BOOK INTO BOX, PT 2

Yesterday, I dug into that hardcover catalog with a box cutter and enthusiasm, and continued that task this morning.

Here are some additional thoughts on the hollowing out process.

Books are able to open because the pages slide against each other. We're going to glue the edges of the pages, which will make a nice solid box with pages that no longer slide. That means that your hole will need to start right at the front of the book, or within a few pages. The front cover will be your box's lid, and with only a few pages, or none, glued to it, will open and close easily.

The pages slide against each other

You can follow the margins of the book for your hole, or, as I did without thinking about it, you can make one margin wider. That would give you a place to put a title or additional decoration inside, or even room to cut another, smaller hole.

I've considered both options, and thought about what I'd use the smaller hollowed out compartment for. I could create a stash for an ink pen, and put a note pad in the larger one, or I could cut a rectangle the perfect size for the watch Grandpa gave Grandma when they got engaged, nearly eighty-five years ago. As you can tell, there are all kinds of things you can do with the extra space inside the book.

Now for the next step. If you haven't protected your work surface yet, this is a good time to do that.

You want to solidify the sides of the box. What you'll need to do that is glue and water. I used wallpaper edge glue because that's what was handy, but any kind of water-based household glue will do the trick. You're going to paint the glue on the outside edges of the pages, which is why you need water. The glue needs to be thinned enough to do that.



What's needed for this step

Pour a little of the glue into a small bowl, and add a little water. I use a table knife to mix because I can scrape the blade on the bowl's edge. Put enough water in the glue to make a liquid that will paint easily with a soft brush




Painting on the glue

but not too much. Glue that is too thin will make the paper buckle.



Warped edges from over-thinned glue

As you can see, I had a little problem with that. If it happens to you, don't despair. The next step is to weight the book down. I used a concrete paver. If your weight is something like that, put newspaper between it an the book, to protect it. (The book, not the brick!) I sat it on top of the closed book, but its weight alone wasn't enough to take out the buckling, so I gave it several hard pushes down with the heel of my hand. I felt like I was giving the book CPR, but that did the trick! Still, it wasn't quite as smooth as I wanted it to be, so I gave it a few swipes with a small wire brush. It looked all right even without that step, though.



Squashed, compressed into its former flatness


Leave your book to dry, and go do something else. Suggestion: Start thinking about how you want your finished book to look, if you haven't already started. That's our third and final step.

BOOK INTO BOX

I decided to try a new craft this morning, one I'd seen and thought might be both interesting and fun. And then I decided to photograph the process, so if I get it right others will know how. If I get it wrong, I guess the world will see what not to do! (Can you tell I'm operating without a compass? I've seen the finished project, but no directions for getting there. Still, how hard could it be?)

So the first thing I did was get a book I didn't mind destroying. For me, that happens to be a 1964 Chilton's parts catalog, nice and big, and thick, and probably completely useless to anyone.

Then I got my scissors, and opened them up, and began to scribe a line on an interior page with them, using the edge as though it were an Exacto knife. I was sitting at the dining table with Bob at the time.

"What in the world are you doing?" he said. I told him, and he gave a disgusted snort and went into the bedroom, returning with a box cutter, which he opened and handed to me.

That's the tool to use, if you have one. A box cutter.

I suppose I should say that step one in the process is to cut a deep rectangle from the inside of the book. The hole you create is the inside of the box.

My goal is to have nice, clean, interior edges/sides, so I next got myself a straight edge. In true Anitra style, I either don't own a ruler, or I can't find one. The three-hole paper punch worked just fine. In fact, it has the advantage of being considerably thicker than a ruler, and I don't have to worry about cutting me. It's also metal, so I don't have to worry about cutting it. Perfect. From a certain perspective, anyway.

Pictures of the process:

The book and tools




Some pages have been cut out




Some of what you end up with, besides your new box

I didn't realize two things when I started. The first was how nice it was to have the lines and edges right there on the page, to cut along. I suppose, though, that any book you use would have very clear margins. Cut along the margins and your boxes edges will be uniform.

The other thing I hadn't thought about was that the pages were kind of cool, taken as patterns or images. If you were scrapbooking or collaging something with a male theme, these would be great, so I'm going to save some of them for future use.

More later! Today is the first day of the new tag sale at the Seventh Day Adventist Thrift shop and I want to get there before those twenty cent t-shirts are picked over!