A few weeks ago a friend of mine posted a picture on Pinterest of a knife block made from a few books and I fell in love. It was so gorgeous and unique and I had to make one for our farmhouse styled kitchen. Just gluing the books together didn’t work to well for us though. I found that some of our knives tore the pages. Probably because I use those knives as screw drivers when I’m to lazy to fetch the real thing 😎 And cleaning the knife block was a bit of a problem too. Those sharp points keep popping out the bottom and stabbing me. Long story short we had to make some changes to accommodate our bent, all purpose knives. If you’re keen to make one here’s how we did it using old damaged books, skewers and plywood.

Old books, skewers and plywood

Old books, skewers and plywood

Making A Knife Block From Old Books

We decided to use bamboo skewers because I’d read somewhere that they help keep the knives sharp and I do have a tendency to use them for some weird things so I’m hoping it works. We carefully removed the pages from the books using a craft knife. I have a HUGE respect for books so I’m saving the pages for another project. Just cutting the covers off made me cringe – does that happen to you too?

Carefully remove the pages using a craft knife

Carefully remove the pages

Using the pages from the books we drew a template of the bottom and sides of the book pages on the plywood.

Use the pages as a template for the knife block

Use the pages as a template

We cut the plywood using a craft knife and gave the plywood bits three coats of outdoor Mod Podge to seal them and keep any moisture out. We also applied Mod Podge to the outside of the books to make it easier to clean.

Seal with outdoor mod podge

Seal with outdoor Mod Podge

Once the Mod Podge had dried, we glued the shorter plywood piece on the bottom, inside cover of the book and the longer piece to the side of the book to form a box.

Attach the plywood and clamp down

Attach the plywood and clamp down

We let the glue dry overnight just in case and then filled the “book boxes” with skewers. Lots and lots of skewers. I think we used about 750 in total for all four books.

I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do know how to count. Click to Tweet
Fill the book box with skewers

Fill the book box with skewers

We marked where the skewers needed to be cut for each book and then cut them using scissors or whatever sharp cutting implement we could find.

Cut the skewers to size

Cut the skewers to size

WARNING!!!! The skewers bits fly all over the place. Mind your eyes and be prepared to play pick up sticks for days to come. We cut the skewers separately for each book, so we didn’t end up with shorter and longer pieces all muddled up. After you have a blister the size of Africa on your thumb, glue the books together, insert the skewers into the books, tie a bit of raffia around them and add the knives.

Old books, skewers and plywood make a awesome knife block - full tutorial

Just insert the knives

Sooooo pretty.

Repurpose those old books to create this classic farmhouse styled knife block #DIYHomeDecor #Repurposed #Recycle #OldBooks

Old books and skewer knife block

Repurpose those old books to create this classic farmhouse styled knife block #DIYHomeDecor #Repurposed #Recycle #OldBooks

I’m really happy with how it turned out. What do you think? Does it work for you?

Repurpose those old books to create this classic farmhouse styled knife block #DIYHomeDecor #Repurposed #Recycle #OldBooks

If you’d like to make something similar, don’t forget to pin it for later.

Repurpose those old books to create this classic farmhouse styled knife block #DIYHomeDecor #Repurposed #Recycle #OldBooks

For more bookish ideas, why not go check out the little side table that didn’t have a leg to stand on or even this Cinderella inspired idea to make some bookends. And for your convenience and to save you the hassle of trying to find some of the materials we used to make the knife block, I’ve added some affiliate links below. Disclosure: Clicking on the links means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more unique DIY and  craft  tutorials to share with you 😉

As always wishing you a blessed and craft filled week.

Made with love by a Crafty Mix