How to Make a (Removable) Duct Tape Bible/Book Cover

Another unusual post for this blog, since I'm not a crafty person, but....

Today, I experimented with making a (removable) duct tape Bible/Book cover, and I wished to share what I did

I had written a post a few months ago about making a duct tape book cover, but in the instructions for that post, the duct tape was placed directly on the book itself. So it was permanent, as well as one had to be very careful when placing the duct tape on, at the risk of messing up the book. (As you can perhaps imagine, I'm not used to craft projects).

To fix that problem, I decided to experiment this time by first making a book cover out of posterboard, and placing the duct tape on that instead. That way, not only would the cover be removable if I wished to take it off the book, but if I messed up when placing the duct tape on the posterboard book cover, it would only ruin a cheap piece of posterboard, not the book itself.

Anyway, below are the instructions. At the end I include pictures of my first experiment.

Part One: Making the Posterboard Portion of the Cover

The first part of the book cover will consist of the posterboard portion of the cover (and which can work by itself as a book cover, if you wish to end there, and not place duct tape on it).

1. First, measure the height of your book. Once this is done, add one-eighth inch (1/8") to the measurement, so that the posterboard cover will overlap the pages of the book on both top and bottom by one-sixteenth inch (1/16").

Note: the one-eighth inch (1/8") added to the height measurement is merely a suggestion; it can vary depending on how much of an overlap you desire for your cover. Remember, however, that whatever measurement you wish the cover to overlap, double it, so as to account for both the top and bottom edges. Thus, in the example above, for the one-sixteenth inch (1/16") overlap on both top and bottom that I wished, I added double that amount, i.e., one-eighth inch (1/8") to the height measurement, so as to have the desired overlap on both sides.

2. Mark your measurement (including the desired overlap) on the posterboard on both sides, drawing a straight line connecting the marks, so as to have a line to cut along.

3. Once you have cut along the line, next you will with the resulting piece of posterboard mark three inches (3") over (on both top and bottom), connecting the marks by drawing a straight line, so as to have an edge to fold along (for one of the flaps to the book cover).

Note: the three inches (3") for the size of the flap is merely a suggestion, and can be adjusted as desired.

4. After having folded the posterboard to have one of the flaps created, insert the flap into the inside cover of the book itself, and then start wrapping the posterboard around the outside of the book. You will use the book itself to guide you so as know where the next folds (i.e., for the spine and other side of the book) should be, and folding as necessary.  When you come to the other inside front cover opposite the one you started with, mark the edge on the posterboard (top and bottom) so as to know where the other flap will begin. Taking the posterboard book cover out, measure three inches over from the last marks, on both top and bottom, and connect these new marks by drawing a straight line. Cut along this line, and then folding along the other two marks.  This will create another three inch (3") flap.

 Make sure that the posterboard portion of the cover itself fits "snugly", and that no measurement mistakes have been made. Once this is confirmed, you can move on to the next part of creating the cover.

(Or, if you prefer, you can stop right here, using simply the posterboard itself as a cover.

Part Two: Adding Duct Tape to the Posterboard Portion of the Cover.

1. In order to add duct tape to the cover, remove the posterboard cover from the book, and unfold it completely. Measure how long the total width is, and write it down.

2. Subtract three-eighths inch (3/8") from the total width. These will be the measurement of the top and bottom strips of duct tape (thus, allowing some "wiggle room" to work with). Cut the two strips.

3. For both the top and bottom edges of the cover, place the two 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. (Measuring on the posterboard, top and bottom, on both sides, will be helpful). Try to "center" the strips as much as possible along the edge where you will be folding. "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 small corners that will not be covered up. These will be dealt with later on.

4. Once these two strips have been added to the cover, next proceed to cut longer strips. (The number of strips will vary, depending on how big the book cover is.) To find the measurements of these strips, add two inches (2") to the width of the cover when completely unfolded, so as to have the strips overlap onto the inside part of the cover by one inch (1") on each side. 

5. About one eighth inch (1/8") from the bottom of the cover, use a pencil to mark the location, on both the left and right sides, for both front and back. At around the same location on the inside portion of the cover, measure one inch (1") over on both left and right sides. This will guide you in knowing the location where to start the strips. Starting on one side of the inside corner, one-eighth inch up from the bottom and one inch over, place the bottom corner of the duct tape, and wrap it over to the first inside edge, flip over the cover, and cover the entire outside portion of the cover until you come to the opposite edge of the book cover, and then flip it over again to finish the final one inch (1") on the opposite side of the inside portion of the cover. Use the measurements you previously made to guide you in keeping the strip parallel with the bottom edge of the cover, one eighth inch from the bottom. Remember to "smooth" the tape as you go along, so as to keep it completely flat.

6. Continue adding strips from the bottom, until the entire cover is finished. I would recommend making sure each new strip overlaps the previous strip by one-eighth inch (1/8").  So remember after completing every strip, mark one-eighth inch (1/8") measurements on both the left and right side of the strip, on both sides (inside and outside portion of the cover) , so as to know where to start so to have the next strip overlap and be parallel to the previous strip.

7. Once all of these strips have been added to the cover, you will notice that on the inside cover, on both sides, the strips are unlikely to match up exactly as to where they end. (Hopefully they should all be approximately one inch over on both sides of the inside cover, but unless you perfectly cut the length of the strips, and placed them exactly in the right place, with machine-like quality- something I have never done- then they will not match up exactly, and may be something of an eyesore. That is, unless you do not mind what the inside portion of the cover looks like, as some may not. I do, however, so.... 

8. To fix this, two last strips will need to be made. The length of these "inside" strips should be the equivalent of the height minus one-eighth inch (1/8"), again, so as to have some "wiggle room", 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) . Try to center them between the top and bottom of the cover, and as close to the edge as possible. This should cover up the edges of the long strips, so as to make the inside of the cover look neater than it otherwise would.

9. Most of the outside cover will now be covered in duct tape (and approximately the width of a strip of duct tape on both sides of the inside cover). However, there will still be near the corners of the covers (both inside and outside, front and back) 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 and immediately 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 these spaces with the marker. This will help camouflage very effectively these (extremely small) portions that could not get covered with duct tape.

10. You should now have a duct-tape book (Or Bible) cover than you can fit over your book and take off as you wish.

Note: If by some chance when you put on the book cover, it does not fit quite right (whether due to slight miscalculations in your measurement, or if the added duct tape makes it require a slight adjustment) merely move your "fold lines" of the book cover over a little, as needed. (For instance, when I did my book cover, the flaps were a little messed up- perhaps due to the added duct tape- so I refolded the flaps so as to make them two and three-quarters inches (2 3/4") instead of three inches (3") wide, and that appears to have fixed the problem.

A quick review of the measurements.

First, measure the Height (H) of the book itself. Later on, once you reach the stage for adding on duct tape, measure the Width (W) of the book cover when it is completely unfolded

For the posterboard portion of the cover, how tall the cover is will be equivalent to the Height of the book (H) plus twice the measurement of the desired overlap (DO).  H + 2(DO)

For the length of the strips,

Top and Bottom strips: Width (W) minus three-eighths of an inch: (W - 3/8")
Longer Strips: Width (W) plus two inches: (W + 2")
Inside strips: Height (H) minus eighth of an inch: (H - 1/8"),  

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Here are some photos of my first experiment.

The first three photos are of the Bible cover by itself; the last three show the Bible cover with a Bible inside it. (Please forgive me, but since I was outside to get greater light, I took the pictures on the lid of a red tote.)