I loved arts & crafts as a child, and I’ve never really grown out of it, the projects have just evolved as I’ve gotten older. Rather than painting a birdhouse, I get to paint and decorate my daughter’s outdoor play house. Rather than rearranging and decorating my room for a tea party with my stuffed animals, I get to plan birthday parties for my kids and special events for our youth group. Rather than only hanging my artwork on my bedroom wall, I get to paint and have free range over an entire house! My personality craves creative outlets, and I love a good DIY project.
I came across a tutorial for these bookmarks on Instagram, and I just had to try it for myself. I know several of the girls in my youth group love to read as well, and so, we made a girl’s day of it. We had so much fun! I’ve been using one of the bookmarks I made for weeks, and it’s held up great! These make wonderful gifts as well - hint, hint Mother’s Day is right around the corner! My 5-year-old even joined us for this girl’s day so this project is kid friendly!
Materials:
I found everything I needed for this project on Amazon.
Pressed flowers (here’s what I used, we made 12 bookmarks with this set and could have stretched it a little more too)
Bookmarks & tassels (here’s what I used, we had several extras)
Mod podge (we used the matte and gloss; if you only have one, I would recommend the gloss but I bought this kit)
Paintbrushes (we used sponge brushes, I think a soft brushes might even work better if you want to test)
Paper plates - or something to protect the surface you’re working on
Tweezers - optional for placing some of the smaller flowers but not necessary
Directions:
Prep your bookmarks. The ones I purchased had protective coverings on both sides that we had to peel away. Don’t add the tassel just yet, you don’t want it to get sticky from the mod podge.
Next, plan your flower placement. You can’t go back once you add the mod podge, so we planned out the placement of our flowers first and found it really helpful. I even took a picture of mine to reference later.
Remove all flowers to add the first layer of mod podge. Add a thin layer of mod podge across the entire bookmark, even in the areas you won’t have flowers. It dries with a bit of texture so it’s best if the entire bookmark is uniform. Next, add your flowers and press them down with your fingers to secure them and be sure all petals are flat.
Allow the mod podge to dry completely. We took a lunch break here :) After the first layer has completely dried, go over top the entire bookmark and flowers with another layer of mod podge. This will secure and seal everything.
Once it has completely dried, add your tassel and you’re ready to get lost in a book!
If you try out this DIY, please tag us on social media! We would love to see your beautiful creations!
