Yay! My wonderful Anne of Green Gables book arrived from England!
Boo! This is what it looked like when opened:
I contacted the seller & they sent me a shiny new copy lickety split!
Hmmm…what to do with the damaged book? Instead of chucking it in the recycle bin I decided to make a nifty little vault for my little one to hide her (future) treasures.
Here’s how to create The DIY Upcycled Secret Book Safe:
You’ll need: a book you don’t mind cutting up (hardcover is best), glue (I used clear hobby glue), cling film, a ruler & a utility knife.
In order for your safe to retain the appearance of a normal book when opened you’ll need leave a few of the first pages loose & ‘flipable’. Grab your pages (I kept the entire first chapter) and tightly wrap them, with the front cover, in cling film. This is for protection against the messy glue step coming up:
Glue down a few of the back pages. Close your book & brush a load of glue on all of the pages around the outside of the book – you want the glue to be literally dripping down in between the pages.
Once you’re content with your glue amount put something heavy on top of your book that will apply enough pressure to make the glue ‘weep’ between the pages. Let dry for at least 1 hour
Once the outside of your pages are dry to the touch, open your book & decide how large you’d like your secret compartment to be. I made mine quite large & used the letters as my measuring tool: 1 sentence down from the top (& up from the bottom) and 2 letters in from each side.
Using a straight edge (we started with a ruler but then switched to a sturdy piece of wood) begin cutting out & removing your pages. This is quite a long & frustrating process so have someone with a lot of patience do it for you. I bribed the dude – hence the rather furry arms in the photos…
When you’ve cut to the depth you desire, brush a bunch of glue onto the inside of all of the pages & the bottom of the compartment as well.
Close your book, weight it again & let dry. Mine was completely dry & rock hard under the sporadic Berlin sun in about 2 hours.
The book safe could be done now but I added a couple of magnets to keep it closed when stood upright. *You could also line the compartment with felt or fabric but as the dude did such a nice, even cutting job & the pages dried extremely hard I decided to leave it ‘readable’.
Et Voila! A much loved book from my childhood transformed into a dandy treasure chest for my little girlie!
But what to do with all of the cut out pages?
Use them to make some groovy storage boxes or….
decoupage some new life into an old piece of furniture or…
create some absolutely awesome mini book pendants!
