First you need a 14" x 10" coffee table book. Best to hit a second hand store for that rather than take something your really cherish.
<- This is actually the finished product with the MacBook Air inside, but it could
as easily be the starting point.
Your first problem is that you find the book you just bought really interesting, and feel guilty cutting it up. Most of the pages I took out were intact, so there is a possibility that I could frame the better prints (meaning I could feel less guilty).
With a craft knife, cut out the center of book ->
The MBA is 13" by 9" and about 0.7" deep. the recess in the book needs to be that bit, plus a little more to get it in and out. In my case I cut the pages first before glueing, but the other way around could work if you had a Dremel (and a dust mask as there would likely be lots).
The MBA is thicker at the back than the front. I mirrored this in the page cutting near the bottom on the book. The red edge in the picture is what remains of the front most page. The three wide inch sheep page is first page near the bottom where the cutout was not complete. Each successive page deeper was a little wider.
Gluing was hardest as its important that you glue the pages in a way that makes most sense when the book is closed. A book's spine is designed to allow pages to remain open if the book is open, but this project is different in that its not a book anymore and we need it to work best closed. Thus keep the spine of the book in the position it would be if it were closed (at 90 degrees to the surface you are working on). I used a glue stick with glue that went on blue and dried to clear. As the pages were high gloss and colorful to the edge, I wanted to be sure that the glue went in the right places.
<- the pages do not really line up perfectly after gluing. Also its pretty apparent in this picture that some weight was going to need to be applied to the pages to reduce some of the rippling that had happened with imperfect line-up of each successive page. As it happens I ripped out one page in every 20 completely, knowing that the glue would make the book thicker than when the project started out.
I lined the cutout with felt from an art supplies store ->
The tongue sticking out is to help lift the MBA out of what is quite a snug fit.
This 'case' is not really for shock-absorbing as the case is designed for home use not travel - there is nothing to stop the book cover opening other than gravity.
It is also unsuitable for a bookshelf use.
<- Here is the MBA in situ. Note that the tongue to lift it our with is a little long.
You can't quite see it but the MBA is perfectly adjusted height-wise, thanks to the extra recess for it being thicker at the back.
The finished product is about the same weight as the original book.
The only think I'd like to do to it is add some velcro, so that there is a chance it could survive a small tumble.
