Turn Board Games to Display Books

I recently put my pretty board games on my hidden bookshelf door. But I didn’t want to ruin the aesthetic by adding the mix matched other board games I have. So I’m making them over by putting them in a book box and creating custom labels! I’ll be using the new Cricut Joy Xtra cutting machine for the decals. I’m so excited to turn board games to display books!

Thank you to Cricut for sponsoring this blog post. All opinions are my own

how to turn board games into display books

Let’s jump into the tutorial on the board game makeover!

 

If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. It’d mean so much if you’d watch the video! I’m trying to get better at my video skills so I can grow my YouTube channel. If you have a few minutes to watch this and/or subscribe, I’d so appreciate it.

SUPPLIES

• Cricut Joy Xtra 
• Iron-On Vinyl in Holographic and Prismatic Glitter
• Easy Press Mini or Easy Press (the larger size is nice on the big books)
• Cricut Tool Set
• Transfer Tape
• Linen Book Boxes (I got 2 sets of 3) 
• Dye for Book Boxes- Petal Pink, Coral, Golden Yellow, Teal
• Bookshelf Board Games
• Paper Mache Book Box 
• Paint for Paper Mache Box- Tinted Ice
• Book Binding Tape 
• Heat Resistant Tape

Inspiration

When I was working on my Hidden Bookshelf, I knew I wanted board games on them. I have some Vintage Bookshelf Board Games that are BEAUTIFUL! But they don’t sell every game I want and I already own games that I’d like to repackage to have look as pretty as the vintage bookshelf games.

Side note- why are board games so ugly to display?! And in such a variety of box sizes? There’s no uniform size and I don’t like that! It makes board game storage tricky. So this is my solution to that problem.

I’m also really inspired by the Instagram account That’s My Bookshelf. They take paperback books, rebind them, and design a pretty cover. I don’t know how to bind books, but I figure I can buy a book box and then put a cover on it to look like the vintage bookshelf games!

So that’s how this project came to life. Here’s the tutorial-

step 1- figure out boxes for games

Start by taking the book boxes and seeing which games will fit in which box. Put the games in the smallest size box possible. I put sticky notes on each box and wrote down a master list as well.

I also decided where on my shelf each book will go. I’m going to have the books on each shelf a different color so knowing the placement is important for what I’m doing.

step 2- add color to book box covers

 

I’ve made a YouTube video just on dying the books to walk you through this step. I also have step by step instructions and photos below-

Next, I went about making the white linen boxes a fun color. I was nervous about this step because I really didn’t want to ruin the boxes! But it worked great! To change the color on the linen books, boil about 1/2 cup of water on the stove and add in a tablespoon of dye. I used the colors Petal Pink, Coral, Golden Yellow, Teal from Rit Dye.

If the dye goes on too dark, add more water to lighten the color. If the dye goes on too light, add more dye to darken the color.

Put the book on a cookie sheet to contain the excess dye. Dip a foam paint brush in the dye bath and then use the liquid dye to cover the fabric in a wash of color. Note, for each color used, change the paint brush. I found it hard to completely clean out the dye between colors with the foam brush.

When dying, make sure to wear gloves and put on an apron. The gloves are so you don’t dye your fingers. And the apron is to protect your clothes from being ruined by the dye. It’s also nice to have a paper towel handy to wipe any drips of dye.

Let the books dry by sitting on a thick towel. You might want to layer the towel to make sure the dye doesn’t seep through to the table. Later I realized that a few of my books got a bit of an ombre look from sitting out and drying. To prevent this, make sure to flip the book every 30 minutes or so to help keep they dye consistent.

I am really thrilled that this experiment works! It doesn’t ruin the book to dye it and it’s a nice way to add a subtle bit of color. For me, having more color and less neutrals works better. Plus the dye can be really any color to work with any decor.

Let the books dry throughly. If they aren’t dry before adding on the iron-on material, it won’t adhere.

Dying FAQ

Do you need to do anything to prep the book before dying it? No- pull the stickers off the back and then you can start dying it.

