Wednesday, April 25, 2012

DIY Book Cover


I know this is ridiculous, but I can't help it.  I am reading a couple of books for the Wheel of Life week on relationships, and they have embarrassing titles:  Divorce Busting and The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work.  (Wait, what type of embarrassing were you thinking?)

Anyway, I know it is utterly silly but I feel self-conscious about waving these books around like everyone is going to look at me and think my marriage is a step away from ending.  That really bothers me.

So, instead of manning up and dealing with why I care what strangers think about me and my marriage, I made my own book covers.  Makes sense to me.

I grabbed some scrapbook paper and basically stuck it to the book and trimmed off the excess paper with a rotary cutter.






Of course, whenever I try to do a simple project, it doesn't end up being simple.  In this case, it was the glue.  Here's what I used and how it worked (or didn't):

Puzzle saver - I accidentally grabbed this thinking it was mod podge.  It stuck but made the paper somewhat see-through, which of course defeated the whole purpose.  It also made it so stiff that it stuck right up in the air.  I had to tie the book up with an elastic overnight to get it the front page to stay down (sort of).  Also, it leaked over the sides and stuck the pages together.  Nice.


Mod podge - This didn't work at all.  I was shocked.  When I checked on it the next day, all it had done was made a shiny slick surface on the book.  The paper was not attached to it at all.  This also leaked into the pages.  Great.


Glue stick - This was just stupid.  Some parts of the paper stuck but not much of it.  Good news was that it didn't stick together any of the pages.


Clear Gel Tacky Glue - This was perfect.  It stuck the paper to the book and did not get anywhere near the inside pages.


Does anyone else have this dilemma about which type of glue to use for a project?  I never seem to get it right on the first try.

The puzzle saver example got a collage of hydrangea flower punches glued on top to cover the sheer paper.


Do you think the library is going to be angry?  ;)

8 comments:

Tina Bradley said...

These look great! Awesome idea for covering up those "embarrassing" reads! ;) T.

Cranberry Morning said...

Love that last line especially. LOL Great tutorial.

Adrianne Surian said...

Hahahaha, thank you for testing everything out for us first, Terry!!

Thing is, I'd love to say I don't care what people think, but I would be self-conscious too. Nevermind that the people who *would* judge could probably use the read, you know?

Etcetorize said...

Lol...really, I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing with you. You crack me up~

Anita Rowe Stafford said...

I don't like to have people looking at my book titles and "judging" me either! Love your trial and error method, that's how I work!

Unknown said...

That is why I love my Kindle. No one knows what I am reading!:) I always use Mod Podge so I would have been in the same boat as you. I hope the library doesn't kick you out!:)

Unknown said...

You crack me up! Great idea...and good luck with the library ladies. :)

Danni@SiloHillFarm said...

I somehow missed this post..but you are hilarious!! I would be the same about worrying what people think when I'm reading any kind of self-help book! I love Alene's Tacky Glue. Alene's makes a glue for everything..seriously. You can pick up a sample pack at Hobby Lobby and it tells you what each glue is for. Or, you can just ask me!;)

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