Saturday, January 7, 2012

DIY: Kindle Cover

Daniel got this book at his family's white elephant gift exchange last month.  Pretty boring reading material, but the instant I saw it I thought, ooh, crafting potential.  

What you will need
*A book cover that will fit your kindle
*A piece of fabric/vinyl to cover the book cover
* Elastic

Step 1: cut the book block out of the cover.  An example of how to do that can be found here from the book box project.
Step 2: Using a ruler and an exacto knife, cut off the edges and bottom of the cover to fit the size of the kindle.  
I simply placed my kindle on the cover and marked approximately where I wanted to cut the cover.  I left about 1/4-1/2 inch of overhang around the kindle.
Below are my trusty cutting tools.
Step 4: Trim the vinyl (or whatever material you want to use to cover your cover).  Make it around one inch longer than the cover on each side. 
Step 5: Mark the inside of the back cover where the elastic will go through the book.  Drill 4 holes total.  Two on the top and two on the bottom.  (In the next few pictures, you can see the vinyl already glued onto the front cover.  That was a mistake.  I recommend drilling before any glueing is done.)
Step 6: Thread the elastic through the holes.  I just rolled up the end of the elastic and squished it through the holes.
Step 7: Using a hot glue gun, secure the elastic to the back of the cover.  Before glueing, test out the amount of tension on the elastic.  Use the kindle as your guide, making sure the elastic is tight enough to hold the kindle in place.
Step 8: Glue the vinyl to the cover.  I do not recommend using Tacky Glue for this project.  Next time I would go to the hardware store and look for a glue that will work better with vinyl.  If you have any recommendations, let me know.
 I let my cover dry under these books for half of the day.  
Step 9: Once dry, trim the corners and fold over the edges as seen below.  Use hot glue (or other preferred glue).
Making the corners neat was a bit tricky.  It just took some squishing, pulling, and folding under of the material.  Vinyl has some stretch to it, which makes it easier.
Now it's ready for the kindle!  
I made a simple closure device by glueing a piece of elastic into a loop and then glueing this flower onto the elastic.  It is completely separates from the kindle when removed.  I made the flower, which I will demonstrate in another DIY post at a later date.  

16 comments:

  1. I like that you tell us what not to do - we get to learn from your "mistakes" :-)

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  2. I'm happy to share my mistakes. I tend to make a lot of them with experimental crafting:)

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  3. I would use a spray adhesive like Super 77. Way easier to get coverage, non-bulky, and fast drying. Hope that helps. :)

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  4. Steen, thanks for the tip. I'll definitely try out some Super 77.

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  5. This was way too cool, sure wish my imagination or brain worked like this. Great Idea and thanks for sharing.

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  6. Wonderful idea. I have been looking for a cover to make as a gift for my daughter. The only problem I have is I don't know the dimensions of her e-reader. Does anyone know if they are all the same size?

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  7. You could do the same thing for an iPod Touch/iPhone cover - in fact that leftover piece at the bottom looks like it's just about the right size!

    I live this idea btw - my expensive kindle cover barely lasted a year. I'll give this a try for sure!

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  8. I was prepared to go out and get a cover for my new tablet but after seeing this tutourial, I'm going to make my own. Love it!

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  9. Thanks, I will try this.

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  10. Here is a site that shows all of the kindles side by side and you can see the line that shows the dimensions of each one. It might be helpful!
    http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com/

    Coyotewoman, I love the idea of making a mini cover for an iPhone!

    I'm so glad you are all going to try this project out! I'd love to see any pictures of your final product: crownhilldaybyday(at)gmail.com

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  11. So clever! I love that you have recycled what looks like the dullest book ever into this!

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  12. Thanks for sharing this! It inspired me to get crafty and I made a kindle case today. You can see a picture of my final product here: http://madridnt.blogspot.com/2012/01/getting-crafty-diy-kindle-case.html

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    1. It's so cool! I love the way you revised the project!

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  13. Hey, Im attempting to make it now.. fingers crossed. I was just wondering if you thought of adding some material in the inside? I have cut some polar fleece material to go inside but now im not sure how to put it in haha...

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  14. I did think about adding material to the inside for my next cover, but I have yet to make a next cover! Ha ha! Polar fleece sounds like a cozy lining...I hope you can figure out a way to make it work. I'd love to see it when you're done!

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