Guest Post: DIY Book Cover with Angie of Artsy You

Today's guest post is from my lovely friend Angie of Artsy You, who is sharing this fun DIY for a book cover! Perfect for protecting any back to school books!

The excitement of September has never left me, even though I haven’t been in school for over 5 years. Every year as September draws closer the main things I think about are the fun times I had picking out new clothes, getting my backpacks ready and not sleeping much due to the excitement of a new adventure. But one of the big things I remember fondest is my father’s insistence on reading and teaching us to care for our books. For him, and now for me, books are precious and you take care of something that’s important to you!

I admit I have a bit of OCD when it comes to the condition of my books. My friends may even call me a little psychotic,  lol, but I don’t think there is anything wrong with caring for your books. I’ve hit a point that my soft covers barely look read, even though I read some of them yearly, and my hard covers are precious! Heck, my most loved hardcover novels are stored a glass china cabinet LOL.

The thing I have always hated the most is getting a bend in the cover of my soft covers. The culprit usually was my backpack and other books. So my dad and I started making these handy dandy book totes to put in our backpack and carry our books. They keep the pages and covers from being bent and help you keep your books looking nice:

In order to make this tote we started with a bunch of supplies! You will need: A box your book will fit into (or that you can cut down to fit your book), Glue, Staples (optional), Construction Paper (of any colour), Scrapbook paper and anything else you can think of, Ribbon or String. As always you can use anything you like and alter any of the instructions to suit your needs!

I had a friend help me with making these totes. She starts back to school in Grade 4 this year and thought it would be a great idea to make one for her school bag being she has started to read on her own! The box we chose for her was a little too wide so we decided to cut the sides.

We then glued one side to the other to make it back into the box shape but a little narrower!

This is us holding the newly formed sides together. We used glue down the middle and staples at either end for extra support!

We folded over the bottom and glued it back together. This is so the book doesn’t slide out the bottom. Once the bottom is put together you can cut off the flaps on the top of the box!

I chose a smaller box and didn’t need to adjust the size. I left the bottom glued from when I got it, and just cut off the flaps to create an opening at the top. Our next step is to cover the box: I advise using a large enough piece of paper to cover long wise for extra support on the bottom. I used purple construction paper to cover mine.

My friend used black. We glued the paper around then stapled the top to add support so that the paper wouldn’t peel off in your backpack!

Now for the fun part! Once the box is covered you can start decorating how you like. We used Scrapbook paper and decals. HAVE FUN WITH IT AND BE CREATIVE!!!

The boxes came together nicely!!


 
My friend took her time to cut out some fun decals and personalize her creation!!


You can use anything you can find. We found this image in a craft supply section, it was the example sheet for an iron on picture for T-Shirts and Bags! You would be amazed what you can find in dollar stores!!! You can even draw or paint on your box (I advise using things that won’t transfer if they rub another book... meaning No Chalk!)

My friend’s final product! Woot!! We added some small ribbons to tie the box closed (it would defeat the purpose if the book fell out! :)

For my box I used a larger ribbon around the whole box! I think it turned out pretty good. Hopefully, you’ll have fun making your own! I’d love to hear how they went!

Until next time you can find me at Artsy You!

Keep Creating!!!

Angie