Easy Hard Cover for My Paperback: a Vibrant Look for My Book.

This is a book that I found in a flea market and bought some time ago, and forgot about until recently. The book was a low-cost study revision, and it was a pre-owned, so what did I expect ?!

Finally, I decided to do something about it …

This book really needs, and truly deserves, new looks. I thought that a new hard cover with some nice colors would do the trick.

I am going to roll my sleeves and save the day! Or whatever they say in fairy tales.

Supplies

We are going to use the tools and material shown in this collective picture, and of course we will need some kind of sturdy cardboard, medium thickness craft paper, a couple of photocopying while or colored papers, and of course, the champion of the league: colored gift wrapping paper!

Step 1: Cutting the Cardboard Into Cover and Spine

The first step is to take some measurements of the book, in order to cut the cardboard into the hard cover that I had in mind.

We can use some kind of sturdy cardboard, and you even re-use the hard covers some old unneeded directories or similar large books with heavy hard covers, thus give them too a new life ! I like to try my best to recycle and/or reuse whatever material I have.

We should now take the measurements of the book and drop them on the cardboard, I should remember to add 3 or 4 millimeters as shown on the pictures, the same goes for the cardboard part that is shown in the middle and that will become the new spine.

I always use a cutter with a safety lock, and I keep it locked at all times if I am not using it, even for a second. And I always keep that razor very sharp, when it becomes blunt. I break then blunt part and through it away after wrapping it with some paper tape it for safety.

Step 2: Fortifying the Book Spine

Here, I put the glue and cotton gauze into action! The idea in to wrap and thus fortify the spine of the book. To do this, I brushed some glue to the spine and two centimeters from each side of the book, and then covered them with gauze.

Note that in this particular case, the book cover was still quite sturdy and very well glued to the book itself, therefore, I chose to keep it.

In another instance, the book cover is not that preserved, or it is torn out altogether.  In that case, I removed the book cover from the book, and I cleaned the spine from the paper remains and started without the original book cover.

Some would argue that it is better to remove the original book cover in all cases, I guess it is a matter of opinion!!

 I treat my brushes very nicely, big or small; after each use, I gently rinse them in tab water, then dry them with a clean towel, and leave them to dry. They return the favor and treat me great.

Note the looks of the now fortified spine with the gauze and glue.

Step 3: Preparing the Hard Cover

On the other side of the preparations, let's use some masking tape to hold the cardboard parts together, and then …

I am going to use the cotton gauze to cover the spine and a small margin from the sides, as shown in the picture, while leaving few millimeters space between each one of the hard cover sides and the spine. I apply the gauze and glue on the flip side too, after the leave the first side to dry, and after I remove the masking tape.

Step 4: Now Comes the Brilliantly Colored Cover

I took the measurements of the hard cover that I prepared, and I cut the nice and vibrant gift wrapping paper into a nice cover for the hard cover and that that extends several centimeters in width and breadth.

Optionally, I cut the covering paper in order to wrap up it later and cover the spine, which will make the final look of the hard cover smoother and nicer.

Then I covered one of the sides completely with a very thing layer of glue and removed any excess, then I used the paper folder to cover the cardboard with the colored wrapping paper. If you still find some air bubbles, you may use a small pin to puncture the paper and remove the air using the paper folder.

I massaged the cover lightly with the paper folder or plastic rule to remove any air bubbles, and leave it to dry, you can put under some heavy books and dictionaries for better results.

When both sides are completed and dried, the both covers completed, I folded the small flaps to cover the cardboard of the spine.

Step 5: Putting Things Together

In order to join the the hard cover to the book, we need to cut two pieces of some tough yet flexible type of paper, I chose to use medium thickness craft paper for these particular characteristics.

Each paper should have the exact height of the book, and two times its width, folded such as it covers the entire book side.

Next I started with gluing one side of the book to cover it completely with the craft paper, and leave the second flap of the craft paper loose, which I will glue later on to the hard cover.

I used the large brush to spread a thin layer of white glue into the book cover, and I made sure to remove any excess glue from the book cover before carefully laying the craft paper over it covering it completely. I also used here that famous paper folder, to ensure that that the craft paper is perfectly glued to the side of the book cover without any air bubbles.

After we complete both sides of the book, we are ready to glue the book to its final hard cover and then put the final touches !!

Step 6: The Final Touches!

Now the story escalates and the tension builds up (fast drum beat) … we need to be extra careful and focus on the pearl in our hands (pun intended!) So it is not a good time to loose it (the paper folder I mean).

First of all, we will draw with the pencil and the ruler the excess paper that needs to be cut, as you can see from the picture, in order to have a perfect fit rather than have the three parts of the covering wrap paper overlap each other.

But, I guess it is a matter of personal taste, so you can skip this step if you did not like it, no offense taken.

You can save the small cut wrapping papers for some collage work or scarap book that you you may be involved in, or perform any other project to your liking. I thought about it a lot, but could not figure out any such project, yet …

Oops .. I forgot to tell you earlier !!

I use some old colored printer paper to separate glued papers from the rest of the book … call me paranoid , I don’t really mind

Step 7: And a Nice Cover and Spine

I even got a nice book cover pictures from the Internet and and I even cut a spine label to enrich the new looks. Think about them as the last make up touches before you go out to dinner or something.

I tried to cut them neatly, and then I very carefully filled the back of each paper, the paper front cover and the paper spine, with a very thin layer of this special paper glue, and I took extra care to align them each in its respective place, on the front cover and on the spine of the book.

Et voila !!! the pearl is ready to be rediscovered.