⚠️ Don’t try this on a glass stove top — I learned the hard way.
Boiled books have given me, given me, nothin’ but shattered dreams….
Last week, I was scrolling through craft reels. I like to pretend that I am crafty and can make all of the cool things other people make and post on their socials. While scrolling, I came across this boiled book reel:
I love paper crafts, so anything that has to do with collage, printing, junk journaling, etc. is going to make me stop and pay attention.
The person who made this reel, RAN home to boil a book. I have some old vintage books on a shelf with no purpose. I have a yard full of plants. I have tea nobody drinks, and a weird abundance of white vinegar. Basically, I have everything I need to boil a book, so this masterpiece would cost me NOTHING to create. I RAN to gather up all of the supplies.
But first, I decided to watch a few more reels on the subject. All the reels showed people happily pressing greenery between pages. Clamping or tying the book and then boiling it on the stovetop for one and a half hours. They added different things to the water such as white vinegar (essential to the process), tea, and dyes.
The person above kept the cover on the book. Nobody else did. I decided to keep the cover on because my book was stitched together; I hoped that it would stay intact. I didn’t think it really would, but I hoped. It was a scientific experiment. I wanted to make my book look more vintage-y so I decided to boil it with the white vinegar and tea. Plus, I used some old chai tea that we had in the cupboard, so it smelled like cinnamon, offsetting the vinegar smell.
Gathering the greenery and pressing it between the book pages was fun, and dare I say, relaxing. I was really enjoying this craft, and did I mention that it was FREE?
The first problem that I encountered was the twine that I was attempting to use to hold everything together kept breaking. Some of the boiled book experts recommended using c-clamps. I made a note to purchase some of those for my next attempt.
Problem number two…. In an attempt to live more of a minimalist life (and to make it easier on our kids and us when we move out of our home), I have been s-l-o-w-l-y getting rid of things that we no longer use. Anyway, we had a bunch of soup pots and big kettles that we used when all of the kids were living at home, as well as for camping. The kids no longer live at home, so we cook in much smaller batches. We no longer camp. The pots needed to find a new home, so I sold them on Facebook Marketplace, grateful to have them out of the house. Until now, my book, with the cover and all of the *stuff* shoved between the pages, made it too big for the only stockpot that I kept. Of course. A search of the cupboards produced a roasting pan that would work, barely. This book was HUGE!
Roasting pan filled with water, vinegar, and tea bags. Boiling away on my glass-top stove. Note: our stove has a glass top. Remember my history of boiling liquids and glass??? Yep. Stay tuned.
It is important to note that I checked with Chuck before using the roasting pan on our stove. Thank goodness. He did ask me several times if I was sure that I needed to boil the book for an hour and a half. EVERY single reel that I watched said to BOIL the book for an hour and a half, so yes, Chuck, I do need to boil it for an hour and a half.
Anyway, the book boiled for an hour and a half. Chuck did ask at the end of the boiling process what was “popping.” I assured him that it was just water hitting the hot stovetop. No biggie. And the smell- oh, that’s just the vinegar and plants doing their thing.
The cover didn’t make it. The first viewing of the pages revealed some plants that made magnificent imprints, and some that did not. Blackberry bushes and ferns worked the best. Overall, I was pleased with the results of my first attempt at a boiled book, and it was FREE.
My dreams of beautifully created boiled books were SHATTERED. When I began to wipe up our stove, and noticed a clump/cluster of something. I grabbed the scraper and went to work to remove it before Chuck noticed. It was then that I put on my glasses and realized that the stovetop had actually….not shattered exactly, but rather had definitely broken on the burner that I had been using.
Was it the roasting pan? Was it the length of the boiling process? Was it the boiling water splashing on the glass top? Was it a stovetop defect? Who knows. All I DO know is that my FREE boiled book, is no longer free because we now need a new stove :/
Stay tuned for more exciting and expensive crafting adventures from Hive & Seek.
Boiled Book Supply List:
Nobody Wants You Sh*t: The Art of Decluttering Before You Die – https://amzn.to/44h5TPT
C Clamps – https://amzn.to/4uHb4TS
Jute Rope – https://amzn.to/4eg9oMq
Stainless Steel Stock Pot – https://amzn.to/3QPw1yb
**Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, if you click on a link and order something (at no additional cost to you, I might add), I may receive a commission. Please click and order! Momma needs to pay off her credit cards from her trip to Spain, AND has an addiction to ordering too many craft supplies!**
⚠️ Don’t try this on a glass stove top — I learned the hard way.
Hive & Seek 
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