Bookmark - Handmade Gift

I made this by hand for my 14 year old niece. It is part of her 8th grade graduation gift. She's a bookworm, so I made this bookmark, bought her a Prince Caspian book and will give her some money to buy herself whatever else she wants.

I cross-stitched the skull and crossbones on 14 count cloth. I chose pinks, grays and blacks because I've seen her wear these colors a lot. I chose the skull and crossbones because she's 14 and all the kids seem to be wearing shirts and carrying purses with them on it.

I tried to find black lace to trim it in but didn't have any luck, so I searched Michael's and Jo-Ann's and came up with the hot pink bandana to use as a backing for it. I cut out a piece of stiff plastic from an old report cover at work. I taped the cross-stitch fabric to that and I then cut out a piece of bandana big enough to fold around the edges slightly and hand stitched it all around to make the bookmark.

I know the hand stitching looks sloppy; I don't have a sewing machine, but I think it adds to the overall “punkness” of the design.