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in this easy tutorial we’ll be going over how to make cute laminated bookmarks. These simple bookmarks are great to make and sell as part of a small business idea. They’re also great as cute and easy handmade gifts for loved ones, teachers and friends!
The first thing im going to do is create the design for my bookmark. To do this i’m going to need to use a design software. For this tutorial i’ll be using canva.com. Canva offers free and paid versions, with the paid version you get more tools and design options but the free version is all you need to get started with making your own bookmarks.
To start im going to head to canva.com. i’m going to click new design and then ill select cm and input the dimensions for my bookmark. i’m going to use 5cm x 15 and then press create. Some people decide to make their bookmarks directly on an a4 sheet however, by doing it this way i can easily input our bookmarks individually onto other softwares and i also then have a single bookmark that i can download images of for marketing purposes.
Now that we have our blank bookmark it’s time to start making our design. For the purpose of this tutorial all of the elements i use will be from Canva. First of all im going to click on the blank bookmark and change the colour of my background
Next I’m going to go over to the toolbar on the left and I’m going to select elements and then graphics. I’m going to type in the search bar to find a specific graphic and then I’m going to add it to my page, drag it and resize it to suit.
Then I’m going to click on text in the tool bar, I’m going to add my text box and then change the font, resize it and add any desired effects such as the black outline.
To finish off my design i decided to fill in the blank spaces, I went back to elements and found a cute star, i added several to the page and then spaced them out and resized them to suit.
Once we’re happy with our design we need to click download in the top corner, i download my bookmark as a png image and save it to my computer.
Now it’s time to prepare the bookmarks to print. For this we’re going to go back and create a new document in canva. this time our dimensions are going to be 29.7cm x 21cm – landscape a4. were going to then click create to open our document
Next we go over to upload on our toolbar and were going to upload our bookmark, we then click on the uploaded bookmark to add it to our document.
Now I right click on the bookmark and select duplicate. I repeat this process until i have 5 bookmarks on my page and then spread them out evenly on the page.
I then drag the boomarks to the centre of the page, you’ll know when you’re in the centre as a crosshair like the one in the image above will appear (this is so that if you decide to double sided print your image on both sides it should align better)
As a personal choice i then add a second page to my document by clicking the icon marked with an arrow above. I then add a large coloured rectangle to my page. this is to make a simple back for the bookmark. You may decide to simply print your design on the back however for this tutorial i’ll be doing a simple colour back as many older printers will struggle to properly align a double sided design and this method should work for everybody.
Now that i have my bookmark design, i’m going to download my document as a pdf print. I’m then going to print my bookmarks. i’ll print my front page first..
Then ill take my printed bookmarks, flip the page over and print my coloured rectangle on the back.
Now i take my bookmarks and pop them into a laminating pouch and run them through my laminator twice. I’ll be using hot lamination but you can use whichever method is your preferred.
Now i have my laminated bookmarks i use my guillotine to cut them out.
And finally i use my corner rounding tool to make my bookmarks look that little bit more professional
**top tip** if you end up with any jagged edges after cutting your bookmarks try running them back through your laminator!
This cute paper plate turtle craft is so sweet and easy to make, each turtle turns out beautiful and unique and with it being a low budget idea it’s perfect for home or group crafting!
here’s what we used
Paper plate
Green card
Tissue paper
Googly eye/sticker eye
Scissors
Glue
How to make a Paper plate turtle
Start by taking your paper plate and cutting it in half. Next take your tissue paper and either cut or tear off several small multicoloured pieces. Glue your tissue paper down all across the half paper plate to make your decorated shell design.
Cut out a lightbulb shaped piece to make the turtles head and then cut out the shape of your turtle’s mouth on the rounded side of the head as you can see above. Glue the head down on the back of your paper plate.
Now cut out two large L shaped flippers and glue them down in place on the back of the paper plate so that they sit nicely at the bottom of the turtle’s shell.
Finally cut and stick a pointy little tail at the back end of the turtle and add your eye to complete its face.. your turtle is ready to be popped aside to dry!
These cute shredded paper birds nests are the perfect craft for welcoming in the spring/summer seasons. They’re easily adaptable to suit all different ages and children will love collaging with different shades and tones of paper, you could even use magazines to add a little extra variety.
Here’s what we used
Coloured card (blue, yellow, pink, orange)
Various brown papers
Googly eyes
Feathers
Scissors
Glue
A pencil
How to make our shredded paper birds nests
Start by taking a pencil and sketching out the shape of the tree trunk, the branch and a semi circle birds nest. (This will work as an easy guide for your little one to follow).
Next take your brown papers and begin shredding them into little rough strips and squares. Glue the pieces down inside the guidelines to make your tree trunk and Birds nest.
from your coloured paper cut out a large circle. Fold the circle in half and glue it down in place on one side of the nest to make the mother bird.
Now take your coloured paper and cut out some small semi circles to make the babies’ heads. Glue them down right above the nest.
Glue on some Googly eyes and beaks to each of your birds.
Add some feet and feathers to finish off your birds then add any optional extras (like our fluffy cloud!) and your cute shredded paper birds nests are finished and ready to be popped aside to dry!
My kids and I love to see how your family’s finished artwork turned out, did you know you can now share them with us on Facebook and instagram?!
Take your papers and cut out a thin strip of white paper. Next cut out a slightly wider strip of pink pink paper and then finally a strip of black paper that is slightly wider again.
Cut the paper strips down so that they are the right size to wrap around the cups. Glue the black strip around the base of the cup and then layer the pink and white as you can see in the picture above.
Now it’s time to make the springs for the legs and neck. To make the first spring cut out two identical yellow strips of card.
Glue them together at a right angle..
Then take turns folding the strips back and forwards over each other to make your spring. Once you reach the end secure it with glue or tape.
Repeat this step four more times until you have a total of five springs. To make the extra long legs glue two springs together.
Now take your paper cup head and the paper cup that you will use as the body. Glue one end of the small spring to the head and the other to the body to make the neck. Then add the two long springs onto the bottom of the body to make the legs. Add a Googly eye to either side of the head cup to finish the flamingo’s face.
Cut out two large webbed feet shapes and glue one to the end of each leg.
Finish off your paper cup flamingo puppet by adding a feather to either side of the body cup and then piercing a whole in the top of the head and tying on some string.
Isn’t this little guy just adorable? My kids had so much fun playing with him.
These easy paper tulips are perfect for children to make and gift this Mother’s Day! They’re also great for a variety other occasions such as birthdays, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, teachers gifts and more. All you need is some card, some paper and a little bit of love – great for gifting on a budget!
Here’s what we used
Coloured card
Green paper
Scissors
Glue
How to make our easy paper tulips craft
Start by cutting out six identical tulip heads. The easiest way to do this is to create a template, you can either design your own or use our free printable one which can be found above.
Fold each tulip head in half down the centre line as you can see in the image above.
Take two of your folded tulip heads and glue them together so that they are aligned at the petals. Take a third tulip and then attach that one to the two you have just joined.
From your green paper cut out a large rectangle for the stem and two thin leaves. Again, these can be found on our template if needed.
Starting at one corner begin rolling the paper on an angle to create a stem.
Roll the paper all the way to the end and secure the loose end with glue.
Glue the paper stem inside the centre of the flowers that you have begun to stick together.
Take your remaining flower heads and continue gluing them onto your tulip aligning them with the previous ones and covering the stem. Once you have your last tulip head make sure it is glued on both sides to close up the flower.
Glue your two leaves onto the stem and your paper flower is finished! Simply pop it aside until it’s dry and ready to give to someone special.
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