Paperclip Bookmarks

I found this pack of 500 jumbo paper clips at Staples. There are red, blue, green, yellow and pink.  They have some other colors there as well in smaller packages and sometimes have seasonal colors too.

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest that used fabric and large paperclips to make bookmarks.  I drive my husband nuts because I never seem to have a bookmark for my books so I dog-ear the pages or just lay the book down open to the page I am on.  He is constantly finding me makeshift bookmarks that I find in the book I am reading.  He'll be excited to see this craft.  But my main purpose in making this was for Teacher Appreciation week.

I gathered up some ribbons that I had laying around.  I cut them into smaller strips (experiment to find the length you like).  Then I just looped the cut ends through the end of the paperclip and put the ends through the loop of the ribbon, pulling tight to get it to stay.  Be sure to put it through the correct end of the paperclip so that the paperclip will continue to function.

Here are a few close-up examples.

I had this fun teaching board to display them on.  It is one of those word charts that teachers use to put vocabulary words in.  My mom gave it to me when she retired from teaching and I'm hanging on to it in case I become a full-time teacher down the road.  We'll put these out in the Teacher's Workroom area during Teacher Appreciation week and the teachers and staff can pick the bookmark they like best.

 This would also be fun to do with Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Activity Day girls, grandkids, students, etc.  Cheap, easy and fun!