We love making handmade bookmarks for our collection of books! Not only are they fun to craft, but they can be used again and again with all the books in our little library. Today, we’re making DIY watercolor bookmarks with words inspired from a book, giving them a little more life. And helping make sure you won’t get “lost” in a book!
We’re partnering with Disney Books and the new book Beauty and the Beast: Lost In A Book by Jennifer Donnelly. It’s a Beauty and the Beast tale all about Belle, a new enchanting original story that will take you on an exciting adventure. Your going to love reading it with your tweens and teens, we did!
More about Lost in a Book:
Smart, bookish Belle, a captive in the Beast’s castle, has become accustomed to her new home and has befriended its inhabitants. When she comes upon Nevermore, an enchanted book unlike anything else she has seen in the castle, Belle finds herself pulled into its pages and transported to a world of glamour and intrigue. The adventures Belle has always imagined, the dreams she was forced to give up when she became a prisoner, seem within reach again.
With our creative watercolor bookmarks, we’re using a watercolor masking fluid to write all sorts of different words and phrases we grabbed from the book Lost in a Book — Once in forever, magic, delight, more than a story, enchanted, a dream come true. Here’s how we created our inspired handmade bookmarks…
DIY Watercolor Bookmarks:
Supplies for Watercolor Bookmarks:
- masking fluid or liquid frisket, find it online here
- watercolors and brushes
- watercolor paper
- water cup
- newspaper
- paper cutter or scissors
- pencil – optional
Instructions:
1. Using your paper cutter or scissors, trim your paper to bookmark size. Ours are 8×1-1/2 inches in size. You can make yours any size you’d like.
2. You can start by using a pencil to draw out your words or you can do this freehand. With a watercolor brush, or better to use the dipstik it pairs with, dip it into the masking fluid. Write out your words onto your trimmed watercolor paper. Go as quickly as you can, the masking fluid starts to dry once it hits the air. TIP: You might need to wash your brush between each paper piece or two.
Let the masking fluid dry completely before you begin watercoloring. Depending on how thick you put your masking fluid, it can take up to an hour or two.
3. Once the masking fluid is dry, watercolor onto the paper, right over the masking fluid. It will work like magic and keep that area unpainted. Be sure to let the watercolors dry completely on the paper.
4. Once the watercolor paint is dry on the paper, you can rub off the masking fluid. It turns into a rubber substance and will rub right away. Rub in circles with your finger to help avoid the masking fluid tearing the paper.
Now it’s done and ready for a book!
*Thanks to Disney Books for sponsoring this watercolor bookmarks post. Be sure to visit the Official Site and follow @DisneyHyperion on Twitter, @DisneyBooks on Instagram and @JenWritesBooks on Twitter and Instagram with hashtag #LostInABook!
