Quick Ribbon Bookmark

Here's a quick and durable way to add a ribbon bookmark to a hardcover book, without defacing the book.

It's worth five minutes to install a set of bookmarks in a text at the beginning of a semester.

Thin satin ribbon spools often go on sale at craft and sewing stores (or the craft/sewing section of Wal-Mart) for 25 cents a spool.

For a text that I plan to study slowly and intently, I like to have four markers. To make this, I use two colors of ribbon, each cut to more than twice the height of the book. This will result in two markers of each of the two colors.

I start by poking a hole in the top of the spine with a thumbtack (or safety pin), just above the top of the pages.
I use a dental floss threader to attach the ribbon securely. In the picture below, you can see the floss threader threaded through the thumbtack hole.

I kept this picture in the tutorial because it shows the threader and the hole very clearly, but when I do this, I start with the loop on the opposite (inside) side of the book, with the lead on the outside.

Thread the ribbons through the floss threader's loop.

Pull the floss threaders taught.

Feed the tail end of the threader back through the threader's loop on the inside, and pull taught again.
Tuck the long end of the tail into the space between the cover and the book's pages. I use a cake tester or barbecue skewer to help push the tail and keep it from bunching up.

Lifting the ribbon up and over the back of the book, secure the ribbon/threader knot with a tiny bit of glue. Be careful not to let the glue get on the pages or interfere with the pages' movement.

Below is a better picture of what the finished product/floss knot looks like from the outside/spine of the book:

Obviously, this isn't suited to heirloom or very expensive books. But, for a "working text", I think the floss is discreet and unobtrusive. I suppose, it could be painted to match the book's spine, too.

Trim the excess length of ribbon on the diagonal, and (optional) add a dot of nail polish to the ribbon ends to prevent fraying.

A few bookdarts conveniently tucked away on the back page, and voila! Ready to study!

My knife block overfloweth

Recently, I acquired a few more knives than my narrow (and infamous) knife block could hold. One of them is a 10"chef's knive, which didn't fit in any of the slots of the existing block. I shopped a bit for a bigger block, but all those that held 10" blades were very big, and/or very expensive.

With children in the kitchen, I wasn't comfortable with installing a big knife magnet. (I'm also not thrilled with the aesthetics of these. I think they make a home kitchen look a little angry and dangerous.)

Jealous of my counter space, I wasn't enthusiastic about trading a perfectly good block and folding money for something bulkier, I managed to come up with something that works really well for me:

I used high intensity magnets glued (via hot glue gun) to the top of the existing block. These magnets each have a 12 lb. pulling capacity, so the knives are securely held to the wood.

For each knife, I put two magnets: one for where the base of the blade meets the handle, and another for the tip. Since I used the actual knives as a guide, the result is a custom fit.

These are my two most used knives, so it's convenient that they are the most accessible and easiest to put away.

I'm really pleased with this setup. It cost $4.50 in magnets (half of the $9 package), works very well, and takes up no extra counter space. (Since it's so hard for me to throw stuff away, not having a leftover knife block to discard is a psychological plus, too.)

By the way, while browsing around for knife blocks on-line, I came across a great idea on one of the forums for substituting the "laxative" mineral oil from the supermarket for the mineral oil that is sold specifically to care for wood chopping blocks.

It's the same stuff, but more readily available, and $2/16 oz. bottle, rather than $8.95/8 oz.

(If the bottle comes with too descriptive a label, discretion might warrant decanting or a homemade label announcing "for the cutting board" - to avoid embarrassing situations with guests in the kitchen.)

Son of a Draft Dodger and Charlie the Tuna

How to attach a magnetic draft dodger to a wood door:

The more it snows (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom), The more it goes (Tiddely pom), On snowing. And nobody knows (Tiddely pom), How cold my toes (Tiddely pom), How cold my toes (Tiddely pom), Are growing. -Winnie The Pooh, as reported to A. A. Milne

The draft dodger I made on Monday was so helpful, I've been making them for the other drafty doors in our house.

Magnets inside the draft dodger tube keep it attached as the door swings open and closed. In our mudroom, the magnets were aligned with the nails that held the door flashing.

Most of the doors in our house are wooden and without flashing. In order to use this design on non-metal doors, I could have stuck a few tacks or nails along the bottom. However, I didn't want to do anything permanent to the doors; I didn't want to mar their surface with nails, or risk misaligning the hinges by banging on them with a hammer.

Enter Charlie, stage right. Last week, he solved my vitamin-pill woes. This week, I called upon him to protect my chilly toes.

I used the same method as before, attaching (clean!) tuna can lids with leftover 3M command strips. These allow for a secure attachment, but a complete removal if necessary.

To improve the aesthetics, I cut them into butterflies and painted them. (What? You were expecting me to panel the house in tuna lids? )

The tuna lids cut easily, but have sharp edges. I'd recommend NOT using your best scissors for this activity.

I used Jacquard "lumiere" metallic and opalescent paints for this. I love these paints; they are a joy to use. I started with one of their "exciter" sample kits a few years ago, and fell in love with its rich, generous, high-quality pigment concentration and beautiful colors.

It is expensive paint, but I think it worth the price. Now I buy them in bulk either on-line from dickblick or dharma, or from the local craft store (when I have a coupon.)

Note the ever present bottle-cap paint pallets.

A commenter suggested it would be better if were waterproof. I'm not sure it's necessary, yet it can't hurt. So I've been lining them with duct tape and giving them a quick spray of Scotchguard.

Off topic tip: I've also used these strips to attach strong magnets to the inside of my baking cabinet, to hold a few dedicated measuring cups and measuring spoons.


The adhesive strips were placed on the diagonal, to hide them from view.

