Hollow Book Novelty DIY

I have always been a "homemade" kind of gal, but these days even more so. We haven't anything to spend on the holidays anymore but that doesn't mean I can't give something. To be honest I got the idea from an article I read some time ago called, Book Care: Repair-Repurposing-Recycling Books. There were some great ideas there, but among them was the idea of hollow books, creating hidden compartments inside old used books. It took a couple of days but it was worth it. I now have hollow books to offer every member of my family as a gift. It is something I'm pretty sure they don't have, a novelty they wouldn't have thought of themselves, and a fun surprise that could be useful to hide money and other valuables in their home.

Hard Cover Book, old, not valuable to anyone

Xacto knife or box cutter

Ruler and pencil

White Glue

Soft paintbrush

Container for mixing glue 50-50 with water

Dremel Tool (optional)

Choose an old used book with hard cover. Paperbacks won't hold up as well.

Choose a few pages to be left at the beginning of the book, plus one. Cover them with plastic wrap to keep them from being glued.

Mix white glue 50-50 with water and paint the outside edges of the book. This glues all the pages together. Weight the book so the pages stay together while the glue is drying.

Measure one-half inch in from the edge, top, bottom, side, and spine, on the page you have chosen to begin cutting.

Using a box cutter, Exacto Knife, or Dremel Tool, begin cutting out the pages. This may take a couple of hours.

When you have reached the desired depth, paint the inside edges and the top page with glue mixture. Place the plus one page on the glue and weight the book again, until dry: overnight or one day.

Cut away the inside of the glued extra page. With the cutout, you can glue it to the bottom, if desired, for decorative purposes. It looks nice when opened to have a photo page at the bottom of the cutout pages.

Wrap this book pretty for friends and family. My sister opened hers and looked at the spine saying, what it this you think I should read? I kept telling her to open it but she continued to look like I was crazy thinking she should read this Shakespeare text. When she opened it, she was surprized.

I love this project. Careful of the sharp tools. Because you have to use sharp tools or even the Dremel Tool, it isn't a good project for children. I have a couple cut fingers to prove it but my family all have gifts. The part I like most about it is that for the most part, no one had one or had even thought of having one before.

My sister opened her book and stared at the title thinking I wanted her to read this book. She looked at me like I was crazy until she opened the book and saw that the pages were missing. Now she stashes her chocolate bars that she hides from the family there. Glad I could help. Until the family figures it out, that is.

Let me know if you liked my project.

Throughout the movie of Buck and the Preacher, starring Sydney Poitier and Harry Belafonte, the preacher is never caught without his Bible. By the end of the movie, you see the Bible is hollow and that is where he carries his gun. And he says, "I put my faith in the Good Book!"

I don't think I could bring myself to hollow out a Bible but I thought it was pretty funny anyway.