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. :-)
