Saturday, April 2, 2011

"Vintage" Inspired Jewelry Bookmarkers


Probably like a lot of gals out there, I have bags of orphaned earrings, necklaces that I always intended to get repaired, pins and other jewelry I always liked but just never wore.  Recently while at JoAnn’s I was looking for some silver jump rings for another project and I saw these great little “clasps” (don’t know the real name for them) and I grabbed a bag not sure what I’d do with them .  Then while cleaning my stamping room and trying to organize my ribbon "stash", it occurred to me what I could do with those clasps . . . make book markers!
So taking one of the clasps (shown here) and pieces of ribbon, I put one end of the ribbon inside the opening and squeezed it shut using pliers.  One thing I realized is that if the ribbon is very thin, you need to fold it a few times so the little ‘teeth’ of the clamp can hold tightly.  
Then I foraged through my bag of ‘jewelry’ and found these pieces that I thought looked pretty dangling from the end of my ribbon bookmarkers.  I used a simple jump ring to attach them to the clasp. 

To seal the other end of the ribbon and keep it from raveling, I just used a lighter to carefully melt/seal the end of the ribbon.

 
Warning:  Making these is ADDICTING so you better have a lot of friends who like to read and need pretty bookmarkers because once you start, you may not be able to stop!

25 comments:

  1. This is a very clever idea. I have a huge stash of jewelry finds. This would work very good for something like that. Found you at Debbiedoos and am now following. Check out me:
    butterscotchcaramel.blogspot.com

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  2. Great Idea! Saw you on DebbieDoos! Come visit me at creativeeyedias.blogspot.com!

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  3. Do nice to meet you Lauren. Those are really cute. Please add my LINK to your post so that that others know you joined the NEWBIE party.
    http://debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

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  4. hiya , these are gorgeous book marks , i used those ends on ribbons before as embellishments but did not think of making book marks ,tfs
    xmaggiex

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  5. YEAH! I have orphaned pieces....but now they will become book lovers! Thanks for the idea....over from the newbie party!

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  6. Great ideas, I think I wore one earring in my ear for like two months because I thought I would find the other one...I never found the other one. Come link up this project to my new party goobyecityhellosuburbs

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  7. Very pretty! I just say those little clasps at Hobby Lobby this week (1/2 off - whoo hoo). Great idea!

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  8. I bought a packet of those little doo-dads to do these types of bookmarks! I love the look and I'm hoping to get to them soon.

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  9. I LOVE these, too!! Thanks for linking!! :)

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  10. Cute idea. I came by from The Thrifty Home.

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  11. Oh thanks for linking these up with us at our linky party. They are fabulous!

    Our latest party is here:
    http://www.finecraftguild.com/diy-craft-tutorial-party-33/

    Have a great one,
    Rose

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  12. Those look like they could be addicting!! But I'm sure your friends will love to get them :)

    Thanks so much for linking to "20 Below Thursday"! :)

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  13. Great idea! I can hardly wait to dig through my stash of old/broken/orphaned jewelry.

    Becky
    http://bucketofbuttons.blogspot.com

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  14. I love these so much! Thanks for the idea!

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  15. These are so awesome! Love the vintage look!

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  16. These are so pretty! I've made some bookmarks, but I thought I had to sew both the top and bottom edges. Your clasps are sooo much better!

    I found your pretty blog thru Friday Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense. I did a post, too, and would love for you to come visit me!

    Big TX Hugs,
    STephanie
    Angelic Accents

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  17. Oh My, you are so clever. I love this idea and it would be so useful in my life because I am always misplacing earing's. Thanks for sharing and inspiring me.

    Hope you are having a great weekend,

    Cha Cha

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  18. This is a really cute idea. It is a great way to use up orphaned earrings. Thanks for linking it up!
    Sherry

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  19. What a great bookmarker idea! Thanks for sharing :)

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  20. Beautiful! Yet another way for me to display my love of books. :)

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