Book Safe

After spending some time on Pinterest I decided my next project would be a book safe. I looked on Amazon for the cheapest large book I could find. Initially, I looked at War and Peace, because that’s a big ass book. I eventually settled on a different large, unnamed (it’s a secret) book that was on sale for $5.

What you’ll need:

• a thick book
• x acto knife
• card board
• mod podge or glue
• paint brush or sponge brush for glue
• patience
• large books or other weights
• wax paper
• a couple of hours for cutting and an overnight for drying

First you want to find your large book. Then measure the page dimensions and decide how large you’d like your safe hole to be. Then cut out a piece of cardboard to use as your guide. I put packing tape around the edges just so my knife wouldn’t catch on the cardboard every time I cut. In hindsight, a reverse cardboard guide would’ve been easier to use. One that looks more like a picture frame. If you really want your cuts to be even you can glue the outside edges of the pages before starting. Again, follow my advice on using weights and wax paper that are shown below.

Start cutting. This will take a while. You can cut one at a time if you have the patience and are a perfectionist. I tried to cut as many as I could at a time, but my edges were uneven. I’d probably aim for 5-10 pages depending on the thickness of the paper and how sharp your knife is.

When you’re getting close to the bottom you can put a piece of cardboard underneath the last few pages so that you don’t cut through the rest of the pages or cover, depending on how deep you plan on cutting. Next break out your mod podge/glue and your paint brush. You’ll want to paint the glue all around the inside of the safe. I let it dry and did another coat the next day, but that’s up to you.

Before closing the book to dry, insert a piece of wax paper between the cut and glued pages and the uncut front few pages so that they don’t get stuck together.

Once you’ve done this, find a corner or table out of the way and stack a bunch of other heavier other books, or other heavy objects, on top over night to dry. It’s important that you do this otherwise the pages will dry wrinkly and warped and the book will be wider than it’s supposed to.

After it has dried over night, carefully peel off the wax paper and fill the safe with whatever you’d like. Add it to your shelf and voilà!

When you’re done you’ll have a lot of extra pages, I had around 800. You can use them for other craft projects like origami or decoupage or as kindling for a bon fire.

July 11, 2013. Tags: book, book safe, cool, cutting, decoupage, DIY, do it yourself, exacto, glue, hidden, hiding, how to, kindling, knife, Mod Podge, modpodge, origami, pages, Pinterest, safe, scrap paper, secret, tape, valuables, x acto. Projects. Leave a comment.