You guys? You guys… You guys! Guess what my amazing husband got me for my birthday? A laminator! I know, you’re totally jealous right now, aren’t you? It turns out those darn things aren’t nearly as expensive as I thought, and then he found one for something like 70% off and couldn’t pass it up. Yay for me! Of course, the laminating pouches cost a pretty penny, so I’m pretty conservative with them.
Anyway, I’ve been finding awesome ways to use the thing, and here’s a really simple one. Keep in mind that if you don’t have a laminator. You could pretty easily make this fun bookmark craft by placing the paper between two sheets of contact paper. As silly as it seems, one of the reasons I really liked this kids’ craft is because I’ve got a Kindergartener and a preschooler, and I love for them to get practice with scissors. It’s so good for skill development, hand-eye coordination, etc. Yeah, I’m that mom who’s always thinking about how to make her kids’ brains bigger!
What You Need to Make This Bookmark Crafts
- Cute pictures, clip art, etc. (We did ours at Halloween and used these free printables from right here on Woo!Jr. https://www.woojr.com/printable-halloween-bookmarks/)
- Coordinating scrapbook paper
- Laminator and pouch (or contact paper)
- Hole punch
- Yarn
- Tape/Glue
After we picked out the free printables, each girl cut out her own. It was really fun to compare (quietly to myself, of course) the motor skills of kids ranging in age from 3 to 7 1/2!
I had gone ahead and pre-cut pieces of scrapbook paper into strips slightly wider and about one inch longer than the images. Each girl then got to tape (you could totally use glue for this) one design to each of the scrapbook paper strips. We made sure to pick out scrapbook paper that matched well with our designs.
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This is where the magic happens. (Well, it is if you’ve got a new laminator and can’t wait to use it!) Turn these strips into bookmarks by placing them in a laminating pouch, making sure to leave enough room all the way around to cut them out. Then, feed them through your laminator.
After the bookmarks have cooled (which takes pretty much no time), cut them out. Remember to leave a boarder of plastic all the way around so they stay sealed up. The next step is to punch a hole in the top. We put ours about 1/2″ below the top of the scrapbook paper.
Finally, thread some coordinating yarn through the hole and tie it off to make a tassel for your bookmark.
All that’s left is to make this kids’ craft useful by reading a good book!
