Hello everyone!
If you follow us on social media or have watched us on Create and Craft TV, you may have seen the Book of Spells before. We love it and we're going to explain how to make it!
First you need to either buy a thick hardback book (charity shops are great for these) or use one you already have. Then decide how far into the book you would like it to open. To give you a rough idea, we have gone about 1cm into a 5cm book.
You can do this one of two ways:
Either apply slightly watered down Flower Soft Glue to each individual page so the edges are still quite loose and book-like. This is how Noreen did it, it looks great but it is quite time consuming.
The second option is to apply slightly watered down Flower Soft Glue to the sides of the book, along the edges of the paper. You will need to glue the top section and the bottom separately and clamp/weigh down to dry. This is a quicker way of doing it but doesn't have the same loose pages effect like the first method.
TIP- Please do not take your finished book up and down the country with you as you may find that the delicate clay bats break a wing in transport. :(
When the pages are stuck together round the outside and dry, mark out the inner compartment. We decided on 2cm in from each page edge, but this will depend on the size of your book. Once you have this drawn out with a pencil, use a ruler and a craft knife to cut out the compartment. You will have to do this bit by bit, it may take a while but it will be worth it! Then do the same for the top section.
Paint the outside of the book and let dry overnight. We have coloured the back and edges of the pages of ours with Silver Leaf. Next paint the inside of the book, you could use distress inks to give the book an aged look. We chose to leave the secret compartment free of colour.
Roll out a piece of clay approx 3mm thick to roughly fit the front and spine of your book, you can always trim this later. Apply the watered down Flower Soft glue to the front and spine of the book and stick the clay to this.
Use the Katy Sue Halloween Design Mats and press them into the clay, it doesn't matter if the designs overlap, you're looking for a random pattern. When you have covered all the clay with pattern, trim the edges and leave to dry.
While this is drying decide what you would like as decoration and make these from the remaining clay. We have used:
Spiders from the Spiders and Web Design Mat
Ghosts from the Ghosts Design Mat
Bats from the Bat Mat
Eyes and Eyebrows from Pumpkin Face
Web from Spiders and Web Design Mat
Skull and Crossbones from the Sugar Buttons Pirate Accessories
Letters from the Mini Domed Alphabet
Paint these when they're dry and leave to one side. We also cut a card background for the Mini Domed Alphabet words.
Using black chalkboard paint, angle your paintbrush and lightly brush over the raised elements of the pattern. This is what creates the fantastic black and white mixed effect! When this is dry use silver gilding wax on your finger to highlight any details you think should stand out. When this is dry, bufff with a cloth to get a great lustre!
TIP - Use this to create fingerprints on the inside pages! It looks great!
You are now ready to attach all your decoration! Use Flower Soft Glue to do so and leave to dry. Now you have your very own Book of Spells you can use it to hide the chocolate you don't want to give to the trick or treaters!
We would love to see your creations on Facebook or Pinterest!
Our Recommended Products:
Flower Soft Glue UK/USA
Spiders and Webbing from the Spiders and Web Design Mat UK/USA
Ghosts from the Ghosts Design Mat UK/USA
Bats from the Bat Mat UK/USA
Eyes and Eyebrows from Pumpkin Face UK/USA
Skull and Crossbones from the Sugar Buttons Pirate Accessories UK/USA
Letters from the Mini Domed Alphabet UK/USALabels: book, craft, Halloween, mini domed alphabet
