You Know My Methods, Watson.

Make Your Own Secret Hollow Book 

Hello!!!! Sorry I've been gone for some days now!!! I've been busy being creative and working lots!!! Speaking of, Tuesday I was surfing the net in boredom. And I wasn't really looking up anything in particular, just typing in random things I like, to see what sort of things came up......I do that a lot when I've run out of ideas or inspiration when I am working....... I will just type in random words to see what the search engine comes up with. Surprisingly, with how much I am on the computer, I never fail to discover new things I've never done or seen before. This time was no different, I typed in the words "Book Crafts" and up popped this D.I.Y. Secret Compartment Tutorial from Instructables.com. (I have seen these before but never thought I could make one) As soon as I saw it, I knew this would be my next project. So, I read the whole tutorial, got my camera and supplies out, and did a tutorial for all of you!!! 

I don't know if this is something any of you'd be interested in but I think it is such a cool idea!!! Secret Compartment books remind me of Sherlock Holmes Books,and Old Scary Movies (where the walls move, with hidden rooms behind them!!). For some reason they also make me think of the movie, "The Secret Garden". haha The idea of these are romantic too, for giving a secret special gift to your lover. Plus I love how sneaky they are!!! You can have all your life treasures sitting right next to you on the book shelf or table and no one would know!!! You can buy these online and probably at the store. But I like the idea of finding your own book to really make it your own!!! The key is to keep it your special hiding spot. Which means, no telling people!!(I know this is really hard because these are just so awesome!!!)

Alright, enough of me spouting on. (They'll be time for that as we go:).....Lets get started!!! 

Materials You'll Need:

Pencil

Ruler

X-acto Knife or Paper Cutting Utensil or some sort

The Book of your choice. (Thicker books take longer but you get a bigger compartment in the end)

All Purpose Glue (Elmer's, Mod Podge, Aleene's Tacky Glue)

Paint Brush

2 Plastic Storage Bags (Cut down the sides)

Scotch Tape (Not Pictured)

Step 1: Take the first 8-12 pages of your book and clip them to your book. (I chose page 11. That's my favorite #)

Step 2: Take your storage bag and wrap the pages you clipped to the side, to your hard cover. Tape your bag securely. (You don't want glue seeping in later) 

Step 3: Take your other storage bag and do the same to the back cover. Make sure to leave out a couple pages in the back, to secure to the cover. (I did not use storage bags on this book, but I did later, and they work soooo much better!!!)

Step 4: With your paint brush and glue, apply a generous layer of glue, to all 3 exposed edges of your book.

(Don't leave drippy runs of glue, that is too much!! )

Then take your book and set it some where safe to dry.

 (I let my books dry overnight, for about 10 hours.) 

Also!! Stack something heavy on top of your book. That way all the pages dry flat and  together!!

After a restful nights sleep, return to your book, and remove all plastic storage bags. 

Step 5: With your ruler and pencil, on the first page glued, trace your compartment outline. (I used the words on the page to help me keep my lines straight)

 This next step is the longest part and you will definitely need a chair, snack, or radio. I suggest all of the above!!! And lots of breaks!!! 

Step 6: Take your X-acto knife and cut along the marks you made on your page. (You should be able to remove 2 or 3 sheets at a time, depending on how deep you cut)

 Make sure to keep your corners clean and sharp, that will throw off your alignment quickly!!

Step 7: Continue to cut out sheet by sheet, until you are about 15 pages from the bottom of your glued pages. (Don't cut through these bottom pages. You need these pages for the hard bottom of your compartment)

Alert!!!

I experimented a little and decided to not glue my book together before I cut out the pages. And guess what!!! That was 10x's faster/easier than Method #1. So just a tip. You may want to skip steps 1,2,3,& 4. Just until you've done step 5. Then go back to step 1. Like working backwards!!! 

(As I cut each page, I used the page before as a template.  Clothes pinning them to the cover, to keep them out of the way, as I worked) 

Ta Da!!! Your Very Own Secret Hollow Book!!

Now you can hide your Coins, Heirlooms, Passport, keepsakes. Whatever you find valuable. 

Just don't forget where you put it!!!

Be creative and You-nique!!!

<3 Marcelina

P.s. I'd chose a book that not everyone is going to want to look at and pick up. For example: I wouldn't use a Time Book, people always want to look at those. Now a Serial Killer book, No one is going to be curious about whats in that one!!