Do you need to set the dye? No. Normally dye needs to be set so that when it’s put in the washer it doesn’t bleed on other clothes. I tested dropping a glass of water on a dried book box and it didn’t get dye on the surface under it.

step 3- design the book cover design

 

I’ve made a YouTube video just on designing the book covers to walk you through this step. I also have step by step instructions and photos below-

And now, begin designing the cover for the book boxes. For this step, I am using inspiration from the Penguin Clothbound Classic books. They have a simple rectangular border on the cover and the spine, text with the name of the book (which will be the name of the game), and a repeated motif to represent the book subject.

The font I use is Futura Major in all caps.

To design my version of the inspiration, I’m using the software PicMonkey. It can also be done in Cricut’s Design Space. I personally use PicMonkey all the time, so I can make the designs faster in that software. After adding the elements and getting the design down, I save it as a PNG (a Jpeg works too).

The first book box took me probably an hour to design. It got much faster once I had one down and could replicate what’d I’d figured out. Now it takes me 5-10 minuses.

To design the covers, I first measure the spine and cover so the design will fit nicely. Then I make the rectangular border a little smaller than the cover or spine size. I type the name of the game in caps. Last, I find an image that represents the game. Like a doll head for the Barbie Game or a 1 for Uno. 

If you want to use the designs I came up with, I have them available as a free download.

To download the game covers, just put your name and email in the form below. You’ll get an email right away with how to download. Plus you’ll be subscribed to my weekly newsletter! If you’re already subscribed, go here to download.

Note, the game covers are for personal use only and are not to be sold or disturbed in any way.

 

If you don’t get an immediate email after filling out your information above, check you junk, spam or promotions folder. If you still don’t see it, send me an email to [email protected] and I’ll get it fixed for you asap.

label sizes

The linen book boxes come in a small, medium, and large. Here are the label sizes and what games (in my experience) fit in each box-

Small– 4″x6″ (cover) 1″x6″ (spine). Games that fit- Phase 10, Playing Cards, Exploding Kittens, Pass the Pigs, Go Fish

Medium– 6″x8-1/2″ (cover) 1-1/2″x8-1/2″ (spine). Games that fit- Uno, Dominoes, Yahtzee, Head Bandz, Bananagrams, Trouble (travel edition)

Large– 8″x11″ (cover) 2″x11″ (spine). Games that fit- Rummikub, Barbie Game, Pictionary, Sorry, Jenga, Sequence, Trivial Pursuit, Qwirkle, Battleship

Size the file- When making the covers, the sizes above need to be converted into pixels. 

• Small is 1200×1800 pixels (cover) 400×1800 pixels (spine)
• Medium is 1800×2550 pixels (cover) 450×2550 pixels (spine)
• Large is 2400×3300 pixels (cover) 600×3300 pixels (spine)

Note, all these game labels are included in the free downloads above. These are for personal use only.

step 4- cut the book cover

 

I’ve made a YouTube video just on cutting the vinyl for the book cover to walk you through this step. I also have step by step instructions and photos below-

Now that the designs are complete, it’s time to use Design Space (Cricut’s software) to print the covers for the board games.  For each game, I matched the color of the iron-on or vinyl to the color of the book box. I find this best fits the look of the Bookshelf Board Games. It’s good to know the material that’ll be cut before using the software.

Open Cricut Design space and start a new project. Click upload and choose your game board design. If you’re using one of the free designs from the download above, take a screen shot of it and select that.

Next, select the image type. Choose the top “simple” option. Press “continue.”

On the background remover screen, click on the grey section of the book cover- anything that is negative space. Click once to choose the background, and then click again for the inside of letters like A, B, D, O, P, Q, and R. Push “apply and continue.”

To select the upload type, choose “cut image.” Then press “upload.”

Follow the same steps to repeat the upload process for the spine of the game board book box as well. Then, select both the cover and the spine image and click on “add to canvas.”

This will bring them into the canvas for the project.

