If you've been looking for something you can make in front of the TV — quick, satisfying, and immediately useful — ribbon bookmarks are exactly that. This short tutorial shows how to make them using ribbon, lace, and jewelry findings, including how to finish the ends with ribbon crimp clasps and add beads, charms, and upcycled jewelry pieces to dress them up.
What we cover
How to cut and size ribbon bookmarks to fit your journal, attach ribbon crimp ends (also called ribbon clasps or ribbon clamps), and add decorative dangles using jump rings, beads, charms, head pins, and eye pins. I also show a no-clasp alternative for when you just want to use what's already in your stash, plus a full gallery of finished examples in different ribbon types and styles.
What you'll learn
How to size a ribbon bookmark for your journal — measuring against the actual journal rather than guessing, with a little extra length built in. Too long is fine; too short is what you want to avoid.
How to attach ribbon crimp ends cleanly, including:
- Folding the ribbon end over before clamping, for extra security and to stop the edges fraying or unraveling
- Trimming any excess after clamping so the fold stays invisible
- Centering the clasp carefully before squeezing it shut with pliers
Why folding before clamping matters — if the ribbon starts to fray later, the fold catches it at the crimp end rather than letting it travel and make a mess. It's one of those small steps that saves you from unpicking something later.
How to open and close jump rings properly — sideways, not outward. Opening them outward distorts the circle and makes them nearly impossible to close cleanly. Sideways keeps the shape and the ring closes back flush every time.
How to attach beads and charms to the clasp using jump rings — threading the jump ring through the clasp loop, adding the bead or charm, and closing it off. The whole process takes about a minute per end once you have the pieces in front of you.
How to use flat head pins and eye pins for more elaborate dangles, including:
- Using a flat head pin to stack beads and then make a loop at the top with round-nose pliers
- Using an eye pin when you want to hang an extra charm below the main bead
How to work with upcycled broken jewelry — pieces from old earrings, brooches, and broken chains are often already assembled with beads and loops ready to attach, so you skip the fiddly matching-and-threading step entirely. Bags of broken jewelry from op shops and thrift stores are ideal for this.
A no-clasp alternative for simple bookmarks — if you don't have crimp ends and don't want to buy any, threading beads onto string and knotting the ends makes a perfectly functional bookmark. Different technique, same purpose.
How to work with different ribbon and lace types, including sequin ribbon, narrow ribbon, wide decorative trim, and symmetrical lace — and why symmetrical lace reads better than asymmetrical lace when the bookmark hangs in a journal.
Tips & gotchas
Match your ribbon clasp size to your ribbon width where you can — but don't let a mismatch stop you. In the video I use a narrow clasp on a wide decorative trim and it still looks lovely. Use what you have.
Always fold the ribbon end over before clamping it. It feels like an extra step but it genuinely makes a difference: the fold gives the clasp more to grip, and if the ribbon edge starts to fray, it stops right at the crimp rather than spreading. After clamping, trim the tiny bit of folded ribbon sticking out and you'd never know it was there.
Open jump rings sideways — rotate one end toward you and one end away — not by pulling the ends apart. Pulling outward warps the ring and you'll spend twice as long trying to close it again. Sideways opens and closes in seconds and the ring holds its shape.
Measure your bookmark against your actual journal before cutting. A bookmark that's slightly too long just peeks out the top and looks intentional; one that's too short sits buried in the pages and loses the whole effect. When in doubt, cut longer and trim later if needed.
The part that takes the most time is choosing what goes on the ends — not the making itself. This is exactly why upcycled jewelry works so well here: someone already did the pairing and assembling for you. You just take it apart and reattach.
If you're making these for journals you're keeping or gifting rather than selling, don't get precious about perfect metal-matching. A gold jump ring on a silver clasp, or mismatched bead colors — when it's going into a journal alongside paper and layers and ink, it all sits together beautifully.
That's the real payoff of making them in batches.
