Once your flowers have been pressed and are completely dry, you are ready to “play.” Look for craft supplies that you can use in your bookmarks.
You can use a variety of papers – from rag paper, scrapbook paper, construction, paper, pages from old books, or print background images from online sources.
Cut your paper to the size you want your bookmark to be. It is fun to layer the papers and it adds more colors and textures. Laminating them creates a durable bookmark and the flowers stay protected. The laminating pouches make this easy!
Once they are laminated, you can cut around each one, leaving about 1/8 inch around the outer edges. If you want to add a tassel, use a paper punch to make a hole and thread it through.
I lay out my flowers, papers, tassels, etc and match them up to create styles that I like.
Another option is to use petals to create bookmarks. This one has petals from yellow blanket flowers, orange zinnias and red drift roses. I used a laminating pouch and put a grid underneath so I could keep the petals in a row. Then I carefully lowered down the top of the pouch and laminated it.
The finished project. The pink one was made with craft paper and red drift rose petals.
You can use whole flowers, petals, buds, leaves, and stems. Just try to keep the bookmark as flat as possible.
If you don’t want to use a laminating machine, another option is to place a strip of clear contact paper over the flowers. If you use the rag papers, this allows the jagged edge to show.
After you have put the contact paper on top of the bookmark, you can use the paper punch to make a hole and add a tassel.
All of these were made using contact paper. This method works better if your design is not completely flat. Fun project to make with the kids! Try to remember to add your name or initials and the date, then it is a keepsake!
Enjoy!!!!
