How to make an Eco-friendly (+ super easy) Book Cover

Make an eco-aesthetic cover for your favorite paperback in 5 minutes, without glue or tape

It is no secret that I am in love with pretty packaging. It warms my heart to see the expanding attention to detail and visual awareness in this area. Like the paper bags and napkins at Starbucks. Say what you will about the company, but their bags are made from 100% unbleached recycled fibers, with at least 80% post-consumer content (PCC). And how much other beautiful packaging material is out there? It’s sad to think that most of it goes to waste after single use. Surely we can reuse all these papers, and practice a sort of eco-aestheticism? ^_^

If, like me, you don’t like throwing away pretty things, here’s one way to extend the life of a paper bag, or any paper packaging that tickles your fancy.

The Eco-friendly (+ super easy) book cover

The small Starbucks bags are the perfect size to cover paperbacks, no matter the page count. My assistant for this project will be Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. The only tool you will need is scissors.

1»
Cut away the bottom, and remove the handles from the bag. Spread the paper flat. (You can smooth out most major wrinkles with a warm iron, if desired.)

2»
Trim the paper approximately 4 times width of the book, making an allowance for the spine. There should be enough paper to wrap around the book, with 3–4 inches for the cover flaps.

3»
Make folds on top and bottom edges of the paper, matching the length of the paperback.

4»
Place the book spine in the center of your paper, and fold one side over the cover, forming a flap. Slip the book cover into the folds of the flap.

5»
Repeat on the other side, and you’re done!

You can reuse the cover many times, simply adjust the flap widths to compensate for differences in book thickness. For larger format books, try the Trader Joe’s paper bags!

Enjoy your newly beautified and protected books, and do share what other papers you’ve been able to take to the Second Life. (ha! :)~ I couldn’t help myself.)

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 05th, 2008 at 6:38pm and is filed under resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.