbooking paper into equal pieces). I liked this size much better than when we made them this time about 6x3 inches. You'll see why later when we laminate them.
One trick that we learned after the first time was to write the name of whoever the bookmark was for on the back before drawing a picture on the other side. When mass-producing bookmarks, it definitely makes life easier to remember who's was who's when you're staring at 8+ bookmarks with similar designs!
After all of the pictures have been drawn, it's time to laminate them. I purchased sheets of laminate in 8.5x11 inches sizes that had a hard clear front and then a less sturdy (sticky) clear back. This way it gives the bookmarks some support so they don't bend and is easier to laminate than if you had two flimsy sides. I will say that they were more expensive than I originally assumed, so you can decide for yourself. Line up the bookmarks on the non-sticky piece of laminate so that they're about 3/4's of an inch apart. You'll need the extra in between for the edges of the bookmark so that they don't come undone.
I also try to use the nice edges at the end to line them up against so that some sides of the bookmark won't have a 'hand-cut' edge to them. Now here's the tricky part, you have to peel the paper off of the sticky side while at the same time using the ruler as a guide to press the sticky side to the non-sticky side. Slow and steady wins the race with this one! This is why it's also good to position the bookmarks towards the edge so that you can start sticking the two sides together before you get to the bookmarks.
You want to keep sliding the ruler along the page so that it presses the two sheets together. Absolutely pause and re-align the bookmark edges when you get close to starting to laminate over them so that they don't shift. After you're at the end, take the ruler and rub all over the laminate to make sure it's together and that all air bubbles are out. I also make sure to go around the edges of the bookmark a few times to ensure that there's a good seal.
Once they're fully together, you can cut them apart and leave however much you'd like of the clear laminate as a border. I'd recommend to not cut too close to the actual bookmark so that the two sides of laminate don't separate with wear. I'd also suggest from experience to round the corners; our first set were like daggers on the corners!
The finished product! Emma's this Christmas were a penguin sliding theme with her newly learned dialogue bubbles! :) They make cute personal gifts from the kids that every book-lover can enjoy. We use them all of the time at our house and could probably use a few more! Happy reading!
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