Loading ...Finding Treasures in Books
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I have always wanted a book with a secret hiding place as long as I can remember seeing them in the movies. I thought they were cool and if you had enough books, who would know which one had the hidden compartment.
Being on the internet brought that longing again to have a book with secrets inside. This time I found a little video that showed how to do it and I was inspired.
The video showed a girl gluing the book together first and measuring and cutting. I initially started that way, but as I got further down into the book, that wasn’t very convenient, I had to peel off some of the pages with a knife to a better angle and allow me to cut deeper. It also allowed me to pull the pages out easier and not have a V cut to the book but more of a straight sided look.
I also tried a hot glue gun, but that was more of a disaster than anything, at best it helped fill the gaps between the pages on the side, but then the book looked odd. Instead, I went Elmer’s glue all the way. For the outside and holding the pages together, just using pressure and blowing on it while it dried.
The whole process took me from 11.30-2pm, I cut a little over 1 1/2 inches of pages out of the book. The pages also had a 1 inch margin all the way around; I wanted it large enough that the pages wouldn’t wrinkle when I glued them down.
I saved the top colorful page to glue inside the bottom, last page to give it a little better look and then I also ran some glue along the inside side area to be safe and also make it look a little smoother. 
I am NOT a crafty person, I rarely have the patience for it, but all in all, I’m quite happy with the mess I made and the outcome. I think I will pick up some Velcro scraps from the store to keep the lid closed so it won’t open on it’s own, but a mighty handy place for ‘storing’ my silver nickels, dimes, quarter and other finds.
Now that the book is back on the shelf, can you tell which one has the treasure in it?
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I loved this idea! I have been looking for new creative ways to save coins (that can really add up over time). Anway, I posted your link on my blog today.
Thanks!
April 30th, 2008 at 8:29 amAmanda
Can’t tell which one. Good job!!
April 30th, 2008 at 9:15 pmI know this isn’t the place to post an off topic comment, but I can’t find your email address.
May 1st, 2008 at 3:39 amI’ve run across a frugality site, http://www.fruwiki.com/index.php?title=Main_Page, that I thought you might find interesting enough to review.
It looks like it might have potential, but at this point I found it confusing and rather light on content.
Ooo, I would not be able to take the pages out of a book to hide something. It just seems so vile and taboo. As if the thing you are hiding is something so secretive that you’d take it to the grave or something like that.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:40 pmI’ve always been taught to respect books, and nurture them. Even with a used book with no meaning to me, I just can’t see it being done. However it would be pretty nifty to have a secret compartment in a book. Maybe I’ll order one haha.
Great idea but i just don’t have the patience to make one myself. I end up buying little second hand pots and boxes from yard sales to keep all my odds and ends in. But i applaude your crafting abilities and frugal use of an old book.
May 5th, 2008 at 11:30 amYou’re brave to take this project on…I tried it and made quite a fun mess!
After that fiasco, I bought several of them from Barnes & Noble. I have a lot of books, and so figure it’s unlikely the burglar will pull them all off the shelves looking for loot–though he could, I suppose, dump the shelves to see if anything is hidden behind the books, and in that case one of them could flip open.
Eventually, I think I’m going to get a fire safe that can be bolted to the floor. Problem is, if you croak over your relatives will have a time finding the junk. My son knows these things exist, but he doesn’t seem to remember which titles are the book safes. Locking and unlocking is a nuisance, but I hardly ever use the stuff I’ve stashed in those things anyway!
May 6th, 2008 at 6:12 amLooks like a cool frugal project. I must try this one soon. Thanks for sharing this MIFS idea.
May 6th, 2008 at 6:35 am