It’s that season when we empty our bank accounts to make the gift season special – but we don’t have to! There are so many ways that you can quickly make a meaningful gift. This one does require a laminator, but it’s a great investment for your crafting arsenal if you don’t have one already.
I recently received a grab bag from Strand Books & Kate Spade. The included bookmarks were beautiful, but I knew they wouldn’t last. The package was also wrapped in beautiful ribbon. You can think way outside of the box here. I have used concert tickets, handouts at tourist attractions, and even pressed flowers for this craft before.
Place the item(s) in a laminating sheet and run through a laminator (I have this one) – you could have this done at Kinkos if you’re more interested in a one-time deal. I put as many items as I could in an 8.5″ x 11″ laminating sheet. I cut the ribbons at a pretty angle before laminating.
Then, cut them out. I went right next to the bookmarks/ribbon this time. I have left a clear edge on previous projects. If you do pressed flowers (they need to be super thin) without a background, you can cut them into interesting shapes. This is where you can let your creativity run wild. You could even use scrapbooking scissors for an interesting edge.
Include in a gift basket or keep it yourself!
Here are some ideas of what you could make into a bookmark:
- Concert tickets or festival passes/wrist bands
- Pressed flowers with or without a paper background
- Interesting scrapbook paper
- Kid art, cut to size
- Freebie bookmarks
- Decorative ribbon
- Wedding invitation
- Sporting event tickets
- Any stub of anything or any flat keepsake, really!
I love this project for creating a propose for something you’d otherwise throw away (even though you don’t want to). I’m sure that I will be reinventing this project again the next time I have a little treasure slated for the trash can that is beautiful and/or sentimental.