Make a Toilet Paper Book Cover

Want something unique for a special book cover? This technique uses toilet paper and is ideal for diaries or notebooks. While it takes some time, once you finish, the results are astounding!

To begin with, you’ll need a hardcover notebook, white school glue and water, lots of toilet paper and a paintbrush. Later, to finish the project off, you will want to have paint, a gold pen and tissue.

Put the notebook on a piece of newspaper to protect the table. Now, in a small bowl, mix 2 parts white glue to one part water. Blend well and you are ready to begin. Start by painting the water and glue mixture onto the front of your notebook. Cover it with a layer of torn toilet paper. Paint this with more glue and add another layer. Do this until you cannot see the cover of the book anymore.

It’s a good idea to fix the edges of the book cover at this point, while everything is still wet. Squish the moist toilet paper so that it is level with the original edges. This means you won’t have to cut through layers of hardened paper later on to smooth out the edges. Let the book dry overnight.

After your base cover has dried, it’s time to add some interest to this cover. What is your book about? Decide on a symbol for it and draw it on the cover of your book. Now paint it with glue and water and add toilet paper. You can use your fingers to squish the paper into shape. Obviously, simpler shapes will be easier, hearts, stars, etc. Once you have a 3D design that you like, let the book dry overnight again.

Now, you’re ready to paint. The dry toilet paper, glue and water will be nice and hard and have a neat texture for you to paint over. Paint the designs that you added in different colors to make them stand out. Let the paint dry and then you can decorate it with your gold pen. Add lines, doodles and your name or the name of the notebook.

Once you have decorated everything to your liking and it has all dried yet another night, you are ready to varnish it. Paint an even layer of clear varnish over the book cover. You may need two coats if the paper sucks it up too fast. This will help keep your book safe from dings and scratches.

There, you now have a toilet paper book cover and no one will ever believe that you used toilet paper to create it!