How to Turn Any Book Into a Coffee Table Book

Have you ever seen the episode of Seinfeld where the character Cosmo Kramer decides to come up with a coffee table book that actually turns into a coffee table and is all about coffee tables? Well, what if I told you that was a real book and you could make a book just like it for your own coffee table at home.

You can turn any book into a coffee table book by following a few simple steps. Of course, some books are going to be easier to alter and turn into coffee table books just because of their size and weight but almost any book can be transformed into a punch line with just a few minor tweaks and the application of a hot glue gun.

Things You Will Need

You're going to need a couple of things for this gag to work. First you'll need a sense of humor, you have to have one or else no one is going to think this project is funny and everyone will think you've wasted your time. Trust me, a coffee table book that turns into a coffee table is a funny joke and you need to run with it!

You're going to need your favorite book. Any book will do, even the Bible! But you're probably going to want to buy a spare copy of that book because you're going to be making it pretty difficult to read soon. Try to pick a book that has a lot of surface area. Remember, the wider and harder the cover of the book is the more stuff you will be able to put on it once it becomes a coffee table and the more humorous the end result is going to be.

As far as tools and materials go you're going to need a hot glue gun and you're going to need some miniature table legs. I generally like to get table legs with hinges so that they can fold up onto the back of the book when you're not using it as a coffee table so that you can easily read it if you want to. You can just get some miniature doll house furniture table legs if you like, those work just as good. Or you could even go out to the hardware store and pick up some small wooden dowels. They make pretty nice table legs as well. But remember, the fancier the legs look the funnier the whole joke will be.

Take your book and turn it on it's back. You want to be looking at the back of the book because this is where you will be gluing your legs. If you're going to use four table legs make sure that you apply the glue to all four corners of the back of the book. If you are using only two table legs that fold up make sure that you put them more towards the center of the book.

All you have to do is glue your table legs to the back of the book and then wait for the glue to dry. Once it has dried you will be able to stand it up on top of your coffee table and proclaim: Look! I made a coffee table book! Hopefully everyone will laugh.

You can even take this little project a step further and make smaller and smaller coffee table books so that you can stack them on top of each other and on top of your living room coffee table. Books don't have to be just for reading anymore, they can make for some really interesting art projects.