Super Easy, Super Cheap (under $3) DIY Kindle Cover…

There is much I can say about how I’m enjoying my Kindle… but that’s not the subject of this post. When not in my hand the Amazing Kindle resides in my favorite old messenger bag, a space it shares with my wallet, netbook, digital camera, digital recorder, Ipod and, on any given day, a random truck or boat part in transit to or from said truck or boat. It’s a simple fact of life that all things in my bag must all coexist and though there are separate compartments to prevent gadget scuffles, a bit of protection is good insurance. However, there were two things holding me back from buying one of those Kindle covers you see on Amazon: 1. I’m too cheap frugal, and 2. It just wouldn’t be me if I didn’t somehow come up with my own jury-rigged version, one more specific to my own use.

Simple, easy and cheap homemade kindle cover

As for that use, I dislike anything that bulks up some nice slim gadget — with the collection I carry ever bit of bulk adds up. And more important, all those lovely fancy covers attach in a way that, by all appearances, look as though it would obstruct me from holding the Kindle in my left hand and pressing the left side ‘next page’ button while cooking or holding a cup of tea/eating chips/whatever with my right hand. I came up with a solution using a rugged plastic 2 pocket folder I bought in Staples and some 3M Command strips.  Here it is – it’s simple, easy, sturdy, cheap and removable, and the whole thing cost less than $3.

Pretty, isn’t it? A bit too pretty, in fact, for my tastes but I’ll either live with it or cover it with bumper stickers. What you see here is one of those flexible plastic ’2-pocket’  folders you find in Staples. The next picture shows the remains of the original folder and the cover I cut from it. That wasn’t too difficult, I traced around the Kindle (adding in 1/2″, you can always trim it smaller once it’s around the Kindle) with a pencil and cut the folder with scissors. (For the Kindle 2, that’s roughly the size of a standard 8.5 x 11 paper folded in half.) Real tricky indeed.

It's easy to make a Kindle cover!

So how did I manage to keep the Kindle within the cover? I considered Duct tape, but that can get a bit messy over time. I wanted something cleaner and more inclined to stay put… like those nifty little 3M ‘Command Strips’ that allow you to hang hooks on anything and then remove them. Four Command Strips tucked strategically between the Kindle back and the inside of the cover and Whala! (I know, voila!) we’re not going anywhere!

And here you are, a simple homemade Kindle cover!

And best of all, aside from being wonderfully sleek and exceptionally cheap while protecting my screen from scrapes and scuffs, is that the cover can be flipped completely around, as shown below, allowing me to read in the comfort of my left hand!

Your diy Kindle cover is good to go!

If you’re interested in something padded, you can check out my fancier cover. It involves a bit more work, but not much, it’s super pretty and fun to make.

For those of you trying to determine what I’m currently reading, it’s Donald Westlake’s ‘Get Real’, a book I highly recommend.  Westlake was a brilliant writer and one of my all-time favorite authors.