Here is the front of a tuna-can butterfly, with the adhesive strip attached to its back. I placed them so the wings would cover the strip-removal-tags. The metal is thin enough to bend forward if I need to get to the tabs and remove the butterflies.


Wiping the wall with rubbing alcohol prepares the surface for the command strip adhesive. (per package instructions.)

Here you can see our Butterfly Verification Assistant, carefully executing the Critical Butterfly Count (CBC) . The CBC is a vital step in Butterfly Placement Assessment. We passed.

Be sure to test the door movement before attaching the fabric cover.

Here is the completed project, in use:

It's time to abolish the draft. (Creating a draft dodger.)

The drafty door between our unheated mudroom and our kitchen has been driving me nutty!

The tile floor was too cold for bare feet, and I could almost see the money from our heating budget seeping through the crack!

This morning, I finally fixed it. Here's how I did it.

First, I measured the door in units of empty paper towel tubes. Since they had to fit inside one another to form one long tube, the total length (of three tubes for my door) had to be a bit longer than the width of the door.


I fit the three tubes together, folding one to fit inside the other, forming a "supertube". These were attached with a ring of glue from a hot glue gun, along the inside of the outer tube.

Using a chopstick and a broom handle, I stuffed the supertube with plastic grocery bags, packing them tightly.

On the door flashing, I placed a super-strong magnet on each nail. Then, I put some hot glue on the magnets, and quickly pressed the stuffed supertube onto the glue-y magnets.

The result is a supertube that attaches to the (nails in the) flashing, magnetically.

This project requires the strong magnets, because the flashing is aluminum (not attracted to magnets), so the tiny nail-heads are the only metal for holding the whole supertube. In order to work properly, the attraction has to be strong enough to hold up to frequent door opening.

For doors without flashing or metal, see the next post for what to do.

When opening the door is tested with a full length supertube, it will knock the supertube off, due to interference from the corner/end piece.

Trim the end piece just enough to allow the door to open easily, allowing the maximum draft-covering length to remain.

I needed about 3/4 of an inch of clearance.

Then I covered the supertube with fabric, using the glue gun. I was careful to leave only one layer of fabric over the magnets, to avoid interfering with their hold capacity.

This was a very quick project, using materials on-hand and about 10 minutes (including photographs.) The frog fabric was from my stash, purchased on clearance at about $2/yard, and I used less than a quarter-yard. Scraps of sheets/tablecloths would work nicely, too. The total cost was under $2.

I wonder how many minutes of New England Winter it will take to recoup my costs from the heating oil bill?

It works very well, and our bare toes are grateful!

Stay warm, everyone!

Magnets on the inside of cabinets

Remember that tuna can project a few weeks ago? Admit it: You were wondering what I did with the lids. I knew it.

I use a seven-section pill container for my vitamins. It had a reserved place in a corner of one of my kitchen cabinets, but I kept forgetting about it because it was tucked away, out of sight.

I wanted a place for it that I'd always be able to see, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving something personal (and perhaps dangerously attractive to children) out in the open.

The solution was to glue-gun magnets to the back of the container, and stick it to.... something metal.

The "something metal" was the tuna can lids.

I washed them well, and lined their potentially sharp edges with glue from the glue gun. When the hot glue dried, I used leftover 3M Command strips to attach the tuna can lids to the inside of the cabinet door.

(I didn't want to do anything that would ruin the cabinet door. The clothespins in the picture are also held up with leftover command strips. I put them there to hold in-use recipes.)

(I'm a big fan of those Command Strips. The package with hooks usually comes with extra adhesive strips, which I save for projects like this. I've even used these strips for a friend's seasonal rental apartment, where nails were prohibited, everywhere, including in the shower and to attach mezuzot firmly to the door-frame for a season. They stayed up all summer and removed completely with a single stroke.)

This has worked really well. The tuna lids are very thin, so the combined width of the pill container fits in the gap between the edge of the shelf and the cabinet door. I was able to put them up higher than the children's unaided reach.

The best part is, I haven't forgotten to take my vitamins since setting this up, three weeks ago!

UPDATE: This project works well inside a cabinet, but if you want something more aesthetically appealing, try cutting the metal into shapes and/or painting, as described in this post.

Chanukah candle magnets (craft for kids)

Here's a quick Chanukah craft for kids. We made Chanukah candle magnets by painting a couple of those promotional business-card magnets that seem to breed behind our refrigerator.

You can always buy the magnets if your junk mail supply runs low. There are also printableversions available if you need to make things in bulk, say for a birthday party or classroom activity.)

I used two junk-mail magnets to make this project. One magnet was cut horizontally into nine candles (8 chanukah candles + 1 for the shamash), and the other into 9+ flames.

Then my crack painting professional went to work. Glitter paint was used (not necessary, but nice) to make the flames "sparkle". (Note our standard painting setup: shopping bag taped to kitchen table and yogurt-container-lid paint palette.)

A carefully opened (so no sharp edges) and well washed metal can makes a fantastic storage container for play magnets. This one was from one of Costco's 4.5 lbs of tuna!

Since the container itself attracts the magnets, its outside can be used for play, while the contents don't spill when the can is knocked over.

By the way, if your child has one of those MagnaDoodle toys, you can extend the play value by using whatever magnets you have to use with it. Light magnets, such as the chanukah candles above, will stick to the device's surface. If removed, they'll make their shape.

You (or the children) can make all sorts of custom magnets (suggestions: Hebrew alphabet, shapes, numbers, stars, whole words, etc.) to use with it.

In fact, if using one of those toys, there's a lot of Chanukah play value to be had by taking a business card magnet and making just the one candle and one flame. No paint or drying time needed!