Open the design of the cover and corresponding spine in Cricut’s Design Space. Make sure the size is the correct for them both. To make them the correct size, change the height and width under size. On the app, click edit to be able to change the size. When that size is correct, click the “make it” button in the top right hand corner.

Correct sizes when using the linen book boxes–

• Small– 4″x6″ (cover) 1″x6″ (spine)
• Medium– 6″x8-1/2″ (cover) 1-1/2″x8-1/2″ (spine)
• Large– 8″x11″ (cover) 2″x11″ (spine)

Choose how the material will load. For smart materials, choose “without mat.” For other materials, choose “on mat.” I used the new Joy Xtra iron-on and for that, I choose without mat. For the vinyl, I used some I had on hand so for that, I put it on a mat and cut it that way. 

Next, you review the artwork. There is where it’s really important to mirror the design if it’ll be ironed on. With the linen book boxes, I’m using iron-on. For the one paper mache book box, I’m using vinyl (which does NOT need to be mirrored).

Then you set the base material. There’s a short list of the most popular items. If what I’m using isn’t on that list, I click “browse all materials” to find what I’m using.

Now all that’s left to do is load the material and press go! The machine takes it from there and cuts the design. Note, if using iron-on make sure that it is loaded shiny side down.

When the cut is finished, push unload.

step 5- attach the book covers

Since the book cover is cut, let’s now attach it to the book boxes.

To prep the material, take the weeder tool and remove the excess vinyl or iron-on from the cut material.

For the next thing, you want to MAKE sure to double check what is the front and back of the book. That way you can place the cover right sides up on the front. I know this sounds like a silly step, but speaking from experience, it’s needed. Especially since the front and back of the box look the same, but the back section is attached to the “pages.”

Then, take the weeded material and place it on top of the book. Make SURE to line up the cover so that it is parallel to the book box.

On the spine, it’s really easy for the iron-on to get crooked. So I make sure to use heat resistant tape to keep in in place during the next step.

iron-on the cover

For the books I’m adding iron-on, I took my Easy Press and set it to 400 degrees, I put a piece of cotton fabric over the iron-on, and pressed the Easy Press onto each section of the book for 60 seconds. Let cool down for 10-15 minutes. 

Once cool, the plastic sheet should easily lift right off and reveal the beautiful book cover!

Here’s the mistakes I made with the iron-on I wanted to mention so you don’t make them. First, I was ironing and thinking the plastic back would come right off the iron-on without cooling off. Wrong. If I pulled the plastic off when still warm, the vinyl would stick to it and pull off.

Second, I used glitter iron on and a little bit was pulling up. So I took the Easy Press and without the plastic or the fabric, I put it right on the glitter. It was a HUGE mistake! It caused the iron-on to bubble up and get on the Easy Press, pulling it off the book box. I was so upset! Later, I cut out more iron-on for the problem areas and fixed it, but it was a hard mistake to learn from.

Repeat the step of placing the iron-on on the spine then setting it with the Easy Press as well. I wanted to show an image of my crooked Uno spine to illustrate why the heat resistant tape is so important to use. Learn from my mistakes! 

vinyl on the cover

UPDATE- I no longer suggest going with this option. It is cheaper, but it doesn’t stand up to use. The paint cracks off, especially on the bottom when it’s pulled off the shelf. The vinyl also has a hard time adhering to the paint.

If you’d like to use a cardboard book box to make this project, check out this tutorial I now have that shows how to cover the cardboard or paper Mache book boxes with linen fabric to get the above look for less.

For the vinyl, use transfer tape and put it over the weeded vinyl.

Then, remove the backing on the vinyl. Put the transfer tape onto the front of the paper mache book and use a smoothing tool to press the vinyl onto the front and spine. Carefully pull the transfer tape off the vinyl to reveal the finished book!

Repeat for the spine.

Step 6-put board games in boxes

Finally, put the board games in the boxes. For most of the games, this is an easy step of transferring the contents from the old box to the new book box. 

