Book End Cozy Redux

This is the third, and final, sign revamp post. Here is part one and part two in case you missed them.

As I went to look for my post on what I call “book end cozies,” I realized that my first post about them was buried in a holiday post. Oops.

And at the beginning of my most recent book end cozy quest (heh), I thought that I had come up with an amazing new way to use laminating machines, which led to much trial and even more error.

But eventually led to a fool-proof template for professional-looking bookend cozies that I am excited to share with you! Yay!

Okay, so exactly what are book end cozies? Well, they’re signs that go over bookends to indicate exactly what books are contained between those book ends. Like this:

SMALL BOOK END COZIES

(5.5″W X 4.75″W)

First up, I measured out and designed what I wanted our cozies to look like, and then printed them out onto cardstock to give them a better chance at a long life. Note that both sizes of cozies are on Letter-sized paper (8.5″ X 11″).

Then, I used our slide-cutter to cut the signs out. If you don’t know what slide-cutter is (also known as a paper trimmer), then you need to get yourself one. I have been using a Fiskars paper trimmer for both work and my ornaments, and it’s fan-friggin-tastic.

This is what it looks like, though there are many other sizes available.

It has a thin wire that goes along where the blade will cut – so you can see exactly where your cut will be made. It doesn’t handle stacks of papers, but it’s totally fine with two pieces of stacked cardstock. This slicer is perfect for detailed work.

Once I had two of these signs cut out, I folded each in half and then made a sharp crease using a bone-folder (they’re not just for book covering). You can make folded things, such as brochures, look very professional by using a bone folder.

I took it a step further (let’s hear it for type-A’s!!!) and added some black crayon scribble on the sign, and along the white edges of the cut cardstock:

This gave it a bit more depth, as well as hid any miss-folds and/or the white edges.

Two smaller cozies can go in one laminator pouch, you just have to be a bit careful.

Once they’ve been laminated, it’s:

I sliced the laminate edges down to 3/16″ around the sides and top:

And then on the bottom, I sliced off a tiny bit of the paper:

I did this so that they’d become pockets, like so:

Okay, that may not have been the best visual example, but at this point, the cozy is done. All you have to do is slip it over a small book end:

Doesn’t it just pop compared to the cozy that it’s replacing? And it totally matches our new signs. Plus, the original was looking rough, but note that it was never laminated. Here’s a shot from the back:

It even looks good on this side! And there’s an added bonus that we shouldn’t need to use packing tape to keep it on. If, after it gets regular use and it turns out that tape is needed, then I’ll update this post.

LARGE BOOK END COZIES

(9″H X 6″W)

The large cozies end up needing two pieces of Letter-sized paper, but one laminate pouch.

So here we start out:

I had to re-shoot the above image, so yes, it’s a different sign, but same size as what’s below. And I had a “blank” black scribbles page printed out, too. I did some added scribbling and white-edge covering here as well:

Not pictured: sandwiching the two sheets back-to-back and then laminating them in one laminated pouch, and then cutting down the extra laminate (down to a 3/16″ edge) , and trimming off the bottom.

In the following picture you can see the new cozies and one of the cozies that they’re replacing. The original is completely sun-faded (it used to be black and a light orange). I’m hoping that using a printed-out design will lessen or altogether eliminate the fading. [2022 Update: Still no fading!!!]

And best part? You can use these cozies with different styles of book ends to bring about a cohesive look. These are what the above book ends look like without their cozies:

And here’s what a book end cozy looks like in use:

You can’t tell which style of bookend was used. ::victorious fist pump::

Whispers “Sooo Preeeeettyyyyyy…”

Now for some technical stuff that should get you book end cozying to the max!

If you have Photoshop, then email me (hafuboti@gmail.com) and I will send you the layered files for the small and large cozies.

Don’t have Photoshop, but have Word? Have Photoshop, but don’t wanna email me for files? Then here are the measurements for cozy text boxes:

Small Cozy: 4.92″ H x 5.25″ W

Large Cozy: 9.5″ H x 6.62″ W

Have Word and don’t know what I’m talking about? You can tell Word the exact size that you’d like to have your text box. With your text box selected, go into the Format/Drawing Tools tab and look to the right:

And hey, if you need more help with this, then just reach out to me. I will breakdown any aspect of this process if you’re uncertain about any part of it.