Giant Book- Bookcase (Made Entirely Out of Cardboard)

The entire bookshelf is made out of cardboard, it's light but sturdy (had to be light since I was making it for a young child's bedroom). I used fabric to cover the outside of the book and give it this authentic book-like texture. There is also a curved spine, a spine gap and fake pages.

There is plenty of storage space on the inside shelves as well as the top of the book.

It would be a great addition to a reading nook or a child's bedroom.

As happy as I am with how this project turned out, I'm going to be quite honest with you - if possible, avoid making it entirely out of cardboard. That way madness lies...and several sliced fingers. Not to mention the copious amounts of glue and stray bits and pieces of cardboard you will be finding all over the house, clothes and hair.

Unless you have to make this project entirely out of cardboard (like I had to), or you are incredibly experienced in cardboard furniture-making, do yourself a favour and simply use an already assembled wooden bookshelf as your base and completely skip Steps 2 and 3, since they took the longest and there is a lot of measuring and cutting of cardboard.

Supplies

• cardboard, cardboard, cardboard; thick, strong, double layered walls are best
• adhesives... how much and what type will depend on how you want to complete the project, but here's what I used: PVC glue, 'strong as nails' adhesive, glue gun, superglue for small details, expanding foam
• filler; wood filler or tile adhesive (grout)
• some sanding paper
• sharp precision knives and rulers
• your choice of book cover: paint, fabric, paper for paper mache, roll of PVC or vinyl
• optional for 'pages': long skewers, long, thin dowels or some sort of hard, corrugated panel
• for details and embellishments: Cricut cutter or carbon paper for tracing

Step 1: Plan and Measure Ahead

Before you start this project you have to be aware of the measurements. Either sketch the entire thing on paper or use Tinkercad (it's free) to create a simulation. That way you will end up with a nicely proportioned, realistic- looking book.

Step 2: Inside Shelves

To make things easy I used three identical, already assembled cardboard boxes.

I trimmed them and then reinforced each wall of each box with at least one additional cardboard panel.

Since they were a little too wide for my liking, I added thick layer of cardboard to the sides of each box as well as the back.

Step 3: Cardboard Panels

I needed to make four thick panels and glue them on the top, on the bottom and in between the shelves. Each about 1-1.5 inch thick. I needed them to be quite solid since they would bear the weight of the items stored on the shelves.

I had to measure and cut multiple rectangulars. I quickly run out of thick, large cardboard pieces, so I had to improvise by interspersing large rectangular pieces with smaller cardboard pieces (PICTURE 2).

There are many ways you can glue the panels together. I used primarily hot glue and 'tough as nails' adhesive, but you can also glue the panels with PVC, though that will take several hours to dry and will have to be weighted down while drying.

Step 4: Adding Bulk and Filing Cavities

I needed to add some bulk to the top, bottom and the sides of the book.

I had some smaller boxes I trimmed to size and glued them to all four sides of the bookshelf.

All those side cardboard boxes were hollow and the entire structure was unstable, so I had to fill it to keep it from denting or collapsing.

I used recycled newspapers and papers to fill in all the cavities. I packed it from the front and from the back really tightly.

To keep the newspapers in place I squirted a small amount of expanding foam into the openings and then let the foam dry before trimming any excess with a knife.

This way, the entire bookshelf was more structurally sound and I was able to pick it up without denting the cardboard.

Step 5: Book Spine Skeleton

I consulted my Tinkercad model for dimensions of the spine and then cut several half-circle cardboard pieces to create the rounded shape.

I glued them to the side of the bookshelf with hot glue and I used small cardboard pieces as aids to make sure all pieces were at a 90 degree angle (PICTURE 3)

Step 6: Book Spine Cover

I needed a large sheet of flexible cardboard to cover the spine.

The only way to make the cardboard flexible and bendy, is to carefully score parallel lines in the first layer of cardboard with a sharp knife. You want to keep cut the lines 8-15mm apart.

The easiest way to glue the cardboard cover to the spine skeleton was to use expanding foam.

I covered the edges of the semi-circles with globs of foam and secured that bendy piece of cardboard to the spine.

I used masking tape to keep it in place while it dried (PICTURE 5).

Step 7: Filling the Spine Cavity

Repeat from Step 4.

