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Along with schoolhouse shopping and choosing a new lunch box, one back-to-school tradition is covering your schoolhouse books. Some schools require it, some don't, only your kids are sure to get a kick out of customizing their books with covers made from recycled materials.

You can utilize a variety of destined-for-the-dumpster materials to make unique book covers that, along with duct tape, will be sturdy and protect textbooks when they get shoved into a locker or a brimming backpack. I used 2 white potato chip bags, but yous can as well utilize cereal bags, newspaper sacks (an one-time standby), or a variety of other product packaging. With the addition of colorful duct tape, volume covers become almost indestructible! Using recycled packaging also teaches kids about recycling, and demonstrates that it'southward a skillful idea to reuse things whenever possible.

Bonus: you can find patterned duct tape (like the plaid in the photo above) at large box stores right at present. I found the plaid at Target, and some tie-dye printed tape at Wal-mart. Articulate packing record is besides a great choice because it volition allow the artwork on the recycled packaging to testify through.

Time Needed for Project: About 15 minutes per volume.

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Materials:

  • Recycled packaging, such as a tater flake bag (I needed two to cover my medium-sized book.
  • Duct tape in 1 or more than fun colors (or packing tape)
  • Book to cover
  • Scissors
  • Dish lather, water, and sponge or washcloth
  • Optional: Stickers

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Preparing the Packaging:

  1. Cut off the bottom of the bag in a higher place the sealed seam.
  2. Cut off the back seam.
  3. Wash pocketbook thoroughly with dish soap and a sponge or washcloth to remove all residual oil and crumbs. You can practise this in your dishwater if yous wash dishes past hand!
  4. Wipe both sides of bag dry. Make sure bag is completely clean and dry before you begin covering your book.

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Hither are my two chip bags, all make clean and dry.

Annotation: if your kid isn't jazzed almost the idea of using an old chip pocketbook for a book comprehend (disclaimer: my kids are 3 and under, so they retrieve everything is cool! I don't know if recycled scrap bags volition wing with your eye schooler!), allow the within of the pocketbook face up outward, and they can decorate it with stickers or duct tape as they prefer.

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Assembling the Volume Cover:

Tape your 2 packages together using a piece of duct tape. Permit the tape to extend over the edge of the bundle.

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Plow bags over and wrap tape over the edge. Run across how the two numberless don't perfectly line up? Don't worry about that considering you will exist folding this part again anyhow, and it won't be seen. You lot can also tape the inside of the numberless where they overlap, if you want.

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Lay your volume on your prepared fleck numberless. Make a crease in the pocketbook along the height of the volume, as a guide. Remove book and fold chip bags at the crease, keeping fold equally straight and even as possible.

07bookcoverLay book on pinnacle of folded border (go out a tiny bit of room at the summit of the flake bag to go far easier for the book to slide into the book cover once information technology's assembled). Pucker scrap pocketbook at bottom of book to make a guideline. Remove book and fold bottom at crease, keeping fold equally straight and fifty-fifty as possible.

I taped each folded section in the middle, but non at the ends (you desire to get out the ends open so the book covers tin slide into them). Chip bags don't maintain the folds as well as paper does, and then the tape helped keep everything in place.

08bookcoverClose book cover over volume, and cheque the placement of whatsoever artwork y'all want to bear witness on the front end of the book. Fold cease over the edge of the slightly opened book encompass to make a crease.

09bookcoverInsert one side of book into the folded end of the volume cover.

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Record to secure (make sure yous aren't taping any area where the book is, and that the book cover is able to slide when opened and closed.

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Repeat process for other side of volume (trim book comprehend if necessary, earlier you put it onto the book). I constitute that it was slightly more tricky to coax the book into this side.

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You tin can stop here if you desire, or add boosted decorations like stickers or cutting-out pictures covered in clear tape, or a nametag or book label.

13bookcoverI added a couple extra pieces of duct record just for fun.

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I really wanted to try my new plaid duct record out!

Heather Mann is a regular contributor at Make and Takes. She's is the mother of ii boys under age three, and another boy on the way. She publishes Dollar Store Crafts, a daily blog devoted to hip crafting at dollar store prices, CROQ Zine, a print magazine devoted to hip crafting, and likewise CraftFail, a community blog that encourages crafters to share their non-so-successful craft attempts.