Cover me, would ya?

So yeah, I'm a tinkerer's daughter. But no more do-it-yourself solutions. I'm through with recycling, repurposing and watching poorly made user videos on how to turn household materials into "durable" products. That is, when it comes to covering textbooks.

Last year, I helped my son make too many book covers to count. I think we only had ONE book that needed to be covered — a math textbook that easily outweighed any book I ever had in college — but we made no less than 10 "free" covers:

The tried-and-true method, paper bags, turned out to be Goldilocks and the Three Book Covers — this one's too tight, this one's too loose — but I never found a "just right" cover. Probably because the book was too large for normal-size bags to cover. (!!!)

Also a dud was the wrapping paper turned inside-out. (Thanks, Mom. Only you would have a stash of five rolls of wrapping paper under your bed, year-round.)

The sheet protector method required a budget-busting amount of tape and produced a razor-sharp edge, which isn't exactly conducive to good study habits or boosting your child's popularity. (Let's just say, if there's an entry in the school district handbook on book-cover safety this year, you'll know why.)

And the aluminum foil, while certainly durable, appealed to my son for all the "embossing" he could do on that malleable surface, in lieu of actually opening the book. But it wasn't the best choice for his fellow students in that sunny classroom, as they seem to value their eyesight.

So now, with no apologies, I, who eschews disposable napkins and paper towels, the self-avowed Earth mama who wears vegan shoes made by fair-trade workers using recycled materials **from a fairy-populated rain forest** — I'm asking where I can BUY, yes, BUY, book covers here in Modesto. Nothing with Hannah Montana or the Raiders on it, OK? (Please, no hate mail.) Just something simple and, dare I say it? Durable.

And honestly, the durable part is optional. I'll buy a hundred-pack of book covers if I can simply hand them to my son and say, " Fold this, you map junkie."

** OK, I made that part up. But, if that were on the label, I'd totally buy the shoes. Wouldn't you?