Book Box, chapter 1

Last year for Christmas I received a beautiful book from my parents. I was quite surprised considering I hadn't ever heard of this book before. I was even more surprised when I opened this book and realized it was missing something. The entire middle was cut out! It's more of a box I suppose then a book?

I like how a wood burner was used to finish off the edge on the inside. It adds a nice detail.

I have a strange obsession with boxes. I love them all. That's one of my favorite parts about giving and receiving gifts, the packaging. No not the crazy hard to get open packaging but the fun boxes, tins and wrapping packaging. I love it when someone puts time into wrapping up a gift! What better way to give a gift then to hide it inside a book? It sure throws the recipient off when they think they're just getting a book. Not to mention these books make great secreting hiding places for your treasures.

I like that the first page with the leaves was left intact.

I was fascinated by this book especially when I found out that my mom was the one who put so much time and effort into turning it into a box. I had to inquire about the details so that maybe if I found time I could try my hand at making one myself.

This is what my mother told me I would need to make my own Book Box:

• hardback book of your choice
• X-Acto knife
• box cutter with a pointed/slanted blade
• PLENTY of razors
• ruler
• pencil
• paint brush
• small cup
• Elmer's glue
• a piece of colored felt or material of your choice
• super fine sandpaper
• vacuum with attachment (you will need to vacuum the inside of the book as you go)
• trash can (makes a HUGE mess)
• time and plenty of patience ;-)

The first thing I needed to do was find a book. Now you may be thinking how insane it is to cut a precious book. I agree it sounds a little crazy. Especially since I feel like it could be breaking some kind of unspoken rule amongst teachers. There's nothing worse then a student bringing a book back to the classroom library that's been ripped, colored on or worse (we won't go into stories right now about the things that I have found on my books before)!

The way I like to think about it is every book has a purpose and unfortunately there are used book stores and thrift stores all around the world where books are still waiting for a purpose. These are books that maybe were held and loved at one time but now they are slowly deteriorating as the dust keeps building upon their frail pages. Their spines are starting to crack from the pressure. These are the books that are starting to become UNGLUED from the stress of it all. These are the books that are shaking in their dust jackets at just the thought of being loved and treasured again! We can RESCUE these books from their misery and transform them and give them a new purpose. ARE YOU WITH ME?

Now that I feel much better about my decision to destroy books I needed to find one to use for my project. I could spend all day in a used book store. Cookie Monster on the other hand can NOT. Especially if he's hungry. We decided to stop by a used book store after church since it was near by. I had a wonderful time searching through stacks and stacks of books. Cookie Monster could not understand what was taking so long. He kept asking me why I actually needed a book I liked if I was just going to cut it. It's all about the thrill of the hunt for me, besides I needed to find that special book that was just the right size, that was screaming out to be transformed. Lucky for me I ended up finding two!

This was the first book I found. I loved it because of the wonderful illustration on the front! The illustrations are just as amazing on the inside too. Not to worry I plan to save each page I cut out and find a way to re-purpose them.

This was the second book I found. Wallpaper books are great books for projects, you can find them in abundance because people consider them "out of style" after just a short while, kind of like fashion. This book was such a surprise though! I actually found it to contain a wealth of information and inspiration. I was drawn to the vibrant cover!

GORGEOUS!

Wallpaper has sure come a looong way. I would say this could be the perfect compromise for the hunter and his wife ;)

Who knew they made magnetic wallpaper? This is beyond that magnetic paint stuff this is AMAZING! Check out the video below.

I think that's enough information for one post. Next time I'll share how I made my book boxes and reveal the final transformation. No doubt my books will be given a new purpose!