Book Box, Chapter 2

After reading my last post you may be wondering why I selected such thin books. My goal was to make a Book Box as a cover for my iPad. I was so surprised to finally get the iPad 2 as a birthday gift last June! I take my iPad with me everywhere. I even took it on a camping trip to Minnesota shortly after I got it. The Cookie Monster was shocked so he took a picture as evidence.

I have that awesome magnetic cover for my iPad in the lime green color but otherwise it's not protected. I wanted another cover but I felt guilty getting one because they are so darn expensive. On Pinterest I saw a link for how to make a composition notebook into an iPad cover and that's when I realized you could probably do that with any book. Click here  for details on how to make the composition notebook iPad cover or see below for inspiration on how to turn any book into an iPad cover.

 





The first thing you're going to want to do is make sure you have all the materials needed for the project. I used the materials shown in the picture. If you don't have a Dremel with the sanding attachment any sandpaper will do. Mod Podge works well and so does Elemer's glue, use whatever you have. I only use the Matte kind of Mod Podge. The box cutter shown in the picture worked really well it's made by Husky, I did need to change out the blade a couple times. When choosing a book make sure that it's at least as big as a composition notebook.

The reason I got two books was in case I messed up. The first one I hoped would be a good practice and help me figure out what to do differently the second time around.

STEP #1 Glue down the back page of the book. As you can see in the picture the second time around I decided to glue in a red elastic hairband. This will help the book stay closed when the iPad is in it.

Step #2 Give the back page time to dry to the base of the book. I found those black clips to be very helpful in holding things together. Then determine where you would like your secret compartment to begin and measure out the size you want it to be. Make sure you leave at least one full page to glue down in the last step. Draw your lines all the way across the page, this will be covered up later. Next paint the edges of the book with Mod Podge adhering all the pages together. You can water down the glue a little if it's too thick.

What does that say about my pottery?

 

Step #3  Give the pages plenty of time to dry. Put a protective layer between the pages glued and the ones at the front that are unglued. Then close the book and place something heavy on top. Leave it alone until it's dry, if there are gaps then you should do another layer of glue. 

It was nice to have my hubby's help with the project.

Step #4 Now the real fun begins, cutting out each page. Use your ruler as a guide and line it up with the lines that were already drawn. Press firmly cutting along the lines. Once you cut out a page or two that should be enough of a guide to continue cutting out pages. Save these beautiful pages for future projects. Keep cutting out the pages until you reach the desired thickness.   

This was more challenging than I thought it would be. It really took a lot of time and patience and was quite messy! I suppose I shouldn't have worn fleecy sweat pants, the little bits of paper really stuck to them like a magnet. The vacuum was nice to have handy.

Step #5 Now that all the pages are cut away you might wonder like I did, "is it supposed to look like this?" The inside of mine was messier than I thought it would be and that's when smoothing it out with sandpaper or a Dremel tool in my case really helps out. You will also find a vacuum very helpful after sanding down those pages.  Next you paint over the inside perimeter with a couple coats of glue. Use the black clips to keep everything nice and tight and make sure you give it plenty of time to dry.

  

Step #6 Measure out a piece of felt or another fabric of your choosing so that it will fit inside the rectangle. Then glue it down. I sewed a piece of black elastic to the back of the felt and wrapped it around the front, so that there would be something to keep my iPad in place. After I placed the felt into the rectangle I placed some glass stones on-top to keep it nice and flat while it dried.

Step #7  Lastly paint glue along the top perimeter and bring over that full page that was left. This will cover up those imperfections and marks from measuring. Let this page dry and then very carefully cut it out to reveal your box. 

And here are the FINAL results!

Yes I took the picture that's on my lock screen. If you haven't visited Utah yet then you must because it's breathtaking!

I was so proud of myself for finishing this project. It really was time consuming and was a little more challenging than I thought it would be. Let's just say I took a lot of coffee breaks especially between cutting out those pages and I chose thin books!

Out of the two book boxes I made I like the way the second one turned out best. The iPad fits a little snugger and I was able to add a second elastic strap which really helped. The red hairband was a great addition that helps keep the entire book closed when the iPad is placed inside.

After all my hard work and not one but two awesome iPad covers/book boxes I have to be honest. These did not meet  my expectations for an i-pad cover. I still think my beloved iPad deserves better. I just don't know that I could use these book boxes as an everyday cover. This is how I like to think about it. Let's say you just got your dream sports car and you had a choice to store it in an awesome crooked barn that you just painted and built by hand or you could buy a state-of-the-art garage, which would you choose? WHO in their right mind would chose the barn. Well okay some of you might think the barn's a good choice to keep the car hidden from potential thieves. But will the barn stand the test of time, will it stay standing in the wind or is there a potential for little bits to fall on-top of your car.

I have the perfect solution for my iPad! The BookBook. Have you heard of it? It's AMAZING and I love it. I've wanted one for a while but I thought I should at least try making my own first. The only problem is my handmade ones don't have all the extra padding like the BookBook and it doesn't fit quite as well as it should on all sides.  My iPad deserves the best right? It's a valuable gadget that deserves to have the best protection. I guess until I get my BookBook my handmade covers will have to do.

I hope that you'll try your hand at making your own book box. How fun would it be to give someone their Christmas gift in one this year?

For your enjoyment the BookBook video is below :) Isn't it great?