Once the book spine cover was secured and the foam was dry, I sliced a small piece of the spine off and filled the empty spaces with crumpled paper.

I finished it off with a layer of glue to keep the paper from escaping.

Step 8: Book Spine Crack (?)

I actually have no idea how to call this part of a book, but you will know what I'm talking about once you see it. That slight crack or dip near the spine that gets more visible with use.

It's not strictly necessary to make this part, but I thought it adds a bit more realism to the bookshelf.

I used a strong, hardboard tube you can find inside aluminium foil or cling film.

I pressed the tube between two pieces of wood to keep it from rolling while I marked it with a pen.

I then cut it lengthwise and glued it to the bookcase.

The tube has to be long enough to extend by about 1 inch from the top of the bookshelf .

Step 9: Front of the Book Cover, Remember to Add an Extra Inch

Since I run out of large pieces of cardboard I had to use several smaller pieces of cardboard to cover the front of the book (PICTURES 2 AND 3).

The best and easiest way would be to cover the front with one large piece of cardboard or, better yet, thin hardboard.

When covering the book front with cardboard, you have to remember to add 1 extra inch of cardboard to the top and the right side of the book (PICTURE 5 AND 6), to make the bookshelf more realistic-looking.

I then covered the back of the book with pieces of cardboard (not pictured) and added another layer of bendy cardboard to the book spine ( this bendy cardboard also had an extra inch at the top).

Step 10: Filler

I used a combination of tile adhesive/grout/wood filler to fill in all the gaps on the inside of the shelves (all the corners and places where bottoms meet the walls)

I also applied a few layers of filler to any visible cardboard edges (PICTURE 3).

Once set, wherever needed, I smoothed the filler with a sanding pad.

Depending on the situation, you might also have to apply a thin layer of filler to the book spine.

Step 11: Paint the Shelves

I painted the inside shelves black and varnished it.

Once I decided to cover the book in red fabric I did some tests to figure out how it will behave when glued to the cardboard.

I discovered that my material had tiny holes that allowed the brown colour of cardboard to peek through, so I had to paint the outside of my book red before I could cover it with fabric.

Step 12: Fabric Book Cover

I wanted my book to have a fabric-y texture, so I decided to use actual fabric with a visible weave.

I initially wanted to use high quality, tightly woven hessian and once glued, I was going to paint over the fabric with acrylic paint.

Since I couldn't find hessian anywhere I had to settle on this non-stretchy, polyester-type material, that not only had a visible weave and fabric-y look to it, but it also came in a variety of vibrant colours, so that saved me some time because I didn't have to paint the fabric like I initially planned.

I diluted PVC glue and brushed it liberally all over the front of the book. I then stretched the fabric over the book and brushed more diluted PVC glue over the the top of the fabric. I trimmed and folded the loose edges towards the inside of the bookshelf and then folded the edges at the top and right side part. I used tape to secure the edges of the fabric while the glue was drying to make sure everything was taut.

If you are making this bookshelf out of wood or plywood instead of cardboard, try to use a staple gun to secure the material, it will be much easier this way.

Instead of fabric, you can use letherette PVC, self-adhesive vinyl, you can simply paint it with acrylics or paper mache the cover with PVC glue and thin tissue paper to create a leather-worn effect.

Step 13: Book Pages

Details are important, so don't forget about the pages.

I cut a cardboard sheet to the exact shape and size of the top and side panel where the pages would be visible.

I then trimmed several handfuls of bamboo skewers and glued them to the cardboard sheet. I tried to lines of skewers straight to give the impression of pages.

I painted the 'pages' white-ish and glued both top and side panel to the bookcase.

Although the final result is not as smooth as I wanted (I wanted to use long, thin, wooden dowels, but had to settle for bamboo skewers) it still ended up looking alright.

Step 14: Final Details

I dusted off my mini Cricut cutter and used it to make the corner pieces. I also used some black/gold washi tape for the borders as well as gold fabric trim for the book spine. You can find a lot of useful, decorative bits and pieces in a fabric store like trims or pieces of lace, buttons, studs etc.

If you don't have a cricut maker but want to add some details, you can always free-hand it with a pencil and then go over the design with a gold or silver pen or maybe paint and a thin brush.

You can also print your chosen design and use carbon tracing paper to transfer the images onto the bookshelf.