Monday, January 18

Tutorial: Glossy Bookmark or Magnet Gift

Before Christmas I gave you a peek at this craft - scripture beaded ribbon bookmarks:
Lots of you wanted to know how to do them, so I put together this tutorial. Also, this glossy top is a terrific and versatile supply you'll want in your craft arsenal!! :-)

The bookmarks were #5 on my list of DIY Meaningful Christmas, to help out a local charity in lieu of Secret Santa or gift exchanges with friends.
My "Girls' Night Out" group made 50 scripture bookmarks, 40 of which were gifted to the clients of our local crisis pregnancy center. 10 ladies helped that night and they each got one to take home, too. We all brought appetizers and crafted, chatted and snacked away about 3 hours. We got the bookmarks completed up to where the top coat needed to dry for several hours. The next day a couple of us strung the ribbon, beads & charms.

Supplies needed for each:
wood rectangle, square or other shape
craft glue
drill and small drill bit if your wood piece doesn't have a hole
paint (optional)
pretty paper
printer or stamp to do scripture verse
scissors or paper cutter
Glossy Accents
cross charm
3-5 assorted beads with big holes
~24" of 1/8" width ribbon
1/8" hole punch

Because our bookmarks were for a charity, and the ladies donated their time and money, we needed to keep our cost down. We managed to do ours for about $2 each. I found these magnetic alphabet wood tiles from Michael's. They're about 1" x 2" . We also used some squares that just came in a package of assorted sized squares - of which we just used the largest size. Be sure they are big enough to fit a scripture. You can find shapes with nicer wood than these if you don't have to work in bulk or keep to a strict budget.

The top row shows the front of the magnetic rectangle; the back; and the back after I drilled a small hole and painted over it in white to give it a more finished look. The second row shows the square as we bought it, then with the hole drilled. Since our wood shapes were thin, we also needed to do a teensy bit of sanding touch-up. So, gather your pieces and drill holes if needed for a bookmark:Now gather the rest of the pretties: I printed our verse (Romans 15:13 "May the God of HOPE fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him.) on assorted colors of pretty scrapbooking papers. Cut them all just a bit smaller than your wood backing:Now, if you're making a bookmark, punch a hole in the paper for the ribbon, then glue it on the wood. We put ours right over the letters. The blue one is going to be a magnet, so no hole needed:
Once the paper is securely glued and dry, it's time to top it with the Glossy Accents:
I can't stress enough to read their instructions. Don't shake the bottle or you'll get bubbles. Apply it slow or you'll get bubbles. You'll not see these bubbles while you're speeding along and you won't believe me until it's all dried and suddenly there they'll be. Start by going around the border, then fill in slowly and evenly:Here the blue magnet is done and the pink half way coated. It will be thick and cloudy, but will dry flatter and clear and shiny:
Once dry, the bookmark will need about 24" of ribbon. Twice the length of the average book you read plus extra for tying. Loop it through the scripture piece and add one cross charm and several pretty beads that you'll tie in to stay down at the bottom. Look carefully at the beads before you buy - the hole will have to fit a ribbon. Then tie one large or several smaller beads at the other end. When used in a book, you want just flat ribbon to be laying in the pages, and the pretties hanging out either end. :-)

41 comments:

Lora @ my blessed life said...

Love this idea! Yours turned out so pretty!

Its So Very Cheri said...

I LOVE this idea and would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have you post this to my party. I have a Monday party called Its So Very Creative but I will also have a party going up tonight called Celebrate the Holidays, you could post it to that since this was a Holiday gift idea. (the party name will be changing soon to be just Celebate or Celebration or something that encompasses parties...anything you are Celebrating.)

I will be following you--thanks for your sweet comments on my Lamp PB knock off. I would love to gave you follow me as well.

Cheri

Its So Very Cheri said...

I didn't see a follower area so I am adding your button to my Inspiring Blogs section.

Cheri

Sherry said...

I love those. While reading your great instructions I had a thought, rare moment:) I wonder if those counter samples that are in the kitchen section would be the right size. Just a thrifty thought.

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Wow, those are gorgeous! Thanks tons for the how-to, I'll be linking.

That Crazy Ajumma said...

I found your blog thru One Pretty thing.
These are so sweet.
I really love them,what a creative idea!

Expressions by Heather said...

Please feel free to link them up at Talented Tuesday on My Frugal Family!

http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com/2010/01/talented-tuesday-links-january-19th.html

Southern Fried Gal said...

Oh my goodness. These are beautiful! Thank you for the tutorial!

Mama Thompson said...

