Pencil Bookmark Cross Stitch Pattern

August 13, 2025 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

To celebrate back to school season, I wanted to make a fun and useful cross stitch pattern, so I decided on this cross stitch pencil bookmark.

It’s a really easy pattern even though it calls for six colors. You definitely don’t have to use all the colors if you don’t want to, and you can use different colors to make a colored pencil instead of the traditional yellow one.

These sorts of projects always end up taking longer than I imagined they would in my head, because I just don’t stop to do the math of exactly how many stitches are in a piece that’s 23 stitches by 74 rows (1,702, though not every single one of them is covered, most of them are).

But because the coloring of the chart is so straightforward, I’d say it also doesn’t take as long as 1,700 stitches sounds, if that makes sense. Because you barely have to count anything and could make most of it without consulting the chart, you can get into a groove pretty easily and stitch whole sections in a single sitting. I had a lot of fun stitching this one and I think you will, too.

Once the stitching is done, take a piece of felt and sew it to the back to hide the mess you’ve made and make it a nice smooth bookmark that’s easy to use in whatever book you might be reading.

This is a fun one to make for yourself or a kid in your life who is going back to school. But it would also be a fun teacher appreciation gift or holiday gift, especially for an English teacher but really anyone would like this one I think.

You can grab the free chart and get all the instructions for assembling your own cross stitch pencil bookmark over at Our Daily Craft.

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Designer Spotlight: Murder Puffin

I’ve long had a soft spot for puffins, so of course when I found an Etsy shop called Murder Puffin I had to share it.

And I’m so glad I found it because they’ve got some weird stuff that I hope you’re going to like as much as I do.

There are cryptids and true crime, nautical themed designs, holiday wanted posters and an entire section called memento mori. So if that sounds like something you’d be into, read on.

The biggest section on the site, though, is Altoid tin cross stitch patterns. If you can’t quite imagine what an Altoid tin cross stitch pattern would be like, this mummy cross stitch tin is a pretty representative example.

Most of them have a character (in this case, the mummy, but it could be anything from an alien to a racoon to a gnome) or more than one, who is made into a tiny stuffed doll. There’s a design for the top and bottom inside of the tin; here it’s a pyramid and an anhk design. There’s also a small design for the top of the box. And finally, a kind of blanket and a pillow so you can tuck your little character into the box.

Each one is a cute little set that would be so fun to display (and play with!) on your desk or bookshelf. And there’s a great range of options to choose from.

In addition to those, you’ll find a lot of other fun stuff for the strange and unusual on your gift list. There are some delightfully creepy (and mostly cryptid-inspired) tarot cards. A whole set of dark samplers called Gothic murder family. And a section called potted cross stitch, with little designs like mushrooms, plants and pumpkins you can stitch up and “plant” in tiny pots.

There’s so much fun stuff you really just need to stop reading this and go visit Murder Puffin on Etsy. I hope you find it as delightful as I do!

[Photo: Murder Puffin]

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