It's Spooky Season, Witches! đđťđŻď¸
I've always been OBSESSED with Hocus Pocus, so naturally, I've been known to rock a Winifred Sanderson costume when Halloween rolls around every year. As elaborate as I usually get with my costumes, I usually slack a little when it comes to my prop with this one. I just print out a picture of Book, slap it on top of a copy of Lord of the Rings, and go. But this year, thanks to COVID giving me ample spare time at home, I decided to finally take my costume to the next level and make my very own DIY version of Book.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm pretty lazy, so I did first search the internet for a purchasable version of the prop before I decided to dive in and make it from scratch. The options, however, just didn't seem worth it. There was a super cheap notebook from Amazon and Walmart, but the reviews were awful. There was another one on Amazon that looked decent but it was $75, which seemed pretty steep for what it is. You could, of course, purchase one from Etsy, but they also weren't cheap and I figured if someone was going to get a craft version of it, I might as well just do it myself for way cheaper.
So I checked out a few different tutorials, all of which took very different approaches, and I came up with some ideas for my own. I'm by no means an artist and I usually suck at making things, so I had no idea how it would go, but the materials were cheap, so I figured I didn't have much to lose. I filmed the process for a quick TikTok tutorial (Welcome, if you came here from TikTok!) but it's pretty straight to the point, so I'm going to lay things out in a little more detail for you, so you can go into the project with more confidence.
Here's what you'll need:
A Hardcover Book
Mod Podge (Make sure you have plenty)
Toilet Paper
Acrylic Paint (Medium Brown, Light Brown, Silver, Green, Black, White - Optional)
Paint Brushes (Mix of sponges and small)
Plastic Eye Ball
Scissors
Hot Glue Gun (and plenty of glue sticks)
Coffee
Large Deep Pan
You can get most everything you need at either Walmart or Dollar Tree, but if you want to skip the trip, I've linked some items on Amazon for you HERE.
First, you're going to rip off a few squares of toilet paper and separate the two plies into single plies. It's a little hard to get started, but just rip off the end and once you get it going, it'll just peel right apart. You'll want to have several squares ready to go before you do anything.
Now grab your book. I used an old textbook I didn't need anymore, but you can get a hardcover book from the Dollar Tree if you don't have anything laying around. Paint a layer of Mod Podge on the book and then lay the toilet paper squares across the entire surface until it's covered. Don't forget about the spine of the book. Add another layer of Mod Podge, but be careful because the toilet paper will be delicate. You can add another layer of toilet paper if you'd like, but you don't have to. I chose to add another one to really make sure it was covered and emphasize the "old" look I wanted the book to have. Just make sure you add another layer of Mod Podge to the top. You always want a layer of Mod Podge below and on top of anything you're doing.
Once you've finished applying the toilet paper and topped it with Mod Podge, you can attach the eye. Grab your plastic eyeball (you can also get a pack of these from the Dollar Tree) and cut it in half. BE VERY CAREFUL. These bad boys are pretty slippery. I'd recommend trying to get a hole started with a box cutter before going in with the scissors. Once you have the back half cut off, cut that part in half as well, to use as the upper and lower lids. Hot glue the eye half about a third of the way down on the right side, then glue the halves onto the top and bottom of the eye.
Now it's time to move on to the only "hard" part: drawing on the details. Now let me preface this by saying, I am by NO means an artist. I can draw a cartoon dog and a dead tree... aaand that's it. đ The good news is, this doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, that's the whole point. You want it to look creepy, worn in, and imperfect. So if you want to go in and try to stencil it out with a Sharpie, go for it, but I found it easier to just free-hand everything. Just pull up a photo of the book, grab the hot glue gun, and do your best to recreate the stitches, snakes, and latch. I went through and added a second layer of hot glue over everything, just to make it super raised. You'll then add another layer of Mod Podge, toilet paper, and then another of Mod Podge again. And don't forget to include the upper and lower eyelids in this process. Just make sure everything is covered, so the paint will easily take to it.
Now you can finally add paint and really make it start to come to life! I painted the whole thing a medium brown. It was just easier to paint everything the base color than distinguish the different elements that would be silver, but feel free to do it however you prefer. I noticed it was drying with some natural lighter areas, so I decided to roll with those spots and use the lighter brown to highlight those areas to add some dimension. I painted the snakes and the latch around the eye silver, took some gold to the stitches, the eye green, and grabbed some black to add the little details I noticed in the original. You may also want to paint the whites of the eye white, just to give it the same texture and/or cover the red veins, but that's totally up to you. Then just let that puppy dry!
Once it's dry, flip it over and do the Mod Podge, toilet paper, and painting process to the back. I didn't care as much about the back, so I tried to take a shortcut by not splitting the toilet paper in half. I wouldn't recommend this, as it made it SO much harder to stick to the surface. The layers just kept separating and causing gaps. I probably didn't save any time in the end, and it didn't come out as smooth as the front did.
It was at this point I realized the spine has a snake and what appear to be fingers going across it, which I thought about just leaving off, but I ultimately decided I might as well go back and add it, since I'd already come this far with making the book as accurate as possible. So I had to break out the hot glue gun back out and add that, some toilet paper, Mod Podge, and paint. I used a TON of glue to make them super thick. I'm glad I didn't leave this part out because I think it really pulled it all together. So if you want to include this part, it's probably more logical to do this before painting, but after doing the toilet paper on the back. Just make sure the book can open and close without pulling or having any gaps between the spine and back cover. But if you really only care about the front, it's not a huge deal to skip this step.
Once everything is painted, add another good solid layer or two of Mod Podge to really seal it all in. I actually did a layer of really Mod Podge and then sprayed the whole thing with Mod Podge sealing spray. Just make sure to not let too much settle into any holes, so everything dries clear, since this is the final layer.
This last part is totally optional, but I'm SO glad I did it. It looked so cool from the front and back, but the pages just looked really out of place. I wanted them to look old and worn to match, and I wasn't sure how well my idea would work, but I took a chance and it really paid off. So if you want to do this part to really make the entire book complete, grab a pan that's at least as large and deep as your book. Fill the pan with dark coffee and place it on a pan in case there's any spillage. Open the book up flat, and fully submerge pages in the pan. Be sure to hold up the cover to keep it dry (I actually propped it up in the pan with one of my paint brushes) and just let the pages soak for about 5-10 minutes. I also took a paint brush to it to make sure the top page and sides got soaked. When it was done soaking, I took a hair dryer to it for a few minutes to speed up the drying process, but that's up to you. After that, I laid it flat for a few hours and then propped it upright with the pages spread as much as possible next to a fan overnight. Just be careful with the wet pages, so they don't tear. The book admittedly smells like coffee now (which honestly isn't a bad thing) but it looks really cool!
And that's it! It's so easy and cheap. It did take me a few days, but that was because I wasn't diligent about doing the next step as soon as one layer dried. I think you could manage to get it done in a day, if you really tried. I spent under $10 making it, which is basically what the cheap notebook I found on Amazon cost. And this looks WAY better than that would've, so I'd say it was totally worth it!
So whether you're looking for a prop for your Winnie costume, a cute Halloween decoration, or just a fun Halloween craft project, this is a must for your fall bucket list! And truly if I can do this, anyone can!
Drop any questions in the comments and I'll be happy to answer them. And I'd love to see how your Book comes out! Happy crafting! đď¸
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