Crafty Productivity

It's been a rough beginning of the year for us, not gunna lie. We can't seem to shake illness at our house no matter how much we supplement and eat right. Still, I hate just doing nothing, even when I feel rotten. I like to be up and doing things which isn't always a conducive mindset when you just need to stop and rest. Keeping this in mind, I've been trying to find little projects that don't expend a lot of energy but still allow me to feel as though I've been productive. So as I sit here coughing typing at my computer, I feel that swell of excitement over a project I found on pinterest.com and attempted just this afternoon during naptime.

Super cool floating book-shelf

Neat, right? After wading through lots of websites and blogs, I finally found a gal who had put together a very detailed tutorial that looked easy enough to follow. You can find it here.

So! First thing's first. I needed a cool looking book for my shelf base. I wanted something old and a little larger than she used so it could support more variety of books. I loaded Squirt up in the car and we headed to Savers. Now Savers is not my favorite store. In fact, I usually feel like I need to dip myself in a huge tub of disinfectant after shopping there. But, they aren't joking when they boast about their great prices and I've found this to be especially true of their book section.  I scored three large, old hardback books for $2 ea.

This book, Great Houses of Britain, caught my eye instantly. With the cover off, it was in great condition and just the right size. The only problem...I didn't want to turn this fabulous book into a shelf. 

So I kept looking and came across these interesting Civil War books. I had hoped to make two shelves so this seemed to be my best option. Just like the first book I had found, these were in perfect condition and were a really rich brick red color. I probably shouldn't have skimmed through the first volume after we got home because, bookworm/history junkie that I am, I ended up wanting to read the whole thing. I knew I would be desecrating this poor book and I went and got myself attached anyway. Stupid, stupid, stupid! It was my recollection that I have too many books already that snapped me back to my mission of creating the shelf. Still, I didn't like what I was about to do to my new book.

Building My Book Shelf

Step 1: Measure and mark the middle of the last page. Ok, painless enough.
Step 2: Cut out a slot for the L-bracket. Check (No big deal, right? It's just a few pages out of the index...)

Sorry book!

Step 3: Cut a piece of the cover out so the book can be mounted flush with the wall *gulp* No turning back now. Be strong Chelsea, be strong.

I think a little piece of me just died inside.

Step 4: Screw 2 short wood screws into the pages.  The tutorial encouraged hand screwing but I used my drill. I love using my drill. It makes me feel way handier than I actually am.

Great, now I really am a book murderer. :-(

Step 5: Apply glue to the page with the screws and make sure to put some around the bracket. The tutorial used Elmer's glue but I prefer E6000 for it's heavy duty hold.

Step 6: Shut book and put something heavy on top to help the binding process. Leave overnight.

Two heavy cd boxes on top.

So there you have it! I'll post pictures as soon as the glue dries and I can mount the bracket!