Acrylic Bookmark

I love reading and books whether it be fiction, non fiction, self help, cook books (I don’t cook, but I bake sometimes), and home decor. I use bookmarks in every book I am going through. Bookmarks are all over the house and some are even kept in a mason jar. 

Normally I would make them out of cardstock and then laminate it but this time I wanted to change it up and went with Acrylic pieces. Using the acrylic pieces gives me a little more freedom of creativity than just using cardstock. I can use what ever images and colours I want to work with. It can be done with cardstock but it would be a lot more work. One day I will try and do that.

If you are looking for a fun and super simple project using your Cricut this is a great place to start. The next thing I want to learn is adding UV resin to the bookmark to seal everything or add glitter to one side as extra decoration. 

Materials

• Acrylic bookmark - Amazon
• Tassel - usually comes with the bookmarks
• Oracal vinyl - chosen colour for design
• Cricut Design Space - on a tablet, phone or computer
• Desired image for bookmark
• Cricut  - or any machine.  
• Standard mat green
• Weeding tool
• Brayer
• Scraper
• Transfer tape
• Self-healing mat - to help with aligning using the gridlines
• Scissors
• Painters tape
• Alcohol wipes or whatever you have to clean the bookmark
• Paint and brush optional

If you want to paint the back make sure it is clean and has no oils. On other projects, I have painted before and after vinyl, you can do it whichever way you feel more comfortable doing. I like painting after the vinyl is on since I want to be able to see the lines when placing the vinyl down. 

How to make

Finding the image

1. Open Cricut Design Space, search for an image such as a flower and select the desired image. Or upload the your own.
2. Create a rectangle the size of the bookmark.
3. Move the image over top of the rectangle and size the image for the bookmark. Remember to keep the hole in mind when sizing.
4. Repeat as needed.

Cutting vinyl or material 

1. Turn on the Cricut machine and ensure the blade is loaded. 
2. Place vinyl onto the mat or mats depending on how many images you are working with. The machine wants you to keep feeding it. 
3. Go to “Make it” when you are ready to cut.
4. Pick the mat that works best for you (if you can use smart vinyl you don't need a mat) and click continue.
5. Set the material to washi tape setting for fine or thin images and add more pressure if needed or vinyl if it is a solid image use regular vinyl. If you don’t see the material you are looking for go to browse material (maker) or custom material (air 2).
6. Load the mat/material into the machine when prompted.
7. Click the flashing “C” when it starts 
8. Repeat as needed.

Removing & weeding vinyl

1. Unload the machine when prompted.
2. Flip the mat over and pull the mat off the vinyl. It helps keeps the vinyl from curling. 
3. Take the weeding tool and remove all the unwanted vinyl. Keep scissors nearby just in case there is a piece you want to cut away. 
4. Repeat as needed for each decal.

Applying vinyl to the acrylic piece

1. Cut the images out of the sheet, and leave some white space. I find it easier to work with each cut-out individually.
2. Cut a piece of transfer tape to match the size of the image.
3. Peel backing off the transfer tape exposing the adhesive side.
4. Place the transfer tape on top of the vinyl then take the scrapper and run it over to help adhere the tape and remove bubbles.
5. Then flip it over and peel the backing off the vinyl so it’s just the vinyl on the tape and leave it off to the side for now. Just make sure the sticky side stays up until needed.
6. Peel the protective plastic off if you haven’t already.
7. Use alcohol wipes to clean the acrylic piece to clean off all the dirt and oils. Make sure it is nice and dry. 
8. Place the acrylic piece on the self-healing mat so it is lined up with the grid lines. You can use the tape to hold the piece to keep it from moving.
9. Now place the vinyl pieces where you want them to go, then take the scraper and run it over to help it adhere and remove some bubbles.
10. Then peel the transfer tape off slowly (take your time) and run your fingers over it to help remove some of the bubbles and help put it down. 
11. Repeat as needed.
12. Add the tassel and you are done!

I hope this helps you create your very own acrylic bookmarks with your Cricut machine.

If you have any questions or comments pop them in the box below I would love to hear from you!