Give your favorite eBook an alter ego! When you're done with it, no one will ever know it started out as a simple electronic file. You can dress it up, dress it down, mat it, add a cover, print it on fancy paper, or pretty much do whatever you want to it (as long as it meets our copyright guidelines). Here are a few ideas to get you started.
 

Binder + Handmade Tabs

Make a three-ring binder into a home for all your favorite eBooks (you do have more than one, don’t you?).

You'll need:

Step 1: Print your eBooks, double-sided, on smooth-finish white cardstock. (See Printing Tips to learn how.)

Step 2: Punch three holes across the top of each page. (If you have a landscape-orientation binder, punch the holes along the left edge.)

Step 3: Create dividers by trimming sheets of cardstock to 11 x 9 inches.

Step 4: Use premade tabs or create your own with a tab punch, like this 2¼ x ¾ version by McGill. (Buy it here.)

Step 5: Fold tabs and adhere to divider sheets. Write your eBook titles on your newly created tabs. (For best results, score tab with your fingernail or a scoring tool before folding.)
 

Alternate idea: Print only your favorite pages or projects and collect them in an inspiration binder that includes layouts and ideas you want to borrow (or "scraplift") down the road.

DIY Spiral Bound Book

Have one or more eBooks spiral bound at a copy shop or do it at home with Zutter's Bind-it-All tool.
 

You'll need:

Step 1: Use a paper trimmer or a craft knife to cut your cardstock sheets to the same size as your plastic cover (in this case 12 x 9).

Step 2: Print your eBook pages single-sided on matte presentation paper.

Step 3: Adhere one printed page to each side of your cardstock sheets, leaving even margins along the top, bottom, and right side, with a wider margin on the left to make room for the binding.

Step 4: Using Zutter's Bind-it-All machine, punch holes along the left edge of your covers and all of your cardstock pages.

Step 5: Thread a ½-inch coil through your punched holes and use the Bind-it-All to close the coils.
 

Alternate ideas: Use chipboard or another material for your cover and trim it to exactly 11 x 8½. Print your eBook pages double-sided on smooth-finish cardstock and then punch and bind directly through the pages themselves. Use larger coils in order to fit up to three eBooks in one spiral-bound book, divided by tabs or sheets of vellum.

Homemade Photo Book

Give your very favorite eBooks special treatment by creating individual photo-book-style keepsakes using Unibind's PhotoBook Creator.

You'll Need:

Step 1: Print one copy of your eBook cover on photo paper and trim around the title, making sure to leave margins on all sides that are at least 1/2-inch larger than your cover window.

Step 2: Apply adhesive to all four edges of the front of your trimmed title, and adhere to your inside front cover so the title shows through the window. Add embellishments if desired.
 

Step 3: Print all pages of your eBook, including the cover, on double-sided photo paper. (Available from Epson, Canon, HP, Staples, Unibind, and others.)

Step 4: Arrange your printed pages in order and add a sheet of 11 x 8½ vellum to the top of your pile if desired.

Step 5: Slip all pages into an empty photo-book cover from Unibind's PhotoBook Creator.

Step 6: Keeping your pages in place, carefully set the book spine on your PhotoBook Creator's metal strip. You'll see a red light turn on. Leave your book there until a green light indicates your book is done.
 

Alternate idea: Provo Craft has a similar tool, called YourStory, that can also be used to create photo books. It has a handy laminating function as well.

Have an Idea to Share?

Email us pictures of your sweetest eBook hacks yet! We'd love to show off your work on our website or our blog. Email to comments@ellapublishing.com.
_{Altered eBooks by Angie Lucas. Photos by Travis Lucas. (Yes, they're related.)}