while bebeng was raging outside my window ...

considering that (1) i was crazy tired from the previous day's outing and (2) there was a storm raging outside, my best option would've been to stay beneath the blankets and devour the pile of books on my bedside table.

but maybe cause i was sick and tired of losing my place on my book, and maybe cause i had these leather strips i bought from national bookstore that i don't know what to do with, i came up with the *brilliant* (if i may say so myself) of creating bookmarks.

{prepped and packaged to be given as gifts to friends}

a bit of a backstory --

a couple of christmasses ago, i fell in love with these charm bracelets from rustan's. i can't remember what exactly it is they're called but each bracelet had a theme and the charms all related to that theme. being the wonderful friend that he is, the martian got me two: the "i wish i had more shoes" and the "i wish i had more bags". fast forward to a couple of months ago when i was cleaning up - it could be the heat, or the fact that they bracelets weren't exactly new anymore, but the elastic that was holding the various elements of the bracelet gave, and then all the charms, links, and what-nots were all over the place. i gathered them in a box, not really knowing what to do with them, and whether i would actually do anything with them at all, and figured that one day, i'll deal with them.

call it divine inspiration, but that rainy sunday morning, i figured out what to do with the loose charms and the leather strips from national bookstore:

bookmarks.

{this slipper charm happens to be my favorite of the bunch,

so this stays with me}

i'd like to think they're better than the usual strips of cardboard one slips in between the pages, and waaaaaaaaaaaay better than the bus tickets i use to mark my place most of the time these days. plus, i'd like to think that the fact i had repurposed my beloved charm bracelet into something not only useful but very pretty is a big deal, at least for me. of course, i may just be biased -- much the same way i'm biased with my cooking, and i'm biased with my taste in stuff.

but if you agree, it wouldn't hurt if you could boost my ego and leave a comment below ☺

edit: good thing i took a pic of the slipper charm ... i lost it on my way to work this morning. sadness.