I bought a "budget tablet" recently, because I sure as hell can't afford an actual iPad. My tablet is a Lenovo Ideapad A1, and was on sale for $199 at Best Buy. Just sayin'. PC World rated it the best of the budget tablets.
I was going to fork over some more cash for a cover/case/whatever, but then I decided to get resourceful and creative instead.
When I told my husband I was going to MAKE a tablet protector case out of a discarded library book, he was like, "Mm-hm. Sure you will." (In his defense, I say LOTS of things. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch watching TV, and said, "In an alternate reality I'm on the treadmill right now.")
"The Wind and the Rain," a book of poetry |
First I chose a hardback of pleasing color and title that was just slightly bigger than my tablet.
Then I boldly tore out the pages. It was an uncharacteristic act of savagery. I liked it.
I kept the eviscerated insides because I'm a pack rat, and maybe I can use them for some OTHER craft.
Next I chose a pale blue felt rectangle with which to line the inside of the book cover. I used regular Elmer's glue for that, but have since discovered that actual "fabric glue" works a lot better when you're working with felt.
I glued two rectangles of black felt together, back-to-back, to give an extra layer of cushioning, and then folded them in half and sewed the two sides up, to create a pocket. Get it? I turned it inside-out, so the stitching is hidden on the inside. This is the extent of my sewing skills, and even that much is really pushing it.
I glued the black felt pocket to the blue felt lining with Elmer's glue. It didn't really work and made a mess, and I was like, "Shit! It's RUINED! Everything is RUINED!" But I took a deep breath and went to Michael's, where I found cheap FABRIC GLUE. It worked like a charm, and the crisis was averted.
I made Velcro fasteners using squares of iron-on adhesive Velcro, shown above. If I had KNOWN I'd be using iron-on stuff, I would have done that BEFORE gluing the blue felt liner into the inside of the book cover. Which is why I had to cut a new strip of blue felt, iron the Velcro square onto that, and then glue it onto the existing blue felt liner.
(Luckily I had figured out the iron-on Velcro BEFORE I sewed up the black pocket, otherwise that would have been a lot trickier, too.)
But wait- we're not done! On the outside of the book cover there were some icky yellowish stains from old book tape that had been used to hold the dust jacket (which I got rid of, it was ugly) in place. I tried gently cleaning the stains with Windex, but it didn't work.
That's where ephemera and adhesive decorations come in handy. Back to Michael's.
The front, tastefully decorated |
The back, tastefully decorated |
Okay, NOW we're done.
And look! It's a secret. Nobody will even know there's a TABLET in there...
There it is! Third book from the puppy! Shhh... |
Yes, no one at all will know (except for everyone reading this).
ReplyDeleteLook at you, Mister Craftsy-waftsy! Very clever indeed. And so fiscally responsible too. You deserve a cookie.
Thank you, Matt, I would indeed like a cookie! And yeah, I'm pretty waftsy.
ReplyDelete