Trash to Treasure: Secret Keepsake Book Box

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Adding a secret fun twist to this Trash to Treasure Transformation guest series is Emily of Go Haus Go who just so happens to have one of my favorite homes in blogland. I've never met her but I'm betting she is one of those people that just light up a room with their personality. Her space is so bright and happy that you simply can't look at it without smiling. Visit her blog to see all of her clever ideas and decor.

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Hi there! The name is Emily and I write a blog called Go Haus Go. I blog about the ever-transforming design of my own home, with snippets from my life and things I'm loving mixed in.

When Stefanie asked me to do a Trash to Treasure post, I immediately turned to my Goodwill donation pile. I wanted to do something along the lines of hidden storage. Ever since my car was broken into a few weeks ago, I've been paranoid about my valuables. I figure that with a locked safe someone can just take the whole thing (Is that even true? For some reason I believe it!) so I wanted something a little more secret and sneaky. I spied this happy yellow book at the bottom of the donation pile...
Emily Snuffer
Yep, you got it. I set out to create a secret storage space out of a long-forgotten book.

My materials were a used hardback book longer than 300 pages, X-acto knife, straight edge, decorative tape, striped fabric and a piece of foam core to outline the box shape on the pages.

Begin cutting the rectangle shape into the book pages.

The picture below shows me several pages in, but I actually started on the first page of the book, so my secret storage was accessible as soon as I opened the cover. I wanted a pretty large space to stash my treasures, so my pattern size is 3" x 7". I was able to cut through about 20 pages in one "cut" so creating the deep box went pretty quickly.

Emily Snuffer

Keep cutting until the desired depth is reached!

I wanted a depth of about 1.5" so it took cutting through 250 pages to get there. It took about 15 minutes to do this, which went way faster than I expected.


Emily Snuffer

Decorate/reinforce the keepsake box!

Once I had the space cut out, the book itself was looking pretty plain and blah. I also wanted to reinforce the top page so everything was nice and sturdy. I used decorative tape (like a washi tape, just more substantial) on the first page and a striped fabric on the bottom page of the box to create a sturdier frame. I also wanted some pattern on the inside to make it not so plain.


Emily Snuffer

Pick a spot to place the keepsake box!

Once my keepsake box was all ready to go, it was time to get it set up. This space is right next to my bed. I take off all my jewelry before I go to bed, so this seemed like the best location.

Emily Snuffer

Here's the keepsake box all set up and ready to stash any treasures.


Emily Snuffer

And here's my book-turned-keepsake-storage holding some of my essentials.

Emily Snuffer


There you have it!

I guess by posting this I've given away my own secret storage, but I wanted to pass along this little DIY to you!

I'm signing off, but before I go, please feel free to stop by and say hi to me at Go Haus Go.

Thanks so much Stef for having me!

8 comments:

  1. Love this! I actually have one of these my friend gave me. I have two huge floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, so it's practically impossible to find it. I stash money in there (mostly from myself) for special trips or for a goodie. It's nice to know I can't touch it until it's time.

    But I really love the idea of having it on my bedside table. I already have books there, so it would be great for the bobby pins and ponytail holders that seem to litter my bedside table.

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  2. One of your favorite rooms in all of blog land!? Wow. I just died and went to DIY heaven!!!

    Thank you for having me!!! I was nervous because it wasn't exactly a furniture transformation....

    xo, emily

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    Replies
    1. I think this is great!

      I have a question, did you do anything to bind the pages or can you still like flip through the pages of the book?

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  3. I love this idea!! I've thought of doing something similar to hide things like a backup of my computer and filing cabinet keys. It looks gorgeous and we promise to keep your secret safe!

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  4. This is brilliant!! I need to do this asap!

    p.s. I agree with you on the comment about Emily's home! :)

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  5. Anonymous6:27 PM

    Love this idea!

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  6. I've always wanted to make one of those! Now I need to find a cute book I want to destroy :)

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