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Step 1
Gather together your ingredients and tools. If you don’t have any leftover wallpaper at home, check whether anyone nearby is giving some away through your local Freecycle network, check your local scrapstore or in the UK try Unique Scrapstore where you can buy discontinued wallpaper sampler books. Take a page of print from an old, unwanted novel which is too tatty for the charity shop (use the remainder for papier-mâché projects).

Step 2
Begin by cutting your wallpaper into two strips of the same size. We suggest a width of 4cm and a length of 20cm, but you can make your bookmark longer or wider if you wish. A guillotine is the easiest way to do this, but you could also use a pair of scissors and measure out your dimensions on the back of the wallpaper with a ruler and pencil first.

Step 3
Cut your book page slightly smaller than the wallpaper strips. Our book page measures 3.5cm by 19cm. This is so that it will sit comfortably within the edges of the wallpaper when the three pieces are glued together later.

Step 4
Using the craft punch cut several holes in wallpaper strip which will be the front of the bookmark. You can cut these so that certain words show through. We cut our holes in a straight line down the centre of the bookmark and spaced them equally apart. Punches are available in different designs from stationers or craft shops. An office 1 or 2 hole punch will also work well or you can cut out shapes carefully using a craft knife.

Step 5
You can now sandwich your book page inside your front and back wallpaper strip using glue. First apply glue to the inside of the back wallpaper strip, then carefully stick on the book page strip. Next dot the glue around the inside of the front strip and stick this to the book page, ensuring that the edges of the front and back wallpaper strips meet and adhere. We’ve used Auro 390 Contact Glue which is an eco-friendly adhesive containing natural raw ingredients from sustainable sources.

Step 6
Let the glue set and your bookmark is ready for use. You can make your bookmark look even more attractive by adding a small strip of ribbon at the gluing stage (Step 5). Cut a 10cm piece of ribbon remnant, fold it in half and glue the ends to the inside of the wallpaper strips. Rather than a straight-edged bookmark, you could use pinking shears at Step 2, or after the glue has set.

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