Fun with Bookmarks!

Reading is something that I have always enjoyed. In fact, my ultimate happy place is me sitting on the beach, with my toes in the sand, listening to the ocean, while reading a good book. I am so happy that my daughter also enjoys reading and is slowly starting to get into chapter books. As all of these new chapter books are coming into the house, I knew that I needed to make some bookmarks for her, because buying them is a ridiculous option in my world. The idea first started as using scraps of fabric to make bookmarks and has later evolved into the use of something a little more fun than fabric. I realize we are in the technology age of e-readers and iphone apps but I would like to hope that there are still some people around, like me, who enjoy the feeling of turning the pages of an actual book. I know I can also count on kids still reading books the old fashioned way, at least for a couple more years!

I have recently begun thinking about some ways to incorporate up-cycling into my Purplelicious accessories. I have started collecting candy bar wrappers and snack wrappers. Correction: My daughter has been collecting the snack wrappers at lunch during school at the rate of 5-6 per day, it seems kids eat a LOT of Cheetos and Doritos. If you are a fan of those snacks...I will have some products coming soon for you! I think I have a future sales/marketing rep on my hands. Anyway, I have a lot of ideas for these wrappers (which I will blog about later) and initially bookmarks were not one of them, until I made a small error while experimenting with one of the accessory ideas. I was left with the Hershey bar wrapper that was the perfect size for a…you guessed it, a bookmark! I added some ribbon made from 100% recycled materials and here you have it. With the exception of the iron-on vinly on top of the wrapper this is made with recycled materials. Fun!

Then I experimented with another type of candy and created this! My daughter pronounces these “Mike a Likes”, I refuse to correct her. The reward for her cuteness, this bookmark is currently holding her place in “Where the Sidewalk Ends”. I will slowly be adding these and other candy and snack wrappers to the Purplelicious Etsy Shop so be on the look out!

Don't worry I didn't forget about fabric! In a few short weeks I will be teaming up with Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes of MKC Photography and Kicks by MKC at a booth at the Haddonfield Craft and Fine Arts Festival. We thought it would be fun to make something that was a combination of both of our talents and we came up with…right again, you must have had your Wheaties this morning. We are pairing up some of my fun fabrics with Michelle’s resin Art charms. The charm on the bookmark coordinates with the fabric but can be detached and used to accent anything that you can attach it to. Honestly I think it looks perfect as it is on the bookmark but would also make a really cute necklace! Depending on their popularity at the show, they could possibly show up at an Etsy shop you are very familiar with!


I hope all of you are enjoying gathering the books on your summer reading list. For those of you that have already been to my happy place, I am completely jealous and will try not to hold it against you. If you find you are tired of folding down page corners and/or using scrap pieces of paper as bookmarks, you know where to find me.

Hippie Chick!

The majority of the hits I get on this blog are for my tie dyed cupcake post. Which can be found here, if you are curious. When the letter came home from school that my daughter's first grade class was having a Coffee House where they would read poems and needed to dress like hippies I was immediately excited! Sometimes I feel like I was born in the wrong era because I like so many things about that time period. The kids made tie dyed shirts in school and the parents were tasked with accessorizing the outfits hippie style. The headband was simple. I have two peace sign headbands in my Etsy shop to choose from, my daughter has her own version of both. For this she opted for rainbow peace sign headband.


The kids needed to wear jeans so I wanted to make her hippie jeans. I had a pair of old jeans and I found a stash of peace sign bandannas I am guessing from another time I made a hippie halloween costume for myself. That and I am also a fabric hoarder. I cut out the shapes, adhered them to some heat and bond (also something I had "in-stock"), and ironed them on to the jeans. I think they came out pretty darn cute. Here is a picture of my hippie chick. Where is her headband, you might ask? In her desk, she completely forgot to put it on for the show. While I can't make hippie jeans for your little ones I can definitely help them channel their inner hippie with the peace sign headbands. I may even attempt to tie dye some fabric for headbands this summer, ya dig?