Getting Real With Wanda Morrissey
I don’t know about anyone else but I sometimes find traditional bookmarks to be a bit of a pain. If you drop your book or you turn it the wrong way or you leave it where your toddler can get it, then chances are your bookmark will fall out and you’re left searching for the spot where you stopped reading. Recently, my husband brought home two bookmarks that he’d gotten at a conference. They were the kind made from laminated paper, folded in half and used a magnet on each side to keep it closed. I’d seen others with this type of bookmark but had never owned one myself. As I put one of the bookmarks into my book thinking that I won’t be dealing with my current bookmark always falling out, another idea popped into my head. I bet I could make these at home, personalize them and use them as gifts. So, I gave it a shot and it worked. Here’s how I did it.
1. Using the bookmark my husband bought home as a template, I cut out a rectangle of construction paper (2” by 7”) and folded it in half.
2. I used some of my son’s stickers to decorate one side but you can use anything to decorate with as long as it doesn’t make the bookmark too thick. For Christmas I plan on using pictures of my son to make bookmarks for his grandparents.
3. I put the bookmark inside a thermal laminating pouch (you don’t need a laminator to use the pouches). I put the pouch inside a folded towel and ironed over it – it takes a little longer than using a laminator but the end result is the same.
4. I trimmed off the excess plastic and took two pieces of magnet and glued them to the inside ends of the bookmark so that when the bookmark was folded the magnets would touch.
And there I had it, a magnetic bookmark. From start to finish, the project took about 30 minutes.
Note: laminating pouches should be available at your local store (I bought mine at WalMart) in the stationary department. I used magnet strips, that I also bought at WalMart but are available most places, they can be found in the stationary or craft departments.
