Christmas is just around the corner and if you’re anything like us at UrbanWire you’re pretty broke after devoting the lion’s share of your pocket money on presents for your loved ones.

Because you’ve been really good this year, we’re giving away some very cool book… ideas just so if you plan to host a Book Club meeting at your place, you’ll actually give your guests something to marvel at.


Book Covers are Meant to be Judged

Whoever said don’t judge a book by its cover didn’t live in our visually-over-stimulated times.

So if you’re trying to show off your collection of Enid Blyton story books that started you on your love for the written word when you were a pre-schooler, you can do so without apologising for the ratty covers.

With a piece of construction paper, scissors, colouring materials and tape, you’ll be ready to design your very own book covers!

Here are the steps:

1) Using a sheet of construction paper and more importantly, your greatest imagination, paint the sheet of paper with materials such as a sponge, a comb or any other tools that allow you to convey your creative thoughts on paper.

2) After the paint has dried, place the paper face down on a table and position the spine of the book you want to wrap in the middle of the paper.

3) Note that the paper must be 3 inches larger than the opened book on all 4 sides. Fold the top and bottom along the length of the book and make a crease on each side.

4) Now, close the book and fold in the front and back of the paper along its width.

5) Snip the excess parts away and secure the flaps together with sticky tape to give a better fit.

And there you have it! You’ve just created for yourself a book cover that is worthy to be judged.

Book Shelves Made of Books

The most economical way of storing those newly decorated books is to use them as shelves. You might go, “What! But I just decorated them!”

Okay, but wait till you try this. Not only will you save loads of money, you will also be able to ‘wow’ your friends in the process.

But let’s take it one step at a time.

Here is how to go about doing it:

1) Firstly, lay out some glue, wood screws, an “L” bracket bookend and a stack of unwanted books that you have.

2) Select a thick book (preferably with a hardback cover) from the stack and using the wood screws, attach all the pages of the book together tightly.

3) Now, take the “L” bracket and with a tube of strong glue, stick it in between the last page and the hardback cover of the book.

4) After the glue has dried and the “shelf” is stable, mount the “L” bracket to a part of the wall which you would like the shelf to be on.

5) Lastly, put the rest of the books on the “book shelf”, or rather, the book itself, to cover up the “L” bracket.

If it’s nicely done, it gives an illusion that the books are floating! Just make sure you don’t use your much dreaded economics textbook as the shelf.

Making a Mark

So you’ve got a funky cover for your book and a mysteriously floating book shelf, but what about keeping note of where you stopped reading?

Well, here’s something that will put a dent in the adage “there is no such thing as a free lunch”.

ProjectFriendMarked, a website started by local civil servant, Galvin Sng, offers anyone and everyone the opportunity to get an attractive personalized bookmark design for free!

Encouraged to give back to society, Galvin, an avid designer, told UrbanWire, “There came a point in time I started to print friends’ photos and write notes behind them.”

“Later on, the idea for ProjectFriendMarked came… that I can actually extend this service to others as well.”

Here is how you can create your FriendMark without much/any effort:

1) Source for a high-resolution photo of yourself (or your family/friend, if you want to use this as a gift).

2) Write a personal message to the person you want to give this bookmark to.

3) Send both items to Galvin for designing at galvin@projectfriendmarked.com and wait!

4) After a week, you’ll receive the soft copy of the design. Now, you can print and laminate it for durability.

5) Pass it to your friend on the 25th of this month and shout, “Merry Christmas!”

Start making a mark in your friend’s life today with these simple, cheap and even free ideas. Because, at the end of another cliche, it’s the thought that counts.

Merry Christmas from UrbanWire!