Turn Old Greeting Cards Into Bookmarks

Winter is a wonderful time for crafts. With the weather too cold for much outdoor adventure, and social restrictions in place, my kids are getting bored. They decided to repurpose old greeting cards into bookmarks.

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Sending a greeting card for birthdays or Christmas seems to be a fading tradition. We still receive a few each year and are in the practice of saving them. There is beautiful artwork on many greeting cards, and it seems a waste not to find a use for them.

Materials needed to make bookmarks:

• A craft paper trimmer or ruler and scissors.
• Laminator or boxing tape.
• Yarn
• Hole Punch
• Corner rounder
• Old greeting cards

Steps:

To choose the image you want for the bookmark, use paper to “frame” the area. If using a ruler and scissors, mark your area to cut. If using a paper cutter, use the cut line.

Some cards can be used for multiple bookmarks, so take time to frame different areas.

If your cards have messages written inside that you do not want visible on the back of the bookmark, cut a colored piece of paper the same size as the bookmark. Lightly glue it over the writing.

Round the edges with a corner cutter. This is optional. It is better to round the corners prior to laminating depending on the strength of your corner cutter. Ours is lightweight and did not work after lamination.

If you do not have a laminator, boxing tape can be used by taping the bookmark on each side and trimming the edges. Laminators and laminating pouches have become more affordable. Mine has been a staple in our homeschool classroom for many projects.

Lay the bookmarks on the lamination sheet leaving a bit of space between each.

Bookmarks shift easily when holding the sheet go run through the laminating machine. A piece of cardboard under the sheet will help keep it stable. Gentle push the edge of the sheet off the cardboard and into the machine. Hold the cardboard flat while the lamination sheet feeds through.

After laminating, cut the bookmarks apart.

Punch a hole in the middle top of each bookmark and loop on a piece of yard.

Creating bookmarks from greeting cards is a great winter craft. It was a fun project for my older kids to complete independently.  Younger children would need some assistance and supervision with some steps. Regardless of age, it is a project that should end with reading time to test out those beautiful bookmarks.