I love secret compartments. There is just something about hidden rooms, or spaces that give me an irrational amount of serotonin. And so today, I shall teach you how to make your own, amazing secret compartment book safe, to put money, your phone, pictures, etc. in. For the book choice, I like an old-looking book for aesthetic purposes, but you can use any book that you want, that you are ok with destroying forever. As you can see in the pictures, one book that I chose was a little too old and was literally crumbling into dust before me. Try to avoid books that have pages that are old enough to rip super easily, as they are difficult to work with. You also want to make sure that your book is hardcover, and at least 1- inch thick, to give the compartment room. That's all, enjoy!

Supplies

1. 1 Book, hardcover, at least 1-inch thick.

2. 2 Plastic bags, or cling/plastic wrap.

3. Box cutter.

4. Mod podge/puzzle glue/glue thinned with a LITTLE BIT of water.

5. Clamps/weights/heavy books.

6. Paint brush.

(optional): Felt for lining the inside of the compartment.

Step 1: Protect Your Spine.

Open your book and turn over a couple of pages, so that when you open your secret compartment, it looks like a normal book at first. Take your plastic bag/wrap and put it over the couple of pages and the cover of the book, in order to protect it from the glue. I tied mine down. Cover the other side as well.

Step 2: Glue the Sides Down.

Take your mod podge/puzzle glue/watered down glue*, and use your paintbrush to brush it down the sides of the book. Make sure you hold the pages tightly together as you paint. Also make sure there aren't any lumps of glue, because they will dry white.

* if you make watered down glue, don't add to much water, or your pages will warp.

Step 3: Weight Down Your Book.

Now, you need to take your clamps/weights/heavy books, and weight down the pages of your book, while its drying. this ensures that it doesn't warp, and it stays nice and neat-looking. Let the glue dry for an hour or more.

Step 4: Cut Off Excess

When the glue is dry, take off the clamps or weights, as well as the plastic bags. Use an Exacto knife or your box cutter to carefully cut away any dried glue that is sticking out from the sides.

Step 5: Draw Your Outline

Use a pencil to draw an outline for your compartment. It can be any size, but make sure you have at least a half and inch from the sides.

Step 6: Cut Out

Now, you just use your box cutter to cut out the compartment. This might take a while, so you can listen to music or watch tv while working, like I did. Make sure you take your time to make it sharp, and uniform. Pay special attention to the corners as they are the hardest part to get neat.

Step 7: Glue Some More

Finally, you just put more glue on the inside of the compartment, to keep it together. I had to use clamps again in order to keep my very old-falling apart book in shape. make sure you let the glue dry for at least an hour or more, before putting anything in it, as things could stick to tacky glue. At this point, you can glue in felt to make it look more clean, and cover rough edges, but I really liked the way mine looked without felt so I kept it.

Step 8: Enjoy!

Yay! you did it! now you have an amazing, cool, secret compartment that blends in perfectly in your bookshelf! I put some things that I treasure in my secret compartment, to keep them safe. Have fun!<3