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Homemade Bookmark

Let the kids make their mark!
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Have your child create a simple, creative photo collage bookmark using a few fabulous pics and some contact paper. They're great gifts for any occasion … to say, "Happy Birthday, Grandma," "You're the Best Teacher" or "Sorry I put gum on your cat."
Photos: Sorry, digital pics won't work for this craft. You'll have to actually print some out! Hit a photo printing kiosk at your local drug store or photo shop, or plan ahead and order prints online from a service like Shutterfly or Kodak. Or print some on your printer at home.
Cardboard: The back of a cereal box will work.
Scissors or paper cutter
Clear contact paper
Hole puncher
Ribbon
Glue
1 Have your kid pick a few of his favorite photos out of the 20,000 you've taken since he was born. If he's making a bookmark for someone special, encourage him to use a picture featuring him and that person together. Grandma may love anything plastered with photos of your kid, but everyone else will probably think it's a little weird to receive a bookmark exclusively featuring your kid for their birthday.

2 Have your child cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a long, wide rectangular bookmark.

3 Help him cover the cardboard with a piece of construction paper to make a pretty base in case any of the cardboard peeks through the collage. Cut the paper to size and have your child glue it onto the cardboard.

4 Next, help your kid cut out the photos he wants to use. Make sure to cut the images so that they work nicely together and fit onto the cardboard.

5 Help him glue the photos onto the cardboard.

6 Laminate the finished product by covering the bookmark with clear contact paper.

7 Using the hole puncher, make a hole in the top of the bookmark. Make sure your child designs the collage so that nobody's face winds up with a hole poked through it. Someone might take it personally!

8 String a ribbon through the hole so that the ends meet, and tie a knot snug against the top of the cardboard, leaving the two ends of the ribbon dangling, and you've got a fancy, personalized gift to give.

Don't have the time or patience to make a whole photo collage? Make a simple version of the photo bookmark out of two photos. Have your child glue them together back to back and laminate the pics with the contact paper. Punch a hole in the top, loop a ribbon through the hole, and you've got an easier version of this personalized bookmark! Thanks to Traci Page Johnson and Nick Jr. Magazine.

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