DIY: Nook Cover Closure

Hi everyone,

Today I'm going to show a little Do It Yourself project I did on my new Nook Color cover/case to let me keep it closed. You can replicate it on a Kindle case, or even an iPad case, depending on the design.

 It's a lovely leather case by Jonathan Adler for Barnes & Noble, but it had one problem: it had no closure. Now this probably isn't a big deal, except for the fact that I kept having visions of freak in-purse accidents happening--a pen slips in between the cover and the screen, I drop my bag, and crack! Or, the gum works its way free of the Orbit paper container and the New York heat melts it onto my screen...disaster. Plus the case was overpriced in the first place (as all these fancy cases are) and I just couldn't believe it didn't come with a buckle or something! So, not about to return the totally cute case, I thought up an incredibly cheap and simple solution that doesn't damage the leather at all.

This is the case originally, first the outside and second the inside:

Pictures courtesy of Barnes and Noble website. No clue what those white porcelain things with the eyes are in the background. Fish?

Emma is one of the worst literary heroines of all time. She's completely unlikable. Eugh!

The tools I used were a hodgepodge borrowed from my mom's sewing desk. Thanks, Mom!

Don't worry, guys, I know not everyone has a curved needle or a seam ripper (far right), but most people have some combination of an X-acto knife/paring knife + small scissors/screw driver + needle. 

The last thing I took was a stretchy closure from one of my dad's file folders that was laying around. It probably costs 50 cents at CVS. This black elastic thing here:

Step #1: Draw a dot in pen about midway down the inner cover, as close to the seam as possible so as to let the cover close fully once the metal anchor of the elastic band is in place.

Step #2: Poke X-acto knife or paring knife through hole; twist to enlarge the hole. Then, if you have a needle that gets wider from point to end, poke that through to try to get the hole bigger. The idea is to be able to fit a loop of the elastic into the smallest hole possible to keep it as secure as possible.

Step #3: Twist the scissors (keeping the blades closed as in photo) or small screwdriver through hole, wiggling back and forth to enlarge a bit further. Do size checks by trying to fit the loop in periodically (from beneath the flap--you want the metal anchor to be hidden). When it seems plausible, then you go to Step #4.

Step #4: Hello, welcome to Step #4. Here, we poke the elastic with a needle--NOTE we do not THREAD the needle, we poke the elastic through with a needle (I used the curved one), like this:

Step #5: Work the needle through the hole, and once the elastic begins to show through on the outside, pull it through while pushing the needle. 

Step #6: Pull through all the way until the metal anchor is flush with the flap! Pat yourself on the back, you're done!

This is what it will look like on the outside, closed two different ways:

Oooooooh!

Aaaahhhh!

And there you have it! A great, super cheap fix up for an otherwise great Nook case. I was really happy with this project!

Bonus/DIY #2: I also came up with an idea for that empty "This Nook belongs to:" spot.  I'll be taking a rectangular piece of paper, folding it in half width-wise. On the outer flap, decorate it with something cool, maybe some abstract scrolling intaglio I used to doodle compulsively in high school, or a mini collage of flowers from a magazine. On the inside, my actual contact information. This way, no subway creeper can lean over and memorize/copy down my information without me knowing, and I get to personalize my Nook even more! I'll post up a picture when I actually do it. For now--I'm lazy, bahah.

Happy Reading!

What's covered in Fur, Leather, and Lace?

What in the world could I want to talk about today with this sort of title? Well, coats. For this winter (and the next) coats with fur, leather, and lace accents are definitely "in" (props to the lovely Nancy for suggesting this subject). This summer at my internship in NYC I compiled a presentation with pictures from designers' winter runway show that illustrated this point.  It was used as a presentation for a conference of store managers and top sales associates to show them what was going to be hot for the winter (hah hah). Below are some of my favorite picks for this winter in a variety of styles and colors.

First up, Fabulous (Faux) Fur:

/Edit @ 3:40 pm 11/05/11

Ann Taylor is having a 50% off special on all faux fur! It's like the read my mind! And this coat (with 50% off is $124) with a detachable fur ruff is sooo beautiful I can't believe I missed it:

#1 "Manors and Etiquette" coat from Modcloth @ $189.99. I like this coat a lot as an example of an elegant fur statement that's very feminine without being overwhelming.

#2 is a mega fur statement called "Chevron Stripe Faux Fur Jacket" by a brand called Willow & Clay. It can be found at Nordstrom for $128. I really like this for some reason although it's totally over-the-top, but maybe that's why. It's also 3/4 length sleeves which add a retro touch and keep the fur from totally taking you over.

#3 from Bebe doesn't have a name really, but it makes up for it with a punchy red color and glossy black trim:

I have deliberately not included the ubiquitous fur vest in this post because while I think they are cute, they are totally impractical for more than three weeks of the year in Cambridge, MA and I refuse to advocate for cold arms. Similarly, I refuse to advocate Bear Arms:

"UGH I am SO MAD that they made me go full Chewbaca. This was not what I signed up for!"

Time for leather!

#1 is the "Leather Jacket" from Ann Taylor which I like because it's a nice example of mixing leather and normal fabric without overdoing either. If you want it, I recommend waiting for a sale since it's $398 right now.

#2 is the "Mackage Single-Breasted Coat" from Bloomingdale's. While expensive at $590, it does at least give a good idea of what I'm thinking when I mean leather accents:

#3 is the "Maria Stand Collar Coat" by Via Spiga whose boots were featured already on this blog. Also from Bloomingdale's, this coat is more affordable than the previous at $313 and comes in this color as well as black:

And last but not least, Lace:

#1 is the "Emmett Lace Trench Coat" for $488 by BCBG, which is just shy of being overdone but is still pretty. 

Example #2 comes from Asos, which is a great site if you haven't heard of it.  It's called the "Wool and Lace Jacket" by LiLee for Asos and it's pretty affordable at $129.38.

#3 I had a hard time finding without caving and showing you Valentino, who basically kicked off this whole trend with a host of fabulous lace coats, because I'm committed to showing you guys things you might actually be able to afford.  Unfortunately, attractive lace coats jump to $5000 pretty easily (Valentino). So I've compromised. Here's a Jason Wu for $2550 from Kirna Zabete, which I've never heard of before:

So there are my picks for coats that have nice fur, leather, or lace detail. I'm inspired now after all this hunting for nice coats to make a second post about colorful coats or particularly unique styles. That'll be tomorrow's project. 

Happy shopping!