In the beginning of the year I set out I read 12 books within a year as my 2023 New Year's resolution. And as it is now almost December, I find myself reading 3 different books at the same time, and always looking for anything around the house to use as a bookmark: a scrap of paper, a pen, my phone, or ever another book. With Christmas fast approaching, I realise that it's a good time to make some DIY bookmarks!
To begin, I made some bookmark tassels out of some embroidery threads that I have leftover from a embroidery kit that I received as a Christmas gift from the previous year. Embroidery threads are readily available in many colours in craft stores as well as some charity shops.
The making of the tassles was pretty straight forward, and there are many tutorials online that visualise the process very clearly. The only thing I did differently was to braid the handing thread using a 'two-strand snake braid' technique to strengthen the thread itself, since 1 skein of embroidery thread might not be able to withstand long period of use.
As for the colours of threads, I picked colours that were associated with Christmas, and found that multicoloured tassles tend to be more visually appealing than single-coloured tassels (as long as the secondary colour is analogous or monochromatic).
The most fun part of making DIY bookmarks was painting the actual bookmarks. I used 400gsm watercolour papers, because I thought that thicker bookmarks to would last longer. In hindsight I do realise that this is not neccessary the case, that thinner bookmarks (such as with 180gsm paper) are more flexible when the book is bent, whilst thicker bookmarks can be quite clunky. Also, the 400gsm paper is just barely punchable using a standard hole puncher...
From left:
1) Feather - watercolour and fountain pen;
2) Leaf - watercolour and acrylic paint;
3) Candy cane - acrylic paint and white gel pen;
4) Blueprint - Masking fluid and watercolour
When the colour palette of the painted bookmarks that of the correcponding tassels, they do turn out very pretty! The fact that you can decide what elements go onto the bookmark design means that it can be personalised, and meaningful as a Christmas gift to any booklover!
I have also made some more bookmarks for personal use, and tried to match the theme/colour scheme of the books! Here are some pictures:
In regards to my 2023's resolution of reading 12 books, here is the list of books I have read so far:
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen - Paul Torday
Breakfast at Tiffany's - Truman Capote
Identity Crisis - Ben Elton
Before the Coffee gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Under the Greenwood Tree - Thomas Hardy
The Postman Poet - Liz Shakespeare
Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami
The Flatshare - Beth O'Leary
In Order to Live - Yeonmi Park
Wintering - Katherine May
The Cat Who Saved Books - Sosuke Natsukawa
Of the above, I would say that my favourite has been The Postman Poet. In 2024 I would like to continue reading more books, whilst also expanding the range of book genres! I would like to tackle sci-fi and whodunit next!
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