Bookstand DIY ribbon

This ingeniously simple idea takes its cues from the way we sometimes hold books: arm behind, fingers curled over the top to keep the pages open. It was thought up by Clara, the driving force behind Bloomize, and went through several levels of refinement before reaching its final iteration.

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Bookstand DIY curler

The first version of the unique DIY book stand was made from a flexible foam-wrapped wire hair curler. While the method worked well enough, the intrepid tinkerer continued exploring other options. A large, rigid twist tie (like the kind used to hold cables or cords together) and a piece of craft wire were also effective for holding a book open.

Bookstand DIY twist tie

While Clara chose to use a fabric-covered twist tie for the final product, creative people replicating the idea on their own might find that some other material is more suitable – the important part is easing the annoying problem of constantly-shifting pages.

“After seeing how the versatile Queuger can clutch onto a book to hold back falling pages, I went into experiment-mode and look to my foam hair curler, twist tie and craft wire hoping they will be able to do the same too.”

“All three fared pretty well! Who knew right?! Inspired by the success of the hair curler, I took out a twist tie saved from a coil of electrical cable, and craft wire. And both were excellent! Finally, in order to make my wire makeshift bookstand look a little more presentable and gentler on the pages, I sandwiched the the twist tie between 2 ribbon strips, then sealed it all around with fabric glue (though stitches would be much better).”

About the crafter:

“Bloomize is a lifestyle journal jotted by web entrepreneur, writer, serial crafter and avid photographer Clara, who is based in Singapore. She coined the strange word ‘bloomize’ in 2007 to mean ‘to bloom’ and devoted Bloomize to ideas on design, fresh finds, house-keeping and well-being. You will also find her sharing her photography work on one of her favorite ingredients — garlic, and other crafty projects such as knot-tying (see “bloom knots”) and paper crafting.”