I’ll Cut a Book

The weather has been gloomy and wet for days on end. No one wants to be outside, especially me. So I had to think of ways to entertain myself indoors this past weekend. Cleaning the bathroom or kitchen floor was not an option.

I decided on a craft project.

My inner 10-year-old squealed with content. But this is not a kid-friendly project, as it requires lots of cutting with a heavy duty knife. In fact, the knife was what inspired the project in the first place.

I discovered this utility knife while I was organizing a basket of tools, nails, etc.  (I was bored alright.) We got it at a bucket sale and promptly forgot about it. A bucket-sale is when you buy an 80 cent bucket (or bag, or whatever) and fill it with items from the store. Everything in the bucket is 20-30% off, so it works out to be a good savings.We filled up the bucket with small items that sounded smart, a utility knife was one of them.

What can I cut with a very sharp blade? Hmm… how about a book?

How about this random book that I bought for $2 at a used bookstore? I was going to put it out on the street, but I figured it was so painfully dull that no one would ever want it. I only bought it because it had the year I was born on the cover. The inside is as boring as you might imagine a book called “American Book Prices Current” would be.

So, I decided to cut away pages from the center and transform in the book into a small trinket box.  I picked out a page number that I liked to open the book to. (143=I love you in beeper code, who remembers those days?)

I stuck a sheet of paper at page 143 and busted out the Mod Podge (my favorite craft supply ever). The goal was to coat only the bottom half of the book, so the piece of paper between kept the top and bottom separated. Note: you will want to remove/replace the paper while drying so that it doesn’t stick to the book.

After coating the bottom half of the book with Mod Podge multiple times, and I gave it plenty of time to dry.

Then it was time to start cutting.

I used a straight edge to draw a rectangle to cut out.

Once I had sliced away a few pages, the task got easier. I used the new edge to guide the razor blade, making cuttings every 4-6 pages that were removed.

After about 2 hours of this craft, my hands were tired. The blades were dull. There were paper pieces everywhere. So, I cleaned up and put the project aside when I was about 50% done with the slicing.

I plan to pick it back up this weekend, especially if it’s still raining. I want to slice away a total of 1.5 inches of paper, and then I will Mod Podge the fresh-cut inside edges. Then, I will fill the book with secrets and trinkets, and only you will know that they are in there!

Will follow-up with the finished product!

What’s your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?