Book box - tutorial

I've seen this project on various sites so I thought I'd try my hand at it...

In a nutshell: 

1.  Take a pretty book   2.  Glue pages together   3.  Cut a hole on the inside   4.  Use it to hold jewelry or flowers, hide valuables, etc.

Find a pretty book (Poems of Emily Dickinson).

Find pages you don't want to glue (to cover the hole you will cut later).

Cover the cover (lol) in Saran Wrap to prevent glue from sticking.

Get Mod Podge and applicator (I used a sponge).

Glue all sides of the book.  I even put glue on some random pages inside to help it stay together more evenly.

Pile heavy stuff on top while the glue dries.  Let it dry for a long time.

Measure how big you want to cut your hole.  I did a rectangle with wide margins.

Use an exact-o knife to cut the pages.  You will only be able to cut through a few pages at a time.  Be careful!    Peel the pages out after they have been cut.  This makes a big mess! 

Pretty soon you will have a nice little cubby hole.  

I haven't decided what to do with my book yet.  I tried putting jewelry in it but didn't really like how it looked.  Some people use them to inconspicuously store money on the bookshelf.  :)

NOTE:

Save the leftover pages!  Mine had lots of complete poems still intact!  You can use those papers for many more projects!  One thing I did:

I cut hearts out of the leftover poem papers and attached them to twine for a cute window decoration!

(Got the idea from my friend, Carol, who used heart-twine decorations for her adorable wedding!)