Getting someone a handmade gift shows how much you care and appreciate that person. For a person, who loves to nestle up in the warmth of words, there is no gift greater than a good book. For most of us, writing a book for that person, would mean an overachieving life-altering event, which is not going to happen any time soon. How about gifting a bookmark made by you along with that book they've been wanting read? Sounds good, doesn't it? Here are some do-it-yourself bookmarks ideas for kids and adults to try. Things You'll Need Construction paper Scissors Ruler Pencil Glue Procedure

1. Draw three squares of sides of about 2.5 inches like those shown in the figure with the help of a ruler.
2. Draw diagonals to the outer squares, and scratch out the outer squares with the pencil.
3. Now cut the shape made with the lines without the shaded regions. The cutout you get is made of one square and two triangles.
4. Fold the triangle on top of the square and flatten it well.
5. Put some glue on the outer side of the folded triangle.
6. Now, fold the other triangle on it, such that the two triangles are glued together, making a neat pocket.

Alternate Method Things You'll Need Construction paper Procedure

1. Take a square construction paper of dimensions of 5 x 5 inches.
2. Fold the paper diagonally and flatten it to get a triangle.
3. Consider the longest side of the triangle as the base and the opposite corner as the tip. Join the two corners of the base to the tip, as shown in the image in 3 and 4, and flatten the folds.
4. Now, unfold the folds made in the previous step.
5. Fold the top layer of the paper downwards as shown in image 5.
6. Neatly, tuck in the two corners of the base into the space between the papers of the unfolded tip as shown in step 6 and step 7 to get a neatly folded pocket.

This makes a basic paper corner, you can use colored construction paper, glue fancy printed paper on it or may be add some elements to give it your personal touch. You could make a cute animal, superhero or anything that fancies your inspiration behind these bookmarks. Psstt... Another way of making these pockets is by using the corner of an envelop. Just fold any paper diagonally, and cut it 2.5 inches from the corner, you can either cut it straight to get a triangle or cut an arch so you could get a heart shape out of it. Use this as a template and place it on the bottom corner of an envelop and cut it. You could use the template to cut out some fancy papers that you could stick on the corners to make it look decorative. Things You'll Need Some really cute buttons Some colorful paper clips Hot glue Tiny bits of felt (or any scrap fabric you may have) Procedure

1. Place a drop of hot glue on the underside of a button.
2. Put the paper clip on it.
3. Cover the whole with a teeny bit of felt to give it a smooth finish.

This is just a basic design, you could play around with these ideas and make several unique designs with different buttons and some hot glue. Things You'll Need Really pretty scrap fabric (five inches long and one inch wide) Fabric stiffener Scissors Hot Glue Paper Clips Procedure

1. Cut the fabric into three pieces - one for the loops of the bow, another to form the notch of the bow, and a third piece to form the tail of the bow.
   1. The strip for the bow should be around ¾ of an inch in width and around 4.5 inches in length.
   2. The strip for the tail should be of the same width, but the length can be slightly shorter, around 3.5 inches.
   3. The piece that forms the notch should be a quarter of an inch in width and around 1.5 inches in length.
2. Join the outer edges of the longest piece with the help of some hot glue to make a loop.
3. Use a thread to pinch the loop in the center, wrap a thread along its width and tie a knot.
4. You could dab a little glue at the end of the thread to securely fasten it. You will now have a basic bow shape
5. Fold the tail piece of the bow into half, and stick the V-shaped tail to the bow with the help of some hot glue.
6. Now, place a drop of hot glue on the tail side of the bow and place the paper clip on it.
7. Using the thin strip that remains, neatly wrap it around the notch of the bow and the paper clip, while the glue is wet.
8. Allow this assembly to dry and you get a bow paper clip bookmark.

Things You'll Need Pretty lace (almost thrice the length of your book) Elastic (¼ inch shorter than the length of your book) Sewing pins Needle and thread (or a sewing machine) Book (reference for measurement) Procedure

1. Fold one end of the ribbon just under ¾ of an inch, and fasten it with the help of a sewing pin.
2. Continue this and fold almost the whole length of the lace.
3. Make sure that the ruffled lace you create is almost 2 inches longer than the length of the book.
4. Stitch the ruffles in place either with the help of machine stitch, or in the absence of a sewing machine, a back stitch would do. Now, remove all the pins.
5. Tuck the edges of the ribbon on the under side and secure an elastic with the help of a sewing pin on both sides such that the elastic and the lace sort of make a loop.
6. Stitch these edges together and remove the pins.
7. You could use this as a bookmark or as a pretty wrap for your journal.

You could create your own cute version of this bookmark, by using brightly colored elastic only, or a pretty plain lace with an elastic. You could play around with the idea a little, by adding a cloth flower, or some cute designs made with buttons or felt. Here are a few ideas to get you going. You could use the basic ideas given above and add your own elements like tassels or charms on ribbons on it. We have only scratched the surface of the umpteen varieties of bookmarks that you could make.