You’ll Love This Classic Farmhouse Styled Knife Block
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
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 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
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
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
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.
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
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.
Just insert the knives
Sooooo pretty.
Old books and skewer knife block
I’m really happy with how it turned out. What do you think? Does it work for you?
If you’d like to make something similar, don’t forget to pin it for later.
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.
This is such a cool repurpose of books, very creative.
Thanks so much, Anita.
OMW, I love it!!!!! ?
So happy to hear that Kathleen
I’m gonna try this with old cook books
Old cook books will look so cool and so appropriate
Darling idea!!!
what is mod poj I have never heard of it, I live in England. Great tips as per.
Oh dear did I make a spelling mistake somewhere? It’s Modge Podge, but any clear sealer would work Sandra
Mod Podge is a brand here in the USA, but it’s PVA glue.
I intend to make this with the skewer points facing up. My thinking is that the tapered edges will gently glide the knives into place. I’ll let you know how it goes. 😉
I think that’s an absolutely brilliant idea Shelley. Yes that’s is sooooo going to work. I’d love to hear how it goes and if you’ve got a picture to share that would be awesome
How did it turn out???
Knife storage tip. Insert the knives with the cutting side away from you. This doesn’t put as much pressure on that side of the blade when sliding it into the knife holder . That keeps the blade from dulling. Keep a Hone (looks like a tapered metal stick with a handle. You have seen them around) close to your knives as a reminder to use it after every so many cuts to keep the blade edge straight. It becomes ever so slightly curled after so many chops or slicing’s. That makes for a more difficult cut or chop.
This knife block is such a wonderful looking block. Check out local used book stores or thrift stores for cook books.
You beautiful woman Karen, wow, thank you. Those are awesome tips. Thank you <3
Firstly- The creativity is prepossessing.
Secondly-Its a great way to have something look really professional but at such cheap cost (That’s a good thing)
Lastly-What a fun way to DIY an old book into something to fashionable
Wow Isabella, thank you so much for your lovely comment. I really appreciate it
Absolutely love this idea!!! To keep the wooden skewer bits from flying all over the place cut them in a clear plastic bag. The bits stay in the bag and you can see what you’re doing.
Stunning tip Carol, thank you. I must remember that for next time. We picked up skewer bits for days afterwards 😉
I have a knife holder with plastic rods in it and love it. However, your idea takes it to another level. The book idea is wonderful. What a clever creative job.
So glad you like it 😀
I just used the old books – was much easier and looks great!
😉
Well done . Just a thought that would make cutting the skewers easier is to either tie into a bundle with cable ties or wrap in cling wrap and cut all together especially if you have access to a band saw
Yay, another brilliant tip. Thank you Micheal, that definitely works for me. That’s what we’ll do next time 😉
Great idea! I collect old cookbooks. Several of them are pretty damaged. Plan to use your idea. Did you glue the bottom of the skewers into the wood box? I was wondering why the skewers wouldn’t come out each time you pull out a knife.
Awesome Carol, glad you like it. We didn’t glue the skewers in, I wanted to make sure I could take them out to clean the knife block and they stay in even though some of our knives are a bit damaged. Let me know how yours works out, I’d love to see a pic if you wouldn’t mind sharing.
What a cool way to store knives! I love how rustic it is!! Clever!
Thank you Erin <3
Thank you so much Craft Gossip for the feature 🙂
Another brilliant idea!!!
Thank you so much Michelle 😀
Since the knife “book” block is kept on the kitchen counter, why not use old cookbooks to complete the theme?
I agree, I would have loved to find some damaged old cook books but there weren’t any and I could bear to destroy a good book 😉
This is so so clever, I would have never ever thought of this, love it!!! It looks fabulous and is so unique!
Thank you Katrin, I’m really glad how it turned out
This is so cool! I like it better with skewers than pages anyway. So smart!
Thank you so much Hannah 🙂
wow pretty neat! love the look and for sure will have to give this a try. I need a knife block and this would be pretty neat way to have one!
Thanks Millie, really appreciate it
This is the coolest craft. Although I am like you and cringe over the thought of destroying a book.
I know, it feels like I’m stabbing a legacy. I’m the same way about magazines.
I working on this today. I couldn’t bear tearing apart my books, but I have a large amount of cookbooks with dust jackets. I’m building the “book boxes” and covering them with the dust jackets instead of the binding. My plan is to glue the jackets on, then modge podge and assemble as above. Hopefully the plan works!
What a brilliant idea Hope. I’m sure it’s going to work out perfectly.
Michelle you are a genius. When I first saw this I thought you had stuck the knives in the book. and I thought that will not work. But you are smarter than me. This is brilliant and it looks so cool! Pinning.
Wow, thank you Mary. I tried it with just the pages after I saw the pin, but it didn’t work like I thought it would. Like they say in Afrikaans “‘n Boer maak ‘n plan” 😉
This is super adorable!!! I just might have to make one of these!
Yay!!! And it’s soooo easy 🙂
This is so creative and I love the way it turned out! You did a beautiful job!
Thank you Lisa 😉
That’s really neat! What a unique idea!
Thanks so much Rachel
Michelle, this knife block is amazing!!! Love the book covers!! I’m glad the skewers help with keeping knives sharpened and they look so cool too! Another awesome project!!! 🙂
Aaaaw thank you Keri
Looks amazing! Thank you so much!
😉