How to Make a Bookmark
If you want to give someone a thoughtful, handmade gift but you don't have a lot of time to assemble one, try making a cool bookmark. You can customize your bookmark to suit the personality of the person you plan to give it to. For example, if you are making a bookmark for your dad and he likes sports, you can make one with pictures of his favorite athletes that you cut out from a magazine or newspaper. If you are making one for your sister and she loves horses, she would probably like to get a bookmark with a picture you drew of a horse, or even a picture of her on a horse. If you are making a bookmark for a new friend or someone whose taste you don't know perfectly, like your teacher for example, you can make this outdoorsy bookmark that anyone would find cool
Choose Your Paper
When you finish this bookmark, it should look like there is grass growing out of the top of any book you put it in. Begin with a piece of cardstock. Cardstock is thick paper, kind of like posterboard, that will hold its shape. You need to make your bookmark with cardstock or another thick paper or else the bookmark will get worn out and wrinkly when someone uses it regularly. Pick out white or green cardstock for this project.
Next, cut out the bookmark. Make it about two inches by six inches. Now, cut out two strips of tissue paper, one in light green and one in dark green. These should be about ten inches by eight inches. Stack the dark green strip over the light green strip.
Add Layers
Coat one side of your bookmark in collage paste. Collage paste like glue, only thinner. Place your bookmark, paste side down, in the very corner of the dark green strip. The two inch side of your bookmark should like up with the ten inch side of the tissue paper and the six inch side of your bookmark should line up with the eight inch side of the tissue paper. Make sure everything is lined up evenly; the collage paste should be seeping through the dark green tissue to the light green tissue a little bit.
Once you have the cardstock and tissue paper lined up, coat the other side of the bookmark in collage paste, then fold it over onto the dark green tissue. Now you should be beginning to wrap the cardstock in the tissue and the tissue should be extending two inches above where the cardstock ends. Continue wrapping the tissue paper around the cardstock snugly, making sure to add a thin, even layer of collage paste before every fold.
Finish Your Bookmark
Once you finish, your bookmark should look like a light green, slightly wrinkly bookmark with tissue paper sticking out of the top. Allow the collage past to dry overnight. The next day, hold your bookmark by the sides and carefully make lots of vertical cuts into the tissue at the top with a pair of scissors. Be careful not to cut the cardstock. Remember, you are trying to make the top of your bookmark look like blades of grass. Once you are finished, try the bookmark out in one of your books. It should look like there is a little lawn growing out of the top of the book.
