Turning the Page on Messed-Up Books: Cute Magnetic Page Holders

IMG_5462

The mangled pages of the books on my shelves have terrifying stories to tell. They’re spreading mostly true tales of the times I’ve just brutishly turned a giant corner of the page down to mark my spot in a book. They claim I say things like, “I bought this book, I should do what I want with it, since it doesn’t have to go back to a library or anything.” And then, they say I shove the book just a little too hard into the back wall of the shelf and place a very creepy Pennywise the clown Funko Pop! in front of it, and they are all done with me.

Well, it’s time for New Year’s resolutions, which I typically don’t do, but maybe I want to read a book without wrinkling its pages. There are perfectly good bookmarks out there, but I was gifted a nifty little froo froo that I absolutely love to pieces: magnetic book page holders.

At work, at a holiday gift exchange, Management, based on a questionnaire of my likes/interests, got me these whimsical, happy little cactus doo-dads that I can stick onto the pages of the books I’m reading. They are made of sturdy, shiny card stock material, and they are so adorable I just want to tear out a lung and throw it up on the ceiling.

In any case, I’m pretty sure anyone could make these with a little imagination and ingenuity. You could probably buy some card stock or use cardboard you might have lying around somewhere and cut it out, ensuring that there are three parts:

–A “face” (glue a magnet on the other side)

–A swingy/foldable bridge part that’s connected to the face above, and the one mentioned below

–Another “face” (glue a magnet on the other side)

If you are talented at drawing, you could create almost anything you want. If not, there are plenty of free, downloadable images online to use. Also, I have these ideas:

–Old passport photos

–Expired driver’s license photos

–Other people’s family picture-holiday cards

–Actual holiday cards that are magnetized

–That sock the dryer spit out, even though it’s still holding its matching counterpart for ransom

–Keys you have, but they don’t open anything you own, and you’re not sure why you have them, or where you got them

–Scraps of wrapping paper or lingerie

–Pages from that catalog that you keep getting in the mail

–Anything from the junk drawer—just reach in there with your eyes closed and surprise yourself

Basically, the sky’s the limit, so there are plenty of fashionable and fun ways to keep the books in your house happy. And a happy book is one that sleeps well at night, with nary a thought of revenge or matches tucked under the ears you’ve made of their pages.

In Other News: I have a new horror story out. It’s kind of weird, involving hybrid animal experimentation and worms. In fact, it’s called “Worms,” and you can find it here, in Horla literary magazine.

Your Turn: What is your favorite way to mark your place in a book?

Published by ckennedy

Author of the DIY blog: Fixin' Leaks and Leeks. Paper/Rock Writing Consultation, Sole Proprietor.

23 thoughts on “Turning the Page on Messed-Up Books: Cute Magnetic Page Holders”

  2. I used to use Scotch tape to laminate things I liked. I have an Arizona green tea label, and I have these Arctic animals that were those old glue-on stickers like stamps and I laminated those, too, and use them as a bookmark! 🙂 The most I can do to a book is turn it upside down, open, but I just can’t bear to turn the corners down. *laugh*

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  3. I mark my books with a random scrap of paper I find lying around. What is up with keys that seem to be to nothing, but you don’t want to get rid of them for fear they’re for SOMEthing? Reaching into the junk drawer… lol. So nice to know everyone has those.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. I was sitting here reading this and thinking about how I use supermarket receipts as bookmarks and then read the suggestion of lingerie. So now I need someone in my life who will give me a scrap of her lingerie for this purpose.
    It may take some years, decades perhaps (perhaps never) but I’ll report back here eventually if a scrap of lingerie ever becomes a bookmark for me.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. I’ve never turned down the corner of a book to mark my page. I shudder to think! Speaking of shuddering, I just read “Worms.” My mother was always afraid my brother and I would get worms from playing outside in the dirt. Or all of us would get worms from undercooked pork.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes! It’s not horrible. It’s human. It’s a natural instinct to just turn the pages down–I don’t know why. However, cute bookmarks are fun too. Cheers!

      Like

      Reply

  8. Love your ideas for book marks, especially those pesky singleton socks! This seems an appropriate place to confess that I have childhood books with the corners of pages chewed off. No, not by a dog or a bookworm; but by my younger self, whom I sometimes think I should disown.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  9. I enjoy the bookmarks made by my granddaughter:) I’m always surprised (and interested about the backstory) when I buy a used book or borrow a book from the library that has a “bookmark” of sorts from a previous reader. Some are very strange!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to ckennedy Cancel reply