How about making a keepsake box out of a book?

Penn Kidder Library hosted a class to learn to do so on Tuesday night.

Lots of decorations were available, including pictures, small pages cut from books, stickers, scrapbooking items and “washi tape” or a thin sticky colorful paper tape with patterns.

Kara Edmonds, director of the library, had always wanted to make this project.

As a kid, her aunt had shown her a not so interesting gastroenterology book. The inside was carved out as a keepsake box where her aunt kept what Edmonds referred to as “jewels” as a child.

Kristi Farinelli from Albrightsville is part of the book club at the library and thought it “would be a cool way to repurpose books that are not used anymore.”

Dictionaries, which have thinner paper, and old art books with fun images make a good starting point.

The first step is using an X-ACTO knife to cut out all of the pages, leaving about a half-inch on each side.

Modgepodge, a clear type of glue, is used to bind together the leftover inside pages and secure the various decorations inside and on the book.

Regarding cutting up books, Edmonds said, “Sometimes the content is not accurate, we have too many duplicates or the books are no longer a good representation of the community. When we remove the content it just becomes an object.”

When these objects are decorated they become a special, personal, one of a kind keepsake.

The library will be hosting another book project on May 23 from 5 to 7 p.m.