When transferring board games with long boards, it means cutting down the board. For this, we looked at a board in one of the Vintage Bookshelf board games. We used Clue. It’s folded in 1/3rds so we copied how that’s cut and folded. 

We first cut a long cut down 2/3rds of the middle. Then for each of those sections, we scored two lines so the board to fold there. One of them we cut and taped with book binding tape. But just scoring (cutting the board 1/2 way through) on that section so it can fold is better

To cut the board, use a ruler and a utility knife or exact knife. Put a cutting mat underneath so the table doesn’t get cut.

The result is a board game that can fold much smaller!

It doesn’t look as pretty on the back. Though, if we would’ve scored that cut we wouldn’t have needed the tape and it would’ve looked better.

But, when the game is open, it looks good and is great for playing!

Plus, now the game can fit in a more compact, pretty box!

after

And here are the finished books on the bookshelf! After finishing the hidden bookcase project, this was my vision for the games so it’s really great seeing it come together!

Each game board book is different and I love how they look on the shelf.

My dream with my life is to make everything pretty AND functional. I want to play games and I want the board games to look nice while they’re stored.

Yes, it’s a lot of work to create these, but I think it’s totally worth it for the result.

price breakdown

For this project, the biggest expense is the Linen Book Boxes. I bought two sets of three books for $33 each. I also bought the Paper Mache Book Box for $3 and Book Binding Tape $9

If a cutting machine and materials are needed for this project, that’d be about $250 more.

So there’s how to turn board games to display books. I hope this project inspires you. And helps you when making something with a cutting machine for your house! Please let me know in the comments if you have questions.

If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments. I have a Instagram Highlight where I answer lots of question on this project. I want you to be successful at making these, so please contact me if you have issues.

Don’t they look so pretty when they’re finished?! We are playing games more often now that I’ve redone them. I also think the upgraded boxes give them a longer life.

Cricut Joy xtra review

Cricut recently released their newest cutting machine- The Cricut Joy Xtra! It’s a great medium size- bigger than the Joy. It boasts an expanded 8.5-inch cutting width, can cut up to 4′ long. This allows you to create stickers, tags, and cards from a selection of over 50 compatible materials like vinyl, iron-on, and card stock.

One of my favorite features from the Cricut Joy is creating cards. The Joy Xtra also has a card mat which makes it so fast and easy to cut custom cards!

It is smaller and more compact than the Cricut Explore or Cricut Maker. This makes it easy to craft anywhere and easily store the machine.

If you don’t have a cutting machine yet, the Joy Xtra is a great one to start with! A Cricut is a versatile device designed for precise cutting of a wide range of materials, enabling you to create lots of different projects. These machines can be utilized for personal crafting, to enhance your small creative business, or to customize presents for your loved ones.

product features of the Cricut Joy Xtra

Wirelessly connect– the Cricut Joy Xtra uses bluetooth to connect to your computer or the Cricut Design Space App. Less cords make it easier and faster to craft!

Create on the app– the Cricut app is simple to use and learn. No previous crafting experience is required!

Compatible with lots of tools– It includes a single carriage capable of accommodating the fine-point blade, the foil transfer tool, Joy pens, and markers.

One blade– the Cricut Joy Xtra comes with one blade installed and it can cut all the materials compatible with the machine. Even thick materials! No changing out the blade for different projects.

Print then cut– there’s a new print-then-cut feature which is great for creating stickers with the new Printable Sticker Paper! You print the stickers with your home ink jet printer and then the sensor located on the machine’s left hand side can cut around them! 

Full-color– with the compatibility of the Joy Xtra and an ink jet printer, creating with color and a cutting machine is now possible! Besides stickers this means making full-color personalized t-shirts with printable iron-on, labels with printable vinyl, drink-ware with water-proof stickers and more! 

Self-Alignment- Just load and go! The Joy Xtra will align the materials for you. That means no mat is needed with the Joy Xtra smart materials (which saves a step). Though there is a mat available to use materials you already have at home.

Cost– The Joy Xtra costs $199 USD

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