Make Duct Tape Animal Bookmarks for Your Friends!

The Week Junior asked me to design a bookmark craft for their Summer of Reading campaign. I love having a fun bookmark and was happy to do it! Bookmarks can get a lot of wear and tear so I thought sturdy duct tape would be a good material to use. And, I love making things into animals, always!

What you’ll need
- Duct tape
- Scissors (sharp scissors makes this MUCH easier, so do nonstick scissors!)
- Wax paper (optional, but it makes cutting duct tape much easier)
- Pencil
- Permanent marker
- Pinking shears (aka, zig-zag scissors, optional)
- Circular items for tracing like cups, bottlecaps, or quarters

1. Sketch out your animal on paper to determine how long you want your bookmark to be, including appendages like ears, arms, or legs. (This ws about 8” long) Adhere a piece of tape in your desired length to wax paper. Flip it over and adhere another piece, lining up to the first piece on the backside. You can gently pull the tape off the wax paper and reposition it, if needed This will become the base of your bookmark.

2. With the pencil, draw any shapes that will be at the top and bottom of your base such as ears, legs, arms, or a tail (or branches, as on the sloth’s tree) and trim them out with your scissors, cutting away all the extra wax paper.

3. Cut shapes to add to your base like arms or sideways snouts and noses by creating “stickers”. Place a piece of duct tape on wax paper, sketch your shape and trim it out most of the way, leaving a little area where you can easily separate the duct tape from the wax paper. Pull the wax paper away, finish cutting out your shape, and adhere it to your base. Cover any sticky areas that are exposed on the back with more tape and trim off excess.

4. For the lion (see above), place two strips of tape, overlapping, on wax paper to create the mane. Trace a circle and cut it mostly out with the pinking shears. Peel it away from the wax paper and finish cutting it out. Adhere it to your base. Make a face by tracing a smaller circle using the same technique and adhere it to the mane. Add tape ears. Use the permanent marker to make facial features and fingers and toes. Cover any sticky tape that is exposed on the back with more tape and trim off excess.
These make great gifts for book-loving friends. Happy crafting…and reading!
Ps- Check out The Week Junior and their Summer of Reading Challenge!