Did You Know… Even Books Can Wear a Thong! OMG!
I just found out that my sweet innocent beaded bookmarks are also called book thongs! Who knew! I just recently got used to not referring to flip-flops as thongs, after many eye rolling and snickering incidents from my kids. You can imagine the picture they got in their heads when mom asked them to quickly put on their thongs so we could all go have some fun at the beach! LOL
Now I’ve got to get used to the idea of my books wearing thongs! Or worse… giving thongs as Christmas gifts to my kids’ teachers… or to my Mom! Gosh! What’s next?
Any who… the pirate bead book thong pictured above is one of the teacher gifts I gave this year. How racy of me! Like I said in a previous post, these beaded bookmarks make great last minute gifts because they are quick and easy to make.
Here’s a link to some instructions on How To Make a Beaded Bookmark with Polymer Clay Beads and Wire
As an option you can make your beaded book thongs with colored beading wire, ribbon or waxed linen cord instead of using glass seed beads along the thong (I still can’t get used to calling it that!). This will give your bookmark a lower profile along the inner binding when the book is closed.
So tell me, did you know this kind of bookmark was called a book thong? Please tell me you didn’t know either! Or maybe it’s that I’m getting to the age (I’m only 42) where you start falling “out-of-touch” with these sorts of things. Hmmm…
No, I didn’t know that either. I,too, have had to retrain my vocabulary! I read a hilarious post somewhere about a teacher looking for a fair way to select students to go to the front of the room and asked all those wearing thongs to participate. She realized her faux pas when students wearing various footwear went sheepishly to the front of the room. DOH!!
I’m sensing an Aussie association somewhere?
Oh! I actually did know they are called that! Several years ago I saw them being sold at a local Borders, and they were labeled as ‘Book Thongs’. I prefer bookmark personally though!
Who Knew !!! I did not. I imagine the are referred to as thongs in relation to thong underwear. You know how the little thin strip goes in the the crack.
I am not speaking from experience, I still wear grannie panties.
@Sarahwww: OMG! Bet those girls got a little more popular after that! ;-) Poor teacher!
@Amanda: Yeah probably! In Canada here it’s not too often a teacher splits the group up by who’s wearing flip flops! Rubber boots maybe, but not flips flops!
@Kelly: I bet you’re under 40! I also prefer the bookmark name though book thong may be more appropriate for certain types of books! ;-)
@Annie: LOL!
I never heard of it called that. It’s catchy and sometimes I think the catchier the name, the more interested people will be in it. Bookmark after all is kinda boring…now a book thong…more interesting and great marketing idea. Thanks for sharing that. I think I will start calling them book thongs from now on. Thanks for sharing!
You are probably right Lupe! I should probably stop being such a square! ;-)
It would be a fun test to have a bunch of beaded bookmarks on a table at a craft fair… some labeled bookmarks and some labeled book thongs and see which ones the customers are most interested in. Could very well be the book thongs. I will try it next fair I do!
Cindy,
I have just found this post by googling “Book-thongs”…
I have just taken over supplying these to all the British branches of ‘Books etc’…who are owned by Borders – when the UK Borders chain split from the US chain, their supply of these beaded bookmarks stopped, and so I agreed to step into the breach as it were.
The first thing I decided when I started was to change the name to ‘Bookbeads’ as I personally hate the term ‘bookthongs’ – sounds like very dodgy underwear, doesn’t it !!
So now they are called ‘Bookbeads’ in the Books etc shops, and for some reason our Borders branches don’t sell them – so I’m just waiting to be asked to supply them too…
@Wendy: Thongs are extremely “visible” in America (in quite a few ways; actually, in TOO many ways sometimes ;-) But because of this, not too many people would be offended by the name. They probably don’t think of them as “dodgy” underwear, either. Lot’s of people think they’re “sexy” — and that sells…
Now, I haven’t heard of these book thongs, but that’s because I haven’t “gotten out much” over the past few years (recuperating from surgeries.) Still, I can see these sound WAY cooler than “bookmarks.” So, I think calling them this is a smart marketing tool! Plus, there’s the built-in joke (it helps you remember where to “crack” open your book.) So, I’d have to say I kinda like it! I’ll have to make some of these.
Cindy, did you ever do a test on these at a craft fair? Did the “book thongs” sell?
@Phaedrakat: Sorry Kat to not get around to answering this for you in so long. No, I didn’t get the chance to test out the name theory since I haven’t done any craft fairs for over a year now. Just too busy here on the blog. Got enough inventory to do one now though. I have found with the bookmarks, that the Hookmark style are the easiest to use, for me anyway. My guess is that they would also sell better at craft fairs than the book thongs anyways, but that would have to be tested to know for sure.