Since I am giving away one of these…

I thought I thought I would quickly go over how to do it, especially since several of you requested a tutorial in the comment section of that post.

First, you pick up a book from a garage sale or a flea market/antique shop. I would never think to do this to a new book, or a well known title, but you could if you so desired. In order to cut your book into a shape or letter, you will need to use one of the following methods to cut out the waste: a band saw, a jigsaw, a coping saw, or an X-ACTO knife. I’ll be using a jigsaw that was my grandpa’s.

First, you need to get the shape drawn on your book.  You could create a stencil out of paper, or free-hand it. Just remember. you want to keep the spine of the book intact. You should also keep it fairly basic until you have some experience.  Stick to letters that are block-style. That’s what I do.

After you get your letter drawn on, you are ready to start cutting. Clamp your book to your work surface with the cutting area hanging over the edge. Sorry, I didn’t get the before picture.

I started cutting out the portions of the book that were touching an outside edge.

Once I had the outside cuts made, I started to prep to taking out the inside portion. I drilled a hole, using a drill bit that was wider than the blade of the jigsaw. Then, I was able to cut out the inside.

And that’s all there is to it!

You could make a letter book or a shape/symbol like an ampersand ( & ). You could also use this method to create one of those book hiding spots, just cut out the middle of the pages instead of the cover.

I’ll be making another for the winner of the Valentine’s Day Giveaway. Did you win? Check it out here!