I (team member Kristina!) recently attended Pinner’s Conference, where I took a class from a local blogger about reading and books for young children. I was immediately inspired to break away from the same picture books I’d been reading to my kids (ages three and four) over and over, and begin with a handful of chapter books. That class gave me “permission”, because I didn’t realize my kids were ready for them! I’ve been a reader since I was young, thanks to my mom teaching me a love for books, and I’ve certainly tried to pass that on to my own children.
I researched for a bit, coming up with several lists of beginner chapter books, and we dove in. I was thrilled my kids seemed to love them. We already have a few going. (You can find ideas for books for children over on my Books Worth Reading Pinterest board.) Our next issue was remembering where we leave off in a book… so I knew we needed some bookmarks. Yes, a scrap piece of paper works just fine… but it can also feel kind of lame when you’re a “creative”. I wanted to make cute ones.
This project took me ten minutes – literally. I made some rectangle shapes in my program (Photoshop Elements), added some of Kate’s doodles to the end (I used “Bookworms“), printed them off, and cut them out. DONE. (Okay, I lied. I would have been done, but I was out of cardstock… instead, I printed two sheets, cut them out, and then glued them back to back…) You can be fancy and laminate them or perhaps add a tassel with string, but I was okay with simple. I actually plan to keep a running list of books we finish – just write them on the bookmark!
Since my daughter is loving the chapter books (more than my son), she’ll probably get a few in her Christmas stocking or gifts this year.
Feel free to share! What books are you reading your kids? What gifts will you make this year?
Free Digital Scrapbooking template: Scrap Like Amy
Nice one ????????could I ask you about the kind of paper that you use?the Brown one
I can’t find a good paper to make my bookmarks .I want to make it without using laminating.thank you
When I made these, I printed on normal white printer paper. The brown was printed on to the white.
For thicker paper, I’d recommend cardstock or sometimes “kraft” paper is thick enough. (I think it’s actually called kraft paper here in the States).
I’ve used a matte photo paper to print these and that has worked well for me. The paper should be white as the brown kraft paper is part of the image you’re printing. I hope that helps, have fun!
Beautiful. What printer did you use to print these?
I use an HP office jet pro 8610 for mine! 🙂
How did you achieve the White colour on the artwork?
I print on to regular white paper, so it’s a lack of color in that spot. The Kraft back ground texture was printed on to the same paper, but since they are printed at the same time, it’s easy for my printer to skip over the white spots. Hope that helps!
A tonne! Thank you! I admire your drawing and colour style a lot. Have a beautiful day.
I just love your stuff, and the bookmarks are a great idea. Rightbrained Mom has all these great DIY printable ideas for play food and puppets that I am going to use for Christmas presents, but then that got me thinking about all the clipart I have from you. I am thinking of taking some scrap wood that Lowes gives away for free and making some farm animal blocks and barn for my kiddos from your farm clipart. In fact, I am envision a very cheap low maintenance Christmas this year. Hopefully it works because I am not a crafty person. This will help me justify the money I spend on your well worth it clipart. lol
Oh wow, that sounds like a fun project Lacy! I would love to see photos if you get the chance to show me! Enjoy your crafting!