Before beginning, I should warn you that the duct tape will be going directly *on* the book cover. (Apparently other people use paper bags or something similar, but I do not do so.) Therefore, on the one hand there is not as many steps, but on the other, it requires more care. With that said....
1. First, measure the dimensions of the Bible or book: height x width x depth (H x W x D)
2. Cut four "short strips" of duct tape; the length of each strip should be the equivalent to the width of the book minus three-eighths of an inch, so as to have some "wiggle room". (W - 3/8")
3. Using a pencil, mark halfway up on each side of the duct tape (Your pencil marks should be along the cut marks, i.e., the short sides of the duct tape strip- this will help for knowing where to "fold" the duct tape in the next step)
4. For the top and bottom edges of the covers (for both the front and back covers of the book), place the four short strips on each edge, folding the pieces of duct tape, so that half the duct tape sticks to the inside of the book cover, and half of it to the outside. Use measurements in previous step to help you. Try to "center" it as much as possible. "Smooth" out the duct tape as you go along, so that it will be completely flat, and try to keep it even on both sides, inside and out. Due to the "wiggle room" needed for placing the duct tape, there will be extremely small corners that will not be covered up. These will be dealt with later on.
Now the top and bottom edges of the book covers, front and back, should be covered.
5. Next, you will need to cut "long strips" of duct tape. (These are what will cover the majority of the book's cover.) The length of these strips should be the equivalent of four times the width of the book plus the depth, but minus one inch for "wiggle room". (4W + D - 1"). The number of strips will depend on the height of the book. (The space not covered due to the need for "wiggle room" will be dealt with by other strips later on.)
6. Starting on the front inside cover, in the "gutter", about an eighth of an inch ( 1/8") from the bottom of the cover, use a pencil to mark the location. Then, still on the front inside cover, on the other side, again mark one-eighth inch (1/8") from the bottom. Then on the outside front cover, again mark the same measurement from the bottom on both left and right sides, then do so on both sides of the spine, continuing through both sides, left and right, on the outside back cover, and finally finish by marking the measurement on both left and right sides on the inside back cover. This will help guide you when placing the duct tape.
7. Very, very carefully, going as slowly as needed (since this *is* duct tape), start on the inside front cover, take a long strip, and place the bottom corner of it near the gutter where you marked your one-eighth inch (1/8") measurement. Then, start wrapping the strip all the way around. That is, from the front inside cover near the gutter, to the left side of the inside front cover, around to the outside front cover on the right side, to the outside front cover on the left side near the spine, around the spine, to the right side of the outside back cover, to the left side of the outside back cover, and then around into the inside back cover on the right side, until finally you end up a little short of the inside back cover on the left side (so as to have some "wiggle room"). Again, use the measurements you already marked to help guide you to know where to place the tape. "Smooth" the tape as you go along, so that the tape will be completely flat. It can get a little tricky to both smooth the tape and keep it where you marked your measurements, so be patient, working with it as needed. Be careful not to let your tape stick to itself. This should result in the very same strip winding around from the inside front cover near the gutter, all the way around the outside covers (including spine), and ending at the inside back cover near the gutter.
8. I would recommend the next strip to be the one at the very top (for symmetrical reasons). It would be exactly like the bottom strip, except that your measurements would start at one-eighth inch (1/8") from the top, and you would begin by placing the top corner of the strip where the measurements began, simply wrapping around as you did before with the bottom strip.
9. Then, I would resume at the bottom, and continue adding strips from the bottom up until the entire cover is finished. But I would recommend having an eighth of an inch (1/8") overlap over each immediately preceding strip. So remember after completing every strip, mark one-eighth inch (1/8") measurements all around the strip, so as to know where to have the next strip overlap.
(Of course, one could just start the first strip at the top, and then go next to the bottom and keep on going up from the bottom with the strips. But I prefer to do the first strip at the bottom, so that if there is a mistake on the first strip, it won't be as noticeable at the bottom as at the top. If the first strip is OK, then I do the top one for symmetrical reasons, as I said, and then resume from the bottom.)
10. Once the entire outside and most of the inside cover is covered with duct tape, on the inside covers (perhaps both front and back) there may still be empty space near the gutters, due to the "wiggle room" that was allotted. To cover up this empty space, simply make two "inside strips" of duct tape. The length of these inside strips would be the equivalent of the height minus one-eighth inch (1/8") for "wiggle room" (H - 1/8")), though such measurement can be adjusted as you see fit. These two "inside strips" are simply placed vertically, at right angles to the "long strips", on the inside covers (front and back) near the "gutters". Try to center them between the top and bottom of the cover. These should cover up almost all of the remaining empty space.
11. With most of the cover now covered in duct tape, there will still be near the corners of the covers (both inside and outside, front and back) as well as on the spine (front and bottom) *extremely* small sections that could not be covered with duct tape (due to the need for "wiggle room" when putting on the duct tape). Though very small, they will stick out to catch your attention. To fix these, simply take a marker of the same color (or at least a similar color) of the duct tape that you used (for instance, black), and cover over it with the marker. This will help camouflage very effectively these (extremely small portions) that could not get covered with duct tape. (You'll notice in one of the pictures below that I *didn't* use the marker over the sections on the spine. Oops!)
You should now have a duct tape Bible (or book) cover.
[Note: You may wish to practice on another book (i.e., one you do not mind getting messed up) first before trying this on a book that is important to you. Being duct tape, it isn't able to be taken off without risking damaging the book, so you want to make sure you get it done right the first time on a book that is important. Hence, it's a good idea to practice first on a book you can risk damaging.]
[Note: You may wish to practice on another book (i.e., one you do not mind getting messed up) first before trying this on a book that is important to you. Being duct tape, it isn't able to be taken off without risking damaging the book, so you want to make sure you get it done right the first time on a book that is important. Hence, it's a good idea to practice first on a book you can risk damaging.]
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A quick review of the measurements:
First, measure the Bible or book. Height x Width x Depth (H x W x D)
Short strips: Width minus three-eighths of an inch (W - 3/8")
Long strips: Multiply the width by four, add the depth, then subtract one inch (4W + D - 1")
Inside strips: Height minus an eighth of an inch (1/8"), adjusted as desired (H - 1/8")
Reminder concerning "long strips": Do bottom strip, do top strip, then go back to bottom, and from that point on, keep on going up until cover is completely covered, overlapping each immediately preceding strip by an eighth of an inch (1/8")
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Below I include some images of a duct tape Bible cover I did earlier today. You can see a stock photo of the original blue cover Bible here. Since I wanted a black Bible, I covered this one with black duct tape. And, of course, duct tape gives the cover much more protection (as the Bible is only a paperback Bible.)
[I only included three pictures, since I needed to have my sister take them, and I didn't want to make her take a million pictures. But the following show the front part of the Bible cover, inside and out, as well as the spine. The back cover, needless to say, is just like it. I apologize in advance for the first picture (depicting the front cover) for not being as easy to see as I would have liked.]
And I just noticed my family's cat Sweety photobombed that last picture...
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