I just LOVE those! And what a great thing for you all to do!

Wendy said...

What a great gift. I will need to try these.
What a great gift for the pregnancy center. Thank you. I am a public health nurse for first time low income mother, what a touching gift...I am sure it was cherished!
Wendy

steffany said...

What a pretty gift, the glaze really "makes" it. Thanks for sharing.

MelaKamin said...

What a beautiful idea - thanks for sharing!

Rebecca said...

Wow what a great idea. You certainly have great tallent and ideas!
Stopping by from SITS - happy Wednesday.
I think I'll follow along so I can see what other wonderful ideas you have :-)

Jelli said...

Great idea. I wish I'd found this during your Christmas gifts series, as I know that when I was in the US it would've been much easier to find the glossy goo than here in Costa Rica. I'd love to make them, but doubt the materials exist here. Thanks for sharing.

Tiffanee said...

These are darling. Love all the great hints and tips. Thanks!1

Jessica Griffin said...

Have you tried working with PPA (perfect paper adhesive)? I LOVED Glossy Accents- still do. Then my mom told me about PPA (they sell it at Michael's and Hobby Lobby) works the same as Glossy Accents and Modge Podge combined, except better! It dries fast, you can apply it with a paint brush. Super easy! Great idea, will have to get a jump start on Christmas now, so I'm ready in July!! :)

The Blonde Duck said...

Popped in from SITS! That's gorgeous--perfect for V-day gifts that aren't chocolate!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm one of the people who requested a tutorial when you first posted this craft, so thank you!

Tina L. Hook said...

What a great project and big kudos to you for having your designs in Hallmark. How wonderful. I could learn a thing or two from you.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas said...

@ Cheri - thanks! If you're registered at Blogger, you can always hit the "follow" button on the official blogger header of anyone's blog.

@ Jessica - I haven't heard of PPA, but thanks for the great tip!! I'll look for it!

@ Everyone - thanks for the kind remarks! I always love to see photos if you do something similar!

Lanie said...

LOVE THEM! I linked to this in my Friday Favorites... come on over and get an "I was featured" button if you like. ~Lanie

Anonymous said...

These are are great idea and I know the recipients of such a gift will love them too!

Dawn B. said...

These are amazing..What a wonderful piece of art.

Anonymous said...

Another thrifty backing would be polymer clay. You just roll it flat and cut it to size. Put the hole in before you bake. The quote could either be done as an image transfer before you bake or added in the same manner as this tutorial after you bake.

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm glad you liked the pie! :)

jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas said...

@ Anonymous - Thanks for the polymer clay alternative! Wonderful!

Its So Very Cheri said...

Yes the mullet Saga was hilarious.

cheri

Its So Very Cheri said...

Yes the mullet Saga was hilarious.

cheri

Michelle said...

I love this idea. What a pretty thing to make and so practical, too! :)

Sheri@childmade.com said...

These are great! Thanks for sharing. I've posted a link. I'm going to have to remember these for my next ladies craft night.

Sheri@childmade.com said...

This so simple and perfect! I love scripture verse. Thanks for sharing. I've posted a link.

Just Jenn said...

Very inspiring! I might have to brave this one!! =) Love that you are using your talent to encourage the Crisis Pregnancy Center! New follower for sure! Blessed to have found your blog!
Just Jenn~

Anonymous said...

Do you have to use a stamp or could you print with your computer? These are gorgeous!

jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas said...

Dana - I printed my text from a black and white printer on colored scrapbook paper. It worked great!

Anonymous said...

I am looking at making 50 of these bookmarks...do you remember how many bottles of Glossy Accents you went through to make 50 bookmarks? Thanks!

jeanne @ Inspiring Ideas said...

Thanks for your question: I bought 3 bottles of the Glossy so several ladies could be working on that step at one time. But there was some left in each when the whole project was completed.

Cindy Lyles said...

Saw this on Pinterest - fabulous idea!!!

Janet Trieschman said...

At first look, I thought these were necklaces and I was so excited and thought they would work great with our GEMS girls club. I shared a link at Craft Connection http://craft-connection.blogspot.com/2012/05/verse-bookmark-or-necklace.html

Anonymous said...

Just wondering if you could use sample cards of laminate from kitchen section of hardware store to put verses on? I will have to remember to pick-up some next time Im in hardware store & try this. Thank you for sharing with us!

Andy - Christian Camp Pro said...

Hey, we loved the bookmark/magnet idea and featured it in our roundup that just went live yesterday. Thanks, and feel free to share it! http://christiancamppro.com/25-best-womens-retreat-ideas-use/

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