I know that e-readers are popular. I love my Kindle. But there is something about opening a real book and flipping the pages while getting a whiff of each one.

E-readers are great but, for me, nothing will ever replace the experience of a physical book. That’s why I am always reading a few books at a time, one on my Kindle and one with real pages.

Recently though, I misplaced my bookmark so I had to find a replacement. Why buy one when I can make one, right? So I decided on watercolor bookmarks. They’re quick and easy and I can make a bunch of them fairly quickly.

If you like the ones pictured above and might want to make your own, keep reading.

DIY watercolor bookmark materials

• ruler
• pencil
• marker
• scissors
• paint brush
• watercolor paper
• watercolor paints

Step 1

Measure and cut out your soon-to-be bookmarks.

Mine were smaller than the typical bookmark. They’re about 1.5″ wide by about 4″ long.

Step 2

Pick two watercolor paints and blend them together.

In the image above I used pink/purple and yellow/orange. I started at the top and moved down along the right side with one color and then flipped the bookmark upside down and repeated with the other color. Then blended them in the middle.

If you’re unfamiliar with watercolor, this video is great for beginner instruction.

Let it dry. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Step 3

Using a marker, draw a design you like or write a quote on your bookmark.

When you’re done you will have something like these. They’re colorful, possibly inspirational and something you’ve made by yourself. You could make them with your kids too! The Happy Hooligans blog has a fun tutorial on how to use Sharpies and rubbing alcohol to make pretty neat bookmarks.

Try to get creative if you’re up for a challenge. Use a decorative hole punch to cut out the edges, use shades of the same color, experiment with typography… whatever you can think of. It’s a fun, quick project and you have nothing to lose.

Let me know what you think! I’d love you hear your ideas or how you might decorate a bookmark.