Oh, get your mind out of the snowbank.  Not that kind of quickie. A quickie gift. Perfect for a stocking stuffer, something to give to your book group, local bookseller who finds you great titles, friend at work who passes along gently used books. I did these up this morning after watching my husband drive up our driveway in my car.  He made it on the third attempt. Did I say he was driving my car? Only one around here with front wheel drive and chains. Because some of us like to be prepared. Crazy notion that! So after the harrowing ordeal of watching my dear car sliding up and down the driveway, and the prospect of being snowed in with the kids for Day 6 (but who’s counting?), I needed something fun, peaceful and useful to do this morning before they wake up and the fighting, er, fun begins.

And yes, that is my deck with about 2 feet of snow on it. In Seattle. And it just keeps coming down. We had to dig it all off the deck yesterday because we were worried it was going to get too heavy. Well, he-who-is-driving-my-car did the shoveling, since we have only one shovel. And while you might think having only one shovel isn’t thinking ahead, I disagree. It leaves you inside to make the coffee.

So back to my need for a quickie this morning. Something crafty and easy on the pocketbook to soothe my soul after watching my car come sliding down the driveway. Something I can do at home since getting out to finish the Christmas shopping isn’t going to happen. Therefore, I got out my new favorite quickie gift–one anyone can make–the freebie, downloadable bookmarks I put together with Julia Quinn, Kathryn Caskie, and Samantha James.

You just need a good pair of scissors, or if you are really crafty, a paper cutter. Some self-laminating paper or some cardstock or good paper to mount the bookmark onto. Maybe a bit of stray ribbon and you are good. So here it is in 4 easy steps.

1) Download the bookmark.

I used photo paper in my printer and used the best printing I could and they came out great. I’ve also done them on plain paper had to look just great as well. Really with only a bit of time on your hands, use what is on hand.

2) Cut them out carefully. I printed out two pages so I had the choice of having the same book on both sides, or mixing it up.

3) Cut out the laminating paper just a little bit bigger than the bookmarks. Or if you are totally crafting and can always say, “Oh, I’ve got one of those,” you can use your home laminator. But if you are like me and don’t have one, you can do just as well with this Avery Self-Adhesive sheets.

4) Put the bookmarks back to back and stick them to the laminating paper.Put another piece on top, trim it up a bit, and voila! You have the quickest gift on earth.

I even did one with a ribbon down the middle just to be fancy.

And here it is in a brand new book my editor sent me last week:

So there it is. A great little bit of homemade goodness to tuck inside a book for a stocking stuffer or to share with your favorite bookhounds. So bookmark away, and have some fun this week.  It may be busy and hectic and stressful, (especially when your husband is driving your car) but take a few moments out and do something crafty and homey and fun. Then give it away. “Tis the season after all. Besides, you know how to make more.