How to make... marbled paper bookmarks!
a post from Bea
This weekend I had a play date with my friend Emily. We both LOVE reading.
We decided to make bookmarks, and we wondered who to give them to. Then we thought, we’ll give them to our librarian, Ms. Spell. She can give them to kids who don’t have a bookmark, and that way they won’t dog-ear the pages. My mom suggested we try marbled paper bookmarks, and we were both like, sure! We think they are beautiful and we also came up with a few more varieties.
Here is how to make them:
1. First, you need a sturdy paper, like watercolor paper. We had my mom cut watercolor paper with a paper cutter so the bookmarks have a nice, clean edge. You also need a plastic container that you can mess up (we used a container from the recycling bin that we can put aside and use again) and some nail polish, and maybe a some cardboard, a paper bag, or old newspaper to cover your table or work space.
2. Next, put an inch or so of water into your plastic container. Drizzle the nail polish (two colors or even three) into the water, then quickly stir it around with a stirrer. You want the colors to stay on the surface. Dip your paper into the water, then pull it out again. Voilà! Marbled paper.
3. Put your paper aside to dry. Clean up very carefully (nail polish will stain!). Once the paper is dry, you can coat it with Mod Podge to make it shinier and more durable, and also hole-punch it (if you want) and add a tassel with embroidery floss or a ribbon. We added beads to the ends of some of our tassels, which will also help you find your page.
4. That’s it! Enjoy your new bookmark and not dog-earing your pages. Make lots of them and give them to friends, librarians, and other book-lovers. We also made some by layering washi tape, which is a thin patterned tape, and stamping a few butterflies. I also made some that say “Read!”
This library book isn’t going back with dog-eared pages!
If you would like a bookmark, just email me (or actually my mom: belleboggs@gmail.com) and I will make you one and mail it to you.
ok this is a great idea, I want to make some at camp. I've made marbled paper before a lot of different ways, but never thought about using nail polish as the paint. brilliant!
Hey we have persimmons coming in very abundantly at the farm now and I could use some help eating them.
also, someone gave us a TON of rubberstamps, you might enjoy checking them out. I'm a snob and only care for homemade rubber stamps, but the campers enjoyed them quite a bit last sunday. I'll have them out again this coming Sunday. My campers arrive at 1, but if you came sometime between 10 and 1 I could show them to you.
I'm going to the dollar tree as soon as I can to buy some nail polish!
Genius! I've never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing your technique!