I decided that my quilted booklet would work… but not for what I really wanted.  So I totally revamped my idea.

Rummaged around my guest/craft/storage/junk room and came up with a smallish scrap piece of mat board that was left over from something else (you can use any kind of cardboard…i.e. cake mix box) , some white craft glue, a small piece of really cheap fabric, scissors ( I have both fabric and craft scissors) and a small piece of cardboard to spread the glue all around.  There’s an ice pick to stick a hole through the finished cover, a pencil to draw the pattern and of course the plastic sleeves I found at Office Depot.I first laid out the plastic cd cover on the mat board, drew around it.  Now that is a little misleading.  There has to be two pieces here or my book will not bend …therefore it would be difficult to get the cds to turn the page… So… I drew around the “CD Part”.. that is up to the dotted impressions.  Then drew another pattern around the flap that extends from the dotted impressions to the edge with the other dotted impressions.  The mat board was then cut using the heavy-duty craft scissors.  Now.. I know that this is as clear as mud… ;o/   So here’s a pic of the cut out pieces. Now I cut the fabric at least an inch larger all around and a little longer on the edge that has the flap. This fabric will have to cover both the flap and at least 1/2 inch onto the cd cover.

Once the fabric is cut, glue is applied to the side of the mat board that will be glued to the WRONG side of the fabric.  There is a scant 1/8 ” of separation between the cd part of the mat board and the flap part.  This scant 1/8″ is to be carefully guarded as the fabric is glued to the mat board.  This separation is what will allow your cds to fold and the book to open easily.  Spread the glue after it is applied and looks like this ( in the pic below). Now, using a small piece of cardboard or your finger, spread the glue until it is smooth and has as few clumps of glue as possible.  Then gently pull the fabric over the edges (both pieces of the flap and the cd back) and glue firmly, making sure that the space between the two is maintained.  Then glue the other side, then the top and bottom.  I cut a triangle of fabric from the edge folds so they would lie flat (in a similar fashion to the way we old folks used to cover our books at the beginning of the school year.. ;o) Now.. I got carried away and forgot to take the next picture… therefore this is called an “almost” tutorial.. ;o)  When all four sides are glued down, I cut a piece of colored paper (any kind will do) that would fit JUST THE CD SIDE OF THE COVER.  I glued this in place to cover all the edges of the fabric backing and to make the inside of the cover look good too.  ;o)  Now I know this pic is a little ahead of the tute.. ;o/  Anyway, everything about the front and back are now all “gluey” and must  be allowed to dry.  As impatient as I am, the two hours this took was like an eternity..lol  I let them dry just a bit and found that they were curling a bit, so I dug out some large, heavy books and tore off some wax paper, laid the front down on the wax paper, folded the wax paper over the top of that side and then laid the gluey side of the other half down on the was paper and weighted everything down with the large, heavy books..  (I hope that makes sense.. )   Because of the gap between the flap and cover, the pages open easily and can be flipped to easily get to the cds in the back.      While these were drying, I used a hole punch (forgot to mention that.. thirty lashes for me.. ;o/)  and punched holes in the plastic cd covers.  I lucked out and found a two hole punch that it really easy to do this.  You can do it with a one hole punch.. just punch your first one and use that one as a guide for all the rest.   I then used the two holes punched in the cd covers as a guide to punch holes in the flaps of the top and bottom using an ice pick.  I used some handspun yarn and a large needle to string from the front to the back beginning on the bottom of the front cover, go thru from the front to the back of all your cd covers, then through the back cover flap … then back up through everything on the other side.  I did this twice, wrapped the yarn under the first wrap, tied a knot and then a bow and then tied the bow in a knot..                                                                                                                                                                                Voila”   My new audio cd book cover..

I love this much more than the quilted one.  I will make many of these as each audio book will have to have one.  These will stand on the shelf.  I love it.. (Would make great Christmas gifts…  Can use this in any size to make your own scrapbooks… picture books… baby books… etc. )  Gifts, gifts, gifts.. ;o)

If you make one, please let me know.  Would love to see yours.. ;o)

xoxo… Linda