Supplies Checklist:

• A Hardback Book (the thicker, the more stuff you’ll be able to store in it).
• Watered Down Glue Solution – Approximately 70% Standard Craft Glue and 30% Water
• Small Container for Glue Mixture
• Glue Brush
• X-acto Knife
• Utility Knife
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Spacers for the Drying Time – A few stacks of post-it notes or a magnetic notepad/grocery list will do nicely.

Step-By-Step Tutorial:

• First flip a few pages forward. The best way to do this is to keep several of the first pages normal and not glued together. Flip forward to the first page you want glued. We’ll be cutting out the first glued page later on, so flip that page forward with the other pages not to be glued (for now).
• Create the glue mixture above out of 70% regular craft glue and 30% water. This is just to dilute the glue a bit so it will go on smooth and transparent.
• With the front pages separated, push down the remaining pages against the table you’re working on. If you put your weight on it with your arm it will push the pages together tightly so there aren’t spaces between them.
  
  Brush over these pages with the glue mixture. Apply it generously, but not too much so that it’s dripping off the pages.
• Close the book, placing the spacers between the front (un-glued) pages and the glued pages. Then weigh it down with something heavy in order to keep the pages pressed together while they dry. This can be a phone book, a small set of weights, etc. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes, just to make sure it dries thoroughly.
• When you take off the weight check how well the pages stuck together. Don’t purposely pull them apart, but just run your fingers over them. If they don’t seem stuck together enough and are moving around when you run your finger over them, then apply another coat of the glue mixture and let sit for another 30 minutes under the weight.
  
  Also, if they seem to be curling or waving a bit, then add some more glue to the glue/water mixture as there is probably too much water in the mixture.
• Once the pages have dried together, open the book to the front of the already glued pages. Using your ruler and pencil, draw a 1/2″ margin on all four sides of the inside of the book.
• Using a ruler to keep a straight edge, run the x-acto knife down the lines that you just drew. Just cut through the first few pages at first and keep the cut line as straight as possible.
• Continue cutting through the rest of the pages, 1-3 at a time until you get to where you’d like to stop. Depending on what you’re using this for, you might not have to go all the way to the back of the book. I only hollowed out my book about 1/3 of the way to use as a jewelry box for earrings.
• Clean out the center of the book from any paper shavings and dust to create a clean slate for the next step.
• Now just like you did to the outside of the pages, brush on the glue mixture to the inside of the pages. Also, brush a coat of glue onto the rim of the top glued page.
• Just like above (except this time without the spacers) close the book carefully to keep the pages aligned correctly (particularity the page right on top of the glued rim page). Weigh it down again with something heavy and wait for about another 30 minutes.
• Open the book back up and you’ll notice the first page you picked in the beginning is glued down to the other pages now, but not hollowed out. This was just to create a nice clean edge at the top and without any sticky corners.
  
  With your knife, carefully cut through the top page to expose the hollowed out pages.
• Leave the book open to air out and thoroughly dry and then begin hiding your goodies in it!