Bookmark Love {craft}

I recently made a reading list for myself to go through during the school year (hey, just because I've graduated doesn't mean the work stops!) and some of the books I'm reading are borrowed from other people. This means I can't do what I usually do with my darling books: fold the corners to mark my spot, scribble notes on the side, and underline all my favorite quotes. I can prevent myself from folding corners by using bookmarks - so I made some!

The Craft:

Washi Tape bookmarks

The Purpose:

To keep yourself from dog-earing any books you're borrowing for school or fun - they also make fabulous little gifts for bookworms!

The Materials:

 

 -Washi Tape 

-Regular tape

-Ribbon

-Sharpies or markers

-Cardstock paper...you could use regular paper, but I don't know if it would be sturdy enough.

 -Scissors 

-Ruler [if you want to be all neat and proper, that is. I cut with wild abandon.]

The Instructions:

 To be honest, I didn't have any plan of attack when making these. I just grabbed some stuff from my craft box and got busy!

First, I cut the cardstock into thick strips, about a couple inches across and ranging from 6-4 inches long.
 

 

 For the first bookmark, I carefully taped across the front then wrapped it around to the back, then snipped the tape to make one layer. I then repeated this until I was about 1/3 of the way down the bookmark.

 

 You probably can't see it very well, but I wrote [in pencil!] "Book Worm" on the paper and then went over it with a colored sharpie:
 

 

 Then I flipped the bookmark over and taped up the "bald spot" in the back.

 And continued to wrap tape around the rest of the bookmark until I reached the bottom. You might need to trim the ends of the bookmark.

 

For the second one, I cut a couple pieces of ribbon about 4-4 1/2 inches long and taped them to the back of the paper.
 

 

 Then I repeated the process of wrapping washi tape around, one layer at a time.
 

 

The thing with Washi tape is that you can really do whatever you want with it. The little bicycle at the top of this bookmark is from one roll of Washi, then I finished with a different roll.
 

If you don't have Washi tape, you can also use duct tape - my brothers have some that they want me to use to make them some "manly" bookmarks, haha!

Blessings,

Mother {Book Review}

 Mother by Kathleen Thompson Norris

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a refreshing read about being a stay-at-home daughter.  Something a little different compared to most of today's contemporary fiction books.

 About a girl with 7 siblings who lives in a small country town and works as a teacher. She then gets a job in a big city with a rich employer. While she is there, she listens to the "rich" peoples' conversations about how having so many children is such a burden. She, herself, starts wondering how her mother can be so content with housework, children, etc.

I loved the ending to this book!  I would recommend this to anyone looking for a refreshing read on being a stay-at-home daughter.

Preparing To Be a Help Meet {Book Review}

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a beautiful day! God has been so good, I hope all of you are enjoying His blessings as much as I am.  

                                                                                                                                   

When trying to decide on what to blog about today, I realized no one had done a review on a wonderful book, Preparing To Be A Help Meet yet. So I decided to write about it for you all. It's been a while since I read this, but hopefully my memory will do it justice.           

                   

 This book is written for girls and women who have not been married yet. I'm sure it would be interesting for married women to read, but most of the information inside is targeted at younger girls.

 Debi Pearl truly did a wonderful job with this book. She started with her own beautiful story, how God told her she would marry her husband when she was just thirteen years old, and he was twenty-one, and how about seven years later, it really happened. She includes several love stories, about girls who waited, and trusted the Lord for the man He meant for them. Some of the girls had to trust the Lord even if they didn't really know the boy that well. 

 But she also talked about girls who had such sad stories- girls who had a nice guy interested in them, but didn't trust God, and lost everything. 

 Besides the initial relationship stories, she also writes on health, and how that can affect your family. Because this book is called Preparing To Be a Help Meet, it is about preparing for your future as a wife and mother. Preparation is so important. She includes lots of great tips and advice. She also writes how many of the girls who had guys interested in them were noticed by the guys for their working in the church- doing things for the Lord. This is really important. God blesses those who serve Him.

 She put girls into three different categories, and guys as well, and talks about how they match up. Are you a dreamer, a servant, or a queen? You'll find out in this book! (I'm a dreamer... :D)

 At the end of each chapter, there is a section for you to write. There is an assignment at the top of these places. You could be writing a letter to your future husband, making a list of qualities you want in a husband, or analyzing a scripture.

There is so much to this book, that you could go on and on, but I don't want to ruin it for you. Just get it so you can read it. :) It is worth everything you would spend on it. 

 This is one of the books that opened my eyes personally about courting. I had always assumed I would, since it was what my family wanted, but this really laid it out, and explained how wonderful waiting for God's plan really is.

    

 Here is the link to the Amazon page, but you can get it just about anywhere online. I highly recommend it! 

 I hope you have enjoyed this review. See you next week!