How to Upcycle a Coloring Book Page into a Bookmark

This tutorial was originally published on Crafting a Green World in 2017.

Need another idea for how to upcycle a coloring book page? Here's how to turn it into a sturdy bookmark, the easy way! 

 My kids and I love coloring books, as I'm sure you can tell from all of the tutorials that I post on ways to upcycle coloring book pages. Well, here's one more for you! 

 This coloring book page bookmark looks especially nice when made from one of those adult coloring book pages with lots of patterns, or when fussy cut to pick out an extra-cute detail from a larger coloring book page. It's also a good way to upcycle a coloring book page that the artist has abandoned partway through--you know they NEVER go back to finish those old pages. 

 If you use a page that's colored by a kid, these also make great little handmade gifts to family and friends. When going through the latest stack of finished coloring pages, for instance, I found a couple of springtime pages that will look great made into bookmarks and tucked into Easter cards for the grandparents. Want to try it out for yourself? Read on! 

 You will need: 

  coloring page. You can use anything that you want for this, although remember that coloring books made from cheap paper are NOT acid-free. They're fine for short-term use in a book, but you wouldn't want to put one of those bookmarks in a book and then forget about it for twenty years. 

Many adult coloring books advertise that they use acid-free paper, however, and because I have two kids, we have a family rule that if you want to color something from a "nice" coloring book, you have to photocopy it first. This increases the playability of the coloring book, makes for a more satisfying coloring experience, as the kids usually choose to copy their page onto cardstock so that they can use permanent markers or our artist-quality colored pencils, and generally means that the finished product will be acid-free. 

  backing material. Again, you've got a lot of choice in this. You want a sturdy back to your bookmark, because wishy-washy bendy bookmarks SUCK, and also because your coloring book page probably has another drawing on the back or bleed-through from the front. My favorite backing material is adhesive card stock, although you'll see that I use duct tape for a couple of the bookmarks below. Other options include any sort of card-weight paper and your own adhesive. 

  hole punch and embroidery floss or yarn. This adds the perfect last detail to your bookmark. Feel free to also add beads! 

 1. Back and fussy cut the bookmark. I like to apply my backing paper first, even though it does make the placement less accurate.

Applying the backing first, though, makes the bookmark easier to trim without getting adhesive onto your scissors. 

Cut the bookmark to shape and then add the backing and THEN trim, however, if fussy cutting the absolutely perfect bookmark is your highest priority. 

  2. Hole punch and add yarn or embroidery floss. I like to use double the length of my bookmark in embroidery floss. I knot it at the bookmark, then knot each of the threads near the end to prevent unraveling. You can use several pieces of embroidery floss at one time, if you want. It makes the bookmark look even nicer!