Hey there! To welcome the Ber months, I'll share with you a simple yet brilliant hack that will cost you little to nothing at all.
A hollow book is a secret safe in disguise. You can put in here your most random and mundane belongings or even your valuables.
If you have hardbound books lying around the house and gathering dust, take them out and re-purpose them into a secret storage you can use and give as a gift!
DIY Hollow Book | Creative Hack
Turn old hardbound books into a sneaky pigeonhole by following these simple steps!
What you'll need:
Hardbound book (the book size and number of pages affect the width and depth of your storage)
Glue
Cutter
Pencil or Pen
A small bowl filled with water
A tiny cut of sandpaper
Ruler
Paintbrush (a standard-sized artist's paintbrush will do)
Please excuse the lack of paintbrush in the photo above. ✌🏻
STEP 1: Mix glue with water
Pour a generous amount of glue into your bowl of water and mix them using the paintbrush. You can adjust the amount of glue you put in, as long the mixture turns out sticky and thick.
STEP 2: Glue the pages of the book together
Yup, you read that right. But don't glue all the pages together. Leave at least five pages in the front so as to not close the book altogether — and to give the illusion that it is still a reading book.
Compress the pages against the back cover to make sure that no leaf is left unglued. Then slather the three sides of the book with the glue and water mixture. Let it dry out for 24 hours.
DIY tip: Make sure that you cover your workstation with newspapers or scratch papers to avoid a sticky mess. You may also want to put a cover (such as plastic) on the pages that you have left out, so that you will not get glue on them.
Once dry, your book should look like this:
Notice that it still looks like a normal book, only the pages have been glued together and to the other end of the hardcover so you can only open it from the front page.
STEP 3: Measure the size of the hole you want to carve
The size of the hole will depend on the width and height of the book you will choose. Since I went with a small book that is not more than 300 pages long, I measured out a hole that is less than an inch on all sides.
Mark the measurements with pencil or pen, but make sure the markings are not too heavy so you can maintain the size you originally planned.
STEP 4: Carve out the hole with a cutter
Follow the marked lines of your measurement and cut out the hollow using a cutter. The depth of the hole will depend on the amount of pages that you carve out. It's preferable to leave a couple of pages in the back intact so they can provide cushion.
This is the most tedious and time-consuming part of the process. You also need to make sure that you're properly carving out each page so you won't end up with uneven sides.
Once done, the book looks like this:
Close-up view:
STEP 5: Smoothen the edges of the cut-out pages with sandpaper
The carving will leave the pages slightly ajar. You can fix this by slathering all four sides with a mixture of glue and water so they'll stick together. Remember to leave the glue to dry for 24 hours before you proceed to the next step.
Don't fret if the sides of your pigeonhole are not even. The next step is to use the sandpaper to smoothen out sharp or rough edges so your hollow book will look cleaner.
And there you have it — your very own hollow book. You can use this sneaky pigeonhole to easily carry around everyday items such as tea bags (like what I did) or as a discreet compartment for your important possessions. It's also an awesome gift for your family and friends.
Before I end the blog, I gotta give credit where it is due. The idea for this DIY came from my friend Ezeviel, who taught me how to create hollow books. Thank you!
If you followed this DIY, I'd love to see how your hollow book turned out. Drop a message in my inbox and let's chat!
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