Secret Hollowed-out books (plus an iPod case!)

[twistedfates]

Yay! This is my first Craftster project. Anyway...

I got really bored this four-day weekend. So, I decided to get off my lazy butt and make a hollowed out book from this tutorial.
http://how2dostuff.blogspot.com/2006/02/how-to-make-secret-hollow-book.html

Here's the first book I made (it helps to choose books no one would ever read). It took about three hours, including drying time, being a 400 or so page book...



Here's the next one I made. I used a diary this time, since it can use a lock closure for the extra security. Plus, I got it 5 years ago and I needed to put some use to it...



And here's my favorite out of all.... THE IPOD BOOK CASE! Sadly, I'm giving this to my boyfriend, but I loved making it so much. This one took a while to finish, having to carve out more than one hole and attaching the Velcro without it ripping the pages out. I hope he doesn't mind that I used Emily of New Moon...



This compartment is for the headphones...


Here's where the iPod goes. I also cut out a rather large portion of the top of the book so he can plug headphones in whether it be the iPod headphones or the funky ones that are kinda L-shaped at the end...


Here's an aerial view of the top, to get an idea of the hole for the headphones.


Hope you enjoy the pictures! Any comments would be loooved. 

[sarahpanda]

THe iPod one is super-cool, can you imagine the looks he'll get when he plugs his headphones into a book?! Brilliant!

[twistedfates]

THe iPod one is super-cool, can you imagine the looks he'll get when he plugs his headphones into a book?! Brilliant!

Haha, I was just imagining that. Not to mention it's the book Emily of New Moon (basically from the same author of the Anne of Green Gables series). I plan on stuffing it with candy when I give it to him.

[raina.storms]

Cool! I've seen these for sale, but never thought of making my own. Thanks for the tute link!

I think I like your diary one the best, but what are keeping in these, if you don't mind my asking...? I only ask because that one is a rather shallow 'box'.

[twistedfates]

Cool! I've seen these for sale, but never thought of making my own. Thanks for the tute link!

I think I like your diary one the best, but what are keeping in these, if you don't mind my asking...? I only ask because that one is a rather shallow 'box'.

No prob, just spreading the love. I'm actually keeping my money stash in the diary, since it's nice and shallow and it has a lock. 

[Katxena]

The books look really great, you did a nice job carving out the pages.  I screwed that up on the one I tried to make.

The iPod one is sheer brilliance.  You may have given me a reason to try this again!!

[raina.storms]

Cool, thanks!

[Merliquin]

very nice job!

  I made a hollowed book out of an oxford dictionary once. 
that took forever.
 
the Ipod case is very nifty. smart idea

[twistedfates]

Thanks for all the compliments! I gave it to the boy (with little candies in the pockets since he loves Skittles and Starbursts) and he nearly exploded with excitement. He spent the entire football game looking at it and eating the candies.

I brought into school for a test run beforehand to see the durability and the reactions I would get. It held up really well and none of the pages started falling apart. Most people were shocked there was an iPod inside. Now people are asking me to hollow out books for them.

[Empress]

Business making in the plan!
I really like the ipod idea, I'm gonna try it... It'll definately save any electronics from the annoying scratches you can get being in a bag full of keys and whatnots.

[phluffster]

hehehe this thread got me so excited i promptly set to work on 'the science of self-realization' (a hare krishna book bestowed on my boyfriend which i rescued from the back of his car). and may i just say this..

i fall on my knees in awe at your finished product. I don't think i have the patience to get even a reasonable facsimicile of your books. Hmph.

they're awesome.
xx
C

[Shout]

Sweeeeeeeet.

The all-time most creative Ipod related craft ever.  (and probably also the most time-consuming) 

Dang.

[AmyGroovy3]

how do you make it?, do you have to stick every page together?

[jlw21]

cool ipod book!  i made a few of the standard hollowed out books once and glued in some pieces of dark colored felt to hide the uneven edges where the pages were cut out.  it looked classy and helped protect the stuff in there too!

[Stars_Fire_17]

thats cool, but I couldn't cut up a book

My 2 loves, Crafts and reading.

[Kelda]

This rocks on the dock and never stops. Honestly. I freaking love it. I will be making my own hollow-book iPod case in the near future.

[poohbear92]

omg i really love that. it is SO creative!! i am thinking about making it for my friend, she always listens to music in class and finds sneaky ways to do it, and i think this will be a great gift for her! 

[moonstruckdragonlass]

3 guesses what my boyfriend's getting for his birthday!

. . .yes. paints. *Dies*

Absolutely brilliant Idea. I'm fond of super strange cases for my iPod, and this'll be the third such case i'll have pulled off of craftster for my darling Trygg. ^^ Fabulous idea, thanks. ^^

[hotty_blond2000]

I so need to do this some day.
But i need more hardcover books.

[redwitch]

Wow, I am so glad I popped in from the knitting forum! I made one for the boy's ipod nano and he thought it was amazing and asked me to make a hidey-hole one for him too! (Dropped me three days later)

I made a much better one for myself: my nano earphones plug in at the bottom of the ipod, so I put the nano on top, and the headphone compartment beneath with a tiny cavity going from ipod earplug hole into the earplug compartment, and another from compartment to the outside, so I can listen to it with the cover closed, then put away the earplugs in their compartment without unplugging them.

Mine's better than his first one because I lined the earplug storage compartment with leopardskin felt, and the cavity for the ipod above has a piece of sponge in it, about one centimetre bigger around, with an ipod-sized and shaped rectangle cut out, so ipod fits in perfectly. Another layer underneath, so the back of the ipod's cushioned too, and a similar layer glued to the inside of the front cover to cushion the front when the cover is closed.

Flocking would also be a good idea for anyone who wants a lining - but you would probably need to use some kind of filler to flatten, straighten, smooth, and even out the sides, as below a couple of centimetres, being super-careful will help, but not keep the sides perfect.

Sarah

[6iggle]

wow i really wanna try this, thanks for the link! i love the ipod one hahha

[phluffster]

Another funky way to cover up the rough page edges after you've hollowed the book is to collage over it using the pages you've ripped out. It looks really cool. 

[LOaccidentallyVE]

Hey, those are neat. I'm making a book case for my MP3 player.

[karavshin]

Paper is horribly hard to get clean, smooth cuts on.  Almost need a wood router that works on paper. 

[redwitch]

It's okay if you are patient, slow, and keep discarding the blades once they get even a bit blunt. A huge pain in the arse, but doable. I have used polyfiller on the insides to fill them in/smooth them out and been very happy with the results.

[Miss Dictionary]

When I read hollowed out book and iPod case I looked at my Zune sitting in the dock in front of me and thought, I'm going to hollow out a book for my Zune, exactly like you did for the iPod, but with a smaller opening for the headphones... 

Also, this is exactly what I'm making my best friend for his birthday, or any old time.

[redwitch]

Do it do it do it! It's a lot of fun (if you are patient and take pleasure in doing things right, still fun if you don't quite have that patience) and the result is incredibly satisfying.

As an update: I have since done a hidey-hole cavity (not specifically shaped for an iPod), not quite so perfectionisty, and used polyfiller (not sure of the American word, but that stuff from the hardware shop that's used to fill in nail holes and other gaps in gib, like liquid/paste plaster that is applied with a trowel). It would have been okay - nicely squared edges - alone, but after applying flocking (a bag of tiny individual fibres, you paint the inside with glue and put in a spoon of fibre, close the lid and shake it around to stick to and coat the inside, afterward it looks like it is covered in velvet) it is fantastic.

Here's mine: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=179595.0
Sarah

[gardenpicnic]

Awwwwwwwwww, the ipod one is soooo awesome!

[pookzilla]

This is exactly what I want for my iPhone and plan on trying it out this weekend.  I plan on combining the book with a foam insert covered in a velvet-like material - that should keep my darling secure. 

[emily_jane]

I've been thinking about making one for my cellphone.  Hehehehe....

*edit*
A thought just entered my mind!  I think I'm gonna make a kit for my boyfriend's... ehem.... hobby.... So his parents won't get too suspicious.  Weeee! He's gonna love it!  Thank you for the idea!!!!

[rrose_cestlavie]

the ipod one reminds me of something my professor had a girl in my class do last semester. he wanted us to always carry our sketchbooks with us, and when she wasn't carrying hers he asked if she had her cellphone and if she always had her phone. of course she did, so he told her to hollow out a cell phone sized hole in her sketchbook to keep her phone in so that she would always have her sketchbook. hahaha.

[Stars_Fire_17]

the ipod one reminds me of something my professor had a girl in my class do last semester. he wanted us to always carry our sketchbooks with us, and when she wasn't carrying hers he asked if she had her cellphone and if she always had her phone. of course she did, so he told her to hollow out a cell phone sized hole in her sketchbook to keep her phone in so that she would always have her sketchbook. hahaha.

Did it work?

[middlebrook]

Love it!

[xflora]

reminds me of those spy movies where people hide video cameras in books

I love the iPod Hollowed-Out book =)
Good purpose for it too.

[rrose_cestlavie]

the ipod one reminds me of something my professor had a girl in my class do last semester. he wanted us to always carry our sketchbooks with us, and when she wasn't carrying hers he asked if she had her cellphone and if she always had her phone. of course she did, so he told her to hollow out a cell phone sized hole in her sketchbook to keep her phone in so that she would always have her sketchbook. hahaha.

Did it work?

you know, i don't know. she moved to a different drawing table after that, so i didn't get a chance to creep on her sketchbook. haha.