CCC 2024 Day 16: Paper Stitching Bookmarks

Welcome to day sixteen of the 2024 Christmas Craft Countdown, where I’m sharing 20 festive themed Cricut papercraft projects in 20 days.

Create beautiful, hand-stitched bookmarks with this paper stitching project. Using your Cricut to create these stitchable designs is a great way to make detailed holiday gifts or unique accents for your seasonal reading.

This tutorial shows you how to make three festive bookmark designs: snowflakes, a Christmas tree, and a candle with holly.

They combine Cricut precision with simple embroidery techniques. Each design is prepped with tiny cut-out circles in the cardstock, allowing you to easily add decorative stitching with embroidery thread.

The combination of cardstock and embroidery thread adds a charming, handcrafted feel, while the Cricut ensures each stitch guide is perfectly aligned for a clean, polished look.

These bookmarks are perfect for beginners and seasoned crafters alike.

Paper stitching bookmarks

This project is part of 2024's Christmas Craft Countdown.

Materials supply list

Here is a list of the materials that I used to make this project.

Please note that some of the links included in this article are affiliate links, which means that if you click through and make a purchase I may receive a commission (at no additional cost to you). You can read my full disclosure at the bottom of the page.

Cricut machine
Light blue Cricut cutting mat
Coloured Card
White Card
Glue (I like Bearly Art Glue and Collall)
Sticky tape
Embroidery thread
Embroidery needle
Tassels or ribbon
Scissors

This project is suitable for the following types of Cricut machine: Explore Air 2, Explore Air 3, Maker, Maker 3, Venture, Joy Xtra and Joy.

Foundation learning

If you're new to crafting with your Cricut, you may find the below links helpful.

They teach some of the skills mentioned throughout this tutorial.

How to upload SVG files into Design Space
How to make 3D layered Cricut projects
The BEST way to frame papercraft projects
How to mount multiple designs in the same frame with magic guides
Hooks & stands to display papercrafts (or get extra fancy with easel stands!)
How to score with a Cricut (even without scoring tools)
Print then cut tutorial
Design Space tools (Combine, Attach, Slice, Weld, Flatten, etc.)
Pattern fill tutorial (for making backgrounds & cutting images to a specific shape/size)
Free envelope SVGs that can be sized to fit any card, plus how to write the addresses with the Cricut
Free presentation boxes for thicker greetings cards
How to write inside cards with Cricut pens
How to cut layered designs at a small size
Design Space tips & tricks
Cricut pens tutorial

Video tutorial

Watch the video below to see how to make this project. Keep scrolling for a written tutorial.

Written tutorial (with photos!)

Here’s how to make card stitching bookmarks using a Cricut machine!

Step 1) Download the cutting file & upload to Design Space

Download the files using the box below.

Purchase the File(s)

This cut file is available as part of the
Instant Access Bundle.

Find out more

Or, purchase this design individually from my SVG shop

Before you upload the SVGs to Design Space, you need to unzip the download folder that they come in.

After unzipping, upload the SVG files into Cricut Design Space. These are the files that start svg- in the filename.

Not sure how to do this? Here’s how to upload SVGs to Cricut Design Space. Make sure you upload the file which starts svg- in the filename!

Each bookmark comes as a separate SVG file. You will need to upload each one individually to make all three bookmarks.

Step 2) Get the bookmarks ready for cutting

The bookmarks should load in at a good size of 7.5 inches tall but you can resize them if you’d like to.

The coloured layers that you can see on screen will be stuck to the back of the stitching pieces to hide the messy backs to the design. These layers look especially good when cut from either glitter or holographic cardstock.

However, a problem with using glitter or holographic card is that it is usually only coloured on one side which means it will look really nice under the stitching but the back of the bookmark will be plain.

To fix this, I duplicated my base layers and flipped them to make a mirror image so that I can glue them back to back.

If your card is pretty on both sides then you don’t need to do this.

Step 3) Cut out all the layers

When you’re happy with how the project is looking in Design Space, click “Make” and follow the instructions on-screen to cut out all the pieces.

The bookmarks will be cut in two layers. Use a thick white card for the top layers as this is the one we will be stitching on.

To change the paper size, go into the dropdowns over on the left side of the screen and choose the paper size that you want to use. You need to change it for every single colour.

To save space on your cardstock, you can move things around by clicking and dragging. Make sure when you’re moving things about that nothing overlaps because otherwise, it won’t cut out properly.

TIP: New to cutting cardstock with a Cricut? Check out this in-depth tutorial which goes through every step of the process, including tips for getting the best quality cuts from your Cricut.

Step 4) Stitch the patterns onto the card

Get some embroidery thread and an embroidery needle. I am using a needle from a cross stitch kit.

Choose your thread colours and cut some lengths to a suitable size.

Decide how many strands of the embroidery thread you want to use. I started with all six, but this made it quite hard to thread the needle and pull through the holes in the card, so I moved down to three strands for the other two bookmarks.

Thread the needle with your first colour of thread.

Turn the bookmark upside down and use sticky tape to secure the end of the thread to the back of the bookmark. Make sure your tape doesn’t cover any of the holes.

Refer to the patterns for each of the different bookmarks to make sure you stitch the right holes.

If you get to the end of your thread, or when you want to change colours, secure the current thread to the back of the bookmark with more sticky tape.