Decide what kind of character your bookplate will have. Will it say "Ex Libris" ("From the Library of") above your name? Will it have a cartoon character or an elegant flower on it? Sketch out your ideas. You can have different bookplates for every book in your collection or certain bookplates for one genre and different ones for another. Be creative!
Design your bookplate on your computer so that it fits onto ¼ of a single sheet of paper. Use clip art, personal photographs or drawings to make it unique. Copy the image and words so that you have four bookplates on one sheet. Print out the design on cardstock. Cardstock is heavier than regular paper and will hold up under use and repeated readings of a book.
Cut the cardstock into quarters, separating each bookplate. If you left a space to write you name, write it in and let it dry.
Glue the bookplate into your book, either on the inside of the front cover or on the first page. Let it dry with the cover open so that the cover and first page don't stick together.