The Craft Corner: Imitation Stained Glass Bookmarks
- Amber Hathaway
- Jul 13
- 4 min read
What better craft is there for a book lover than bookmarks? These imitation stained glass bookmarks are as pretty as they are functional. I designed the original three bookmarks around motifs from my Little White Flowers series while keeping them generic enough that you could add your own meaning. The rose is, of course, the core symbol of the series, and candles appear throughout the three books as well. Crows are a significant symbol in the final book in the series, but you can also paint any bird of your choosing.
There are two different versions of the template that you can download. The first version has the three core images plus a blank bookmark template so you can design your own. The second one has a cat-themed bookmark instead of a blank one as the final bookmark. I wanted to show the design process for folks who might want to try creating their own. My family is big on cats, and I thought cat-themed bookmarks might be a fun prize for the family summer reading challenge, so I went with a cat design. I ended up loving how this design came out, so I decided to offer a second version of the template with four pre-designed bookmark patterns.
Download template with blank bookmark:
Download template with cat bookmark:
Note: You will need either a laminator or self-adhesive laminating sheets for this project. I tried it both ways, and I definitely recommend a laminator if you have access to one. The self-adhesive sheets are sticky on one side, and it can be a little tricky to paint without accidentally sticking your hand or arm to the laminating sheet. They also aren't as thick, so they come out a little floppy. But they're still functional and they look just as pretty. If you are using a heat laminator, make sure your paint doesn't have any warnings about flammability. While the design won't be in the machine for long, it's still better to err on the side of caution.
Materials:
Laminator with laminating sheets OR self-adhesive laminating sheets
Acrylic paint in a variety of colors
School glue
A fine paintbrush
Printout of your preferred template
Painter's tape
Paint palette or suitable substitute (e.g., plastic lid, paper plate)
Cup of water for rinsing brushes
Napkin for dabbing excess water off brushes
Scissors
Pencil (if you're drawing your own design)
Black fine-tipped marker (if you're drawing your own design)
Directions:
Print out your preferred template and tape the corners to your workstation using painter's tape.
If you're creating your own design, sketch the design in pencil and then, once you're happy with it, go over it with black marker.
Cat bookmark design sketched in pencil. The next step is to tape the laminate to your workstation. If you're using heat laminate, open it up like you would a book and tape one side directly over your design with painter's tape. You can tape the other side down as well if it's getting in the way, but you won't be painting on this half. If you're using a self-adhesive laminate, carefully peel off the cover to reveal the adhesive side and then tape over your design, adhesive side up. You may then want to cover the portion that you're not going to be painting first with the cover so you're less likely to touch the adhesive. (See the picture in Step 5.)
Choose a color to create the "metal" of the glass window. I used plain black paint for my first bookmark, and that worked fine, but I then switched over to a mixture of pewter, black, and metallic silver to make it look a little more like metal for my other bookmarks.
Carefully follow the black lines on the template with the paint. Once you have traced all of the bookmark designs, let dry.
Tracing the candle bookmark design onto the self-adhesive laminating sheet. I placed the cover over the portion of the sheet I wasn't painting on at the moment to minimize the odds of touching the adhesive portion of the sheet. Once the paint is dry, carefully peel up the laminating sheet and remove the template. If your workstation is a similar color to the paint you did your outlining with, tape a sheet of light-colored paper underneath it to make it easier to see what you have and haven't painted. If there are any gaps in your design where you didn't quite trace the lines of the template thickly enough, fill those in and let dry before moving on.
Checking the outline of the rose bookmark design before I paint it. Next, it's time to paint in your designs. To achieve a semi-transparent, stained glass look, you'll want to combine your paint with school glue. I tried various ratios, and about two parts school glue to one part paint seemed to work best. However, depending on your preferences, you may prefer a different ratio. I tested mine directly on the design, but you may want to experiment on a piece of laminate outside of the design to make sure you like the look of the dried paint before you paint the whole thing.
Painting in the rose bookmark. Once you've painted all your bookmarks, let dry for at least several hours. You can always wait 24 hours to make sure everything is fully dry before moving on to the next step.
Once everything is dry, if you're using self-adhesive laminate, remove the cover from a second piece of laminate and carefully lower it over your design, sealing the paint between the two laminate sheets. If you're using a laminator, fold the unpainted half of the laminating sheet over the painted half like you're closing a book. Carefully feed it through the laminator, making sure to support it as it is going in and coming out of the machine. The plastic may wrinkle slightly, so you may want to have a heavy book on hand to press the laminating sheet beneath as soon as it comes out of the laminator.
Cut out your bookmarks and enjoy!
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