Autumn Book Marks

 I've had a few requests to "borrow" my design ideas

to make little projects for fundraisers.  Absolutely!!!  I thought

I'd share a few tips and How To photos:

Getting started: I ordered a dozen unfinished bookmarks from
Oriental Trading Company.  However, Midwest Products 
makes some great thin wood strips that could be cut to size.

I use the largest hole punch on my Crop-O-Dile II to
make each hole a bit larger.

Seal the front, back, and sides of each bookmark
with DecoArt® Multi-Purpose(TM) Sealer.

Use mini craft sticks for the hat brims; seal those as well.


Use a sanding block to sand all surfaces smooth and
remove any splintered wood.

Base coat each piece, including the hat brims.  
Shade around the left side of each painted section.
I use a cross-hatch background stamp for the straw hat details.



Attach hat brims with Aleene's® Original Tacky Glue®.

Paint details ... triangular noses and black dip-dot eyes.
Dip a stylus or small paintbrush handle in a puddle of black paint.
Dot once; reload with paint before dotting other eye.

Reloading each time gives you same-size dots.
Dotting without reloading gives you dots in decreasing size.

I decided to add a crow to each scarecrow's hat.  I used
pre-cut oval wood shapes.

Cut small triangles from masking tape and press onto oval.

Paint ovals black; remove tape, and paint beaks yellow ochre.


Lightly sand the edges of each oval to remove some of the paint.

Use a stylus or paintbrush handle to dip dot the eyes.
When dry, seal each piece.

Add detail lines and stitches with a permanent black marker.
Glue crow to hat.  Thread some fun ribbon through
the top of the bookmark ...

Super simple!