diy book case

As a part of a class I am enrolled in, we had to create a portfolio book of our work, and then create a case to hold the book inside of. Most people created soft cases, but I really wanted to create something more unique and extensive, so I scoured the Internet and found a tutorial for how to create a cigar box. I honestly had no idea how it would turn out, but much to my surprise, it turned out beautiful and I am shocked at the result. Sure my brain works creatively, but I think most people could figure this project out. It was super fun, and as much as it took a bit of time to finish, I enjoyed the process and most of the time spent was waiting for glue to dry.

Materials You'll Need

Binder's Board: You can usually find a back of 4 of them at an art store that carries book making materials. I found that I used about 2 of those sheets to make this single book. However, if you make any errors and cut any of them wrong, you'll wind up using more.
Book Cloth: They have them in a huge variety of colors and textures, if you want an even greater variety than an art store, order them online here. I would buy two packages of them at the art store just to be safe.
Metal Ruler: Because a plastic ruler just won't do.
Olfa Cutter: You'll want something more heavy duty than an Exacto to cut through the Binder's Board, an Exacto would be far too dangerous to try and cut that board with. Find something more sturdy and durable to cut the board with.
Exacto Knife and Replacement Blades: To cut the Book Cloth.
Cutting Mat: Make sure to cut everything on the cutting board, so buy or find a cutting board large enough to fit the size of the book case you are making.
PVA Glue + Brush: You'll use a brush to apply this glue in order to adhere everything together, this glue works like a charm and you definitely don't have to worry about anything coming unglued or not looking adhered enough.
Bone Folder: To press everything down in the creases and cracks.
Pencil: You'll want to make some little marks as you go in order to ensure that it fits your book properly in the end.

Note: You don't have to make one of these cases in order to fit a book, I think this is the perfect tutorial to use to make a little case to fit a gift or maybe hold a stack of old journals you want to store in a unique way. It's just a case, you could use it in whatever way suits your imagination.

How I Did It

I followed the tutorial provided by 'Making Handmade Books.' It's a 4-step series of posts that are extremely extensive and specific. I read through every single step to know what I was in for, and then I just kinda winged it and did it myself. I found that the specifics almost confused me and I wanted to just get down the basics, so that method worked for me.

I stuck to the basics of (1) Cut the pieces of binder's board to size (2) Adhere the bottom of the box together, basically everything but the cover (3) Wrap the cloth around the outside sides of the box (4) Adhere cloth to the front of the cover piece making sure to have extra hang over on the left side (5) Adhere the extra cloth to the back of the box so the cover attaches via the cloth (6) Cover the back of the box with cloth covering the extra cloth that holds the cover on (7) Adhere cloth to the back of the cover and to the inside of the box. (8) Add any additional pieces (I added a business card holder of sorts and a little front piece I found at Office Depot to put the company's name I'm presenting it to in)

While that may make no sense, that was my mental documentation of what I read on the website that I put into action. It's not easier said than done, it's easier done than said.

It took me around 3-4 hours to complete the project. Keep in mind, you have to wait for the glue to dry and measuring everything out takes a while. But you definitely learn as you go, and if you mess anything up, there is probably a way to fix it, so the process wasn't very stressful.

In the end, you wind up with a gorgeous box that's homemade and custom yet looks practically store-bought. Boom.