Make a Book of Spells (with secret compartment, shh!)
If you've watched us on Create and Craft TV, you may have spotted our Book of Spells by Noreen McKie – here's how to make this great Halloween curio!
Here's what you'll need
Thick hardback book – if you don't have one you can repurpose, charity shops are a great place to find one.
Spiders and Web Silicone Mould, CLICK TO BUY
Ghosts Silicone Mould, CLICK TO BUY
Pumpkin Face Silicone Mould, CLICK TO BUY
Mini Domed Alphabet Silicone Mould, CLICK TO BUY (or try one of our Halloween themed alphabet moulds CLICK HERE)
Your choice of of acryclic paints, lustre dusts, gilding wax.
How to make your Book of Spells
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 deep book.
Then you need to glue those pages together, you can do this one of two ways:
1. Either apply slightly watered down PVA glue to each individual page so the edges are still quite loose and book-like. This is how we made ours, it takes a little more time but is very effective.
2. The second option is to apply slightly watered down PVA 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 method is quicker but doesn’t have the same loose pages effect like the first method.
When the pages are stuck together 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 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 Hearty Clay approx 3mm thick to roughly fit the front and spine of your book, you can always trim this later. Apply the watered down PVA 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 it dries, decide what you would like as a decoration and make these from the remaining clay. We have used:
| Spiders and Web Silicone Mould |  |
| Individual ghosts from the Ghosts Silicone Mould |  |
| Eyes and eyebrows from the Pumpkin Face Silicone Mould |  |
| Letters from the Mini Domed Alphabet Silicone Mould |  |
Once dry, paint the decorations and leave to one side. We also cut a card background to attach the Mini Domed Alphabet words.
Using black chalkboard paint, angle your paintbrush and lightly brush over the raised elements of the pattern. Once dry, apply silver gilding wax with your finger to highlight the details. When this