How to Make a Book Jacket

Make it a fun family project

Perhaps making a book jacket brings back memories of middle school, brown paper bags, passing notes, stonewashed denim (or bellbottoms), and adolescent angst. Well, let me tell you, if that is the case, it is official, you are no longer hip. (Don't worry, neither am I!)

As it turns out, in this age of text messaging and cell phones covered in beads and doodads, it just won't do for a school book to go *gasp* naked in a brown paper bag. Luckily, there is an easy solution for this problem. Not to worry, if you are an adult who just wants to cover a book for functionality, feel free to use a brown paper bag, or the New York Times Financial section, or whatever flips your switch.

Nowadays you can purchase pre-made book covers made of fabric, or sticky plastic, but there are still options for those of us who can't bear to spend money on something we could easily make ourselves. Luckily, you have probably received a present at one time or another wrapped in a gift bag. And maybe you saved that gift bag. If you did, that is where you want to start. If not, head to the dollar store and pick up some great, colorful bags for...you guessed it, a dollar!

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Paper bag large enough to enfold book
• Scissors
• Clear tape

1. First let me say that you need not use a gift bag of course. Any thick paper you like will do. But let's assume you are going to recycle a bag you already own for the sake of this article.

   Cut the bag open along the seams so that it lays flat. Lay the book in the center of the bag and fold the top over the book, making a crease to mark where the book lies. Do the same with the bottom.

2. 

   Remove the book and fold the paper bag along the crease marks you just made. You should now have a piece of paper that is long from left to right and is the same height as the book.

3. Place the book back onto the paper and fold the paper over, matching up the ends. In this step you will be measuring the length of the ends to see if they will need to be trimmed. The long ends of the folded paper should extend beyond the book cover about half the width of the book. For example, if the book measures 10" from left to right (closed, not open) then the paper should extend 5" over the edge of the book both on the front and the back. Trim the paper until this is the case.

   *If your paper is naturally a little shorter than this, it will still work, so don't worry.

4. 

   Now you need to insert the book into the cover. First open the book, then insert the front cover into the flap of extra paper. Repeat this process with the back cover and center the book. If you wish, mark the cover with a crease, remove the book and fold the two flaps to create a sharp line. This will give you a look that is not quite as loose.

   Once the book is inserted and you are happy with the fit of the cover, you can tape the flaps so the book does not slip out.

   That's it, now you can use your imagination to personalize your book cover.

Tips & Warnings

• Write the title of the book in glitter paint, fabric paint, or puffy paint.

• Instead of using words on the title, use images or create a fun phonetic rebus to indicate the title. You might use a picture of a globe or a map for a geography book for instance. A "G" rated example of a rebus (most of the fun ideas are not G-rated) would be the following: For the book "The Thorn Birds", you could use a picture of a rose with a thorn highlighted, and a plus (+) sign, then a flock of birds.

• Decorate with stickers, ribbons, feathers, whatever you like.

• The website reference on this article has some great ideas for book cover projects as well.

• Watch out for paper cuts and don't eat the paste.

Resources

• Another great book cover resource