How to Cover Books for Décor
Hello there!
I am currently in the process of refreshing my home. How about you? There’s something about the beginning of the year that brings it out in me. Everything suddenly feels dated and wrong.
I think it has to do with the holidays ending. I’ve taken down all of my Christmas decorations, and the house just feels kind of blah.
We live in a warm climate, so the days are already starting to warm up, and it feels like spring is just around the corner. With that comes flowers and pastels and lighter décor. I’m also really itching to paint my walls. As you can see, they’re a bright turquoise. I actually like them quite a bit, but they are the color that was here when we moved in, and some days I just feel that they are heavy. I’d love to freshen them up with something lighter. But that’s another story for another post.
I keep seeing stacks of monochromatic books, painted books, and stamped books all over Pinterest, and I’m really loving how they look on bookcases. However, I don’t really have a bunch of old books hanging around that I’m willing to mutilate, so covering them seems like the best option for me. I also don’t want to permanently cover them, so mod podge is out. Instead, I’m sharing how to cover books for décor in a way that won’t permanently alter the covers and spine.
How to Cover Books for Décor
This is a quick and easy update for bookcases, and the books are safe and sound under the paper so I can easily change them up when desired.
I have a few design elements on one of my bookcases that I really like, but I had a stack of books that were all mismatched and very colorful. They didn’t add to the simple design I’m going for in my home.
I also want to add that these particular books aren’t ones we grab all that often, so covering them is not going to alter their usefulness. I’m all about functionality, so if these were books I regularly used, tying them up and not being able to see their titles would be a problem!
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Supplies you’ll need:
This craft is so easy, you only need 3 things:
Paper
Scissors (I also really like this wrapping paper cutter for long cuts)
Ribbon
That’s it! You don’t even need tape to make these book covers for décor.
Step 1: Measure and cut your paper
The first step to cover books for décor is to measure how much paper you need.
In all honesty, I am horrible and measuring things. I’ve been told countless times what each of the little lines means on the ruler, but I can only remember the big ones without counting. And when it comes to cutting, I always manage to mess it up.
So anyway, I eyeball most of my measurements. And it’s fine.
If you’re good at measuring, that’s amazing! You should totally measure, because you’ll probably end up with a more even cover and better folds. But if you’re like me and really struggle with those little lines, you can still end up with a nicely covered book.
Okay, honesty time is over. To eyeball your measurement, roll out your paper (I used Kraft paper from the Dollar Tree), and place your book on the paper. To make sure you have enough paper to cover the sides, place your book flat on the far end and flip it up to the spine, over to the back side, and back up, traveling the length of the paper. If you have several inches left (more than 4), it’s long enough to cover the sides of your book.
Alternatively, you can place the spine in the middle of the paper and open your book in the middle. If you have several inches left on either side, you have enough length to cover the sides.
Next, place your closed book in the middle again and leave a few inches above and below the top of your paper and cut the paper lengthwise.
Step 2: Fold down the top and bottom
To make nice edges along the top and bottom of your book and to create the fold flaps for the sides, you need to fold the paper lengthwise along the top and bottom of the book.
To find the correct length, I used both hands to push the paper up over the top and bottom of the book at the same time to make two creases. Next, I removed the book and folded the paper lengthwise along the creases.
Step 3: Fold down the side flaps
Next you’re going to fold down your side flaps inside the front and back cover of the book.
To find the exact middle, I placed the spine in the middle of the paper and held the ends up together to make sure they were even.
While still holding the book upright, I folded one edge over into the inside of the front cover and the other side into the back cover.
I held it upright to account for the spine. If you lay the book flat, the top side will need to be longer to wrap over the top to remain even with the back flap.
This really only matters if you want both of your flaps to be the same size.
To be honest, some of mine aren’t, and you can only see it if you look straight at the top or bottom of the book, so I wasn’t that concerned about it.
If it’s something that’s going to bother you, definitely take the step to ensuring the back and front flaps are even with each other.
Step 4: Cut a notch in your side flap
Now that you’ve folded the sides over the book covers, you’ll have a crease and a bit of a pocket that you’ll tuck the covers into.
I had a very difficult time with this step - I couldn’t get the book covers to tuck all the way into the pockets, so I tried something else.
Along the fold-over crease, I made a cut to the edge of the paper.
The cut creates flaps on either side of the book that I was able to tuck into the side of the cover (see photo). After making your cut, fold the sides over your covers and close the book with the flaps sticking out. Then, tuck the flaps in-between the paper and the book. This allowed me to make a much tighter fold than I was getting without making the cut first.
Step 5: Stack and tie
After covering all of the books in my stack, I used some pretty lace ribbon from the Dollar Tree to tie all of my books together.
In my before photo I have five books, but I felt it was too tall, so I went down to four books for this stack.
I love how these books turned out, and the possibilities are endless for matching your home’s décor. You’re really only limited by the paper you can buy!
I hope you enjoyed learning how to cover books for décor, and if you cover some for your home, I’d love to see a picture! Please share in the comments.
Happy crafting! I hope you enjoyed learning how to cover books for décor!
