We recently bought a new iPad 2 for work and I was floored at the prices of covers…..I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much. My husband’s friend Walker jokes that his composition notebook is his “low-tech iPad” because it is exactly the same size…..so it gave me an idea. I would make a cover for our new iPad out of one of the old composition notebooks I had sitting around. Turns out it was pretty easy using the box my iPad came in, some hair elastics and a notebook with the pages removed.
Here is how I made an easy, inexpensive iPad cover:
Photo 1 & 2: I took a razor blade and cut out the pages…..this composition book was on its last leg so they basically fell out.
Photo 3 & 4: I removed the plastic insert from the box that the iPad came in and marked the height of the notebook for reference on the side.
Photo 5: I continued my height measurement all the way around the insert.
Photo 6 & 7: Using a razor blade I carefully cut out the top of the plastic insert.
Photo 8: I cut off one side of the remaining plastic.
Photo 9: I cut out the 2 corners on the plastic.
Photo 10: I scored the outside of the three edges using the height measurement that was marked (make sure not to cut all the way through).
Photo 11: I carefully turned the edges under at the scored line and trimmed the pieces so they wouldn’t overlap.
Photo 12: I place the plastic piece on the edge of the notebook and to make it fit perfectly I had to carefully rework one of the edges to the curve was a little bigger. (Note: the plastic is the exact size of the iPad so you have to make it about 5mm bigger this way so that it sits around the iPad edge).
Photo 13, 14, 15 & 16: I took 2 black elastic hair bands and sewed each onto one corner at two points using needle and thread. Make sure to sew through the elastic to keep the band in place and you’ll have to stretch the band enough so it is pretty taught over the edge as shown in photo 16.
Photo 17: I cut off the excess hair band once it was attached securely.
Photo 18 & 19: Using a black elastic headband I sewed one end near the inside of the spine and the other end opposite to it (you’ll have to stretch it tightly so it will keep the iPad in place when you insert it).
Photo 20: Lastly, I cut off the excess band.
An iPad cover for $2.99. Can’t beat that.
I love the old-school look! I have such a hard time finding the exact one type of hairband that I prefer that I’d NEVER sacrifice them for anything(!!!), but I’m betting that I can rework the cover with sewing elastic.
You are BRILLIANT!!
I enjoy visiting your blog and all your craftiness.
thanks
you know what I also love about this (besides the obvious adorableness) is that you could probably leave this sitting somewhere and no one would ever consider stealing it because you would never know an IPad is sitting inside!! It is brilliant!
You’re adorable.
I got myself a cheap 7″ color e-reader/tablet and I love it. I originally used the leather zipper notepad holder that my hospital gave me each time I had a baby there. So I have quite a few sitting around that I NEVER use. I glued black felt to the inside to keep it from scratching the screen and it is the perfect little case. It’s our way of sticking it to the man!
That is wonderful!!! I love that you actually used the packaging!! Kudos… My fover is made from recycled materials from Chicken Willow and it’s one of kind made just for me Yay… http://moobeardesigns.blogspot.com/2010/06/liquorice-has-new-cosy-place-to-sleep.html
Xo Steph
I love this tute, it’s got me thinking about a) getting an i-pad and b) all the things-I-can-make-covers-for-other-things out of. I already make pen and pencil holders out of empty cocoa tubs. I wonder what else I can subvert in this way?
R U kidding me? I’m one of those folks that looks at something expensive and says, “pffft! I can make that…for a lot less!” But rarely do I follow through with actually doing it. You give me the inspiration to keep the wheels turning and Just Do It! In my house I call you the “Nike chick”.
Maybe one day my kids will pass the name on to me.
What a fun idea! If I were to make one, I would add something soft to the front so that the screen wouldn’t get scratched.
This is a great idea for high school and college kids, because if someone decides to ransack their locker/backpack/car/whatever, they would probably not notice that there is an iPad hiding in there and would be more apt to leave it. (At least I would hope!)
Thanks for the inspiration!
Good idea! The cover actually doesn’t even touch the screen because of the elastics. The only other thing is you have to make sure someone doesn’t misplace the iPad thinking it IS a notebook
What a great idea!! So cute and it doesn’t even look like a “cover”. Very creative, thank you for sharing!!
umm…that totally awesome!
So clever and yes I don’t think anyone will know there’s an expensive piece of electronic equipment in that book.
That was soooooo brilliant – Ashley you continue to astound and amaze! Thanks!!!
seriously cute. thanks for sharing!
Last year I bought about 20 notebooks like that because they were 4/.25 so I have a ton laying around.
I really like that idea…and I finally figured out what an otterbox is after looking at ebay!!
Glad you got it, it will soon creep over into your real life, instead of a “work ipad2″, because you’ll realize you can’t live without it. I take mine everywhere, I use the calendar for my calendar because it auto-syncs the calendar.
Life saver and time saver.
I am not kidding… my husband just won a contest with our local newspaper yesterday and won an iPad. I am so totally going to make this cover.
Great idea! Now please create something for a MacBook Pro…17″!!!
OMG… I just sold a red toile print composition notebook at our yard sale. I wish I had seen this a day ago. Now I’m on the hunt for a cute comp notebook.
oh come ON! that is amazing! I just bought my ipad2 today, and I also could not bear to spend the crazy amounts they were charging for a cover/case! I knew I would find something on the internet. Thanks for the tutorial- I am absolutley going to make this. I like that it just looks like a paper notebook, and not advertising that there is a $600 computer inside- less likely that it will get stolen too! I will put this link on my blog as well.
I’m in the middle of making this, literally, and have a potentially stupid question.
At some point do you adhere the white plastic “frame” to the back of the notebook? Or is it just held in by the hair bands?
Thanks!
I LOVE this idea but I threw away the stuff my iPad came with. Do you have any suggestions as to what else I could use?
For the DIY ipad cover (composition notebook, for the sewing part, can you explain that to me in detail. I don’t understand it. please and thank you. ^^
I loved the idea very much, but the only problem: they are EXACTLY the same size and I had trouble fitting the iPad inside a typical composition notebook. BUT I went to walmart and they had a composition notebook that was a bit larger and it turned out great!
Thanks for sharing!
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