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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 4h00

Use this to store keepsakes or even for everyday organization!
I bought this hard bound, vintage-esque book at my local second hand bookstore awhile back for about 80 cents and I've been using it as a purely decorative piece on my nightstand. But I'm always looking for ways to make things more functional so I decided to turn this into one of those secret compartment books. This project requires a lot of time and elbow grease. It took me about 4 hours to gut out this book which is about 200 pages and a day later my thumb is still sore! But I did it all in one sitting and was really pushing to finish this so I could blog and share it with you all. Take your time, it'll be kinder on your hands and the results will be worth it.

Posted by The Sunday Project from Cebu City, Central Visayas, Philippines • Published 11th November 2014 • See The Sunday Project's 7 projects »

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Step 1
I wanted my book to have some actual intact pages when you open it, so it still looks like a real book at first glance. So I opened my book to page 10 and glued all pages (10 and down) together on all three sides. The quickest way to do this is to paint the glue on.
Step 2
Then, take some plastic wrap (don't use newspaper like I did here, you'll see why later) and separate the pages you haven't glued down and the cover of your book. Put something heavy on it for 30 minutes to an hour, just until the glue dries and then apply another coat of glue. I did three coats all in all.
Step 3
Taking a page from the section that isn't glued down (page 9), make a margin on where you want to hallow out your book. Cut out that top page and flip to the next page, using a box cutter, start cutting out your secret compartment. This way, if you make a mistake or rip the paper, you have an extra sheet to cover up any mistakes that might happen.
Step 4
Start carving out the book with your cutter.
Step 5
Optional, I added an envelop on the front flap for additional storage, just taped it on with wash tape!