Tip of the Day January 28, 2009

Covering School Books

Every parent’s back to school nightmare but it’s a good idea to help protect your children's’ schoolbooks from a year of abuse by making covers out of a durable material, such as brown paper and strong plastic book covering. Using brown paper is much easier than using contact, saving time and a lot of frustration. You can buy rolls of brown paper for bookcovering from newsagents and office supply stores. One roll is usually enough for a couple of years, depending of course on the number of books you have to cover.

1. Measure the height of the book you want to cover. Then measure the distance from the front to back covers. Add 15cm to the two measurements (to create the inside flaps), and cut a piece of paper to this size.

2. Open the book, and place it face down in the centre of the paper. To accommodate the spine,
make two vertical cuts on the excess paper at the top and bottom of the book, creating a flap. Fold the flap down and behind the spine, creating two notches. If this isn’t possible, carefully trim the flap level with the bottom of the spine.

3. Wrap the paper around the book, making sure the inside flaps are equal sizes. Fold top and bottom flaps over the side flaps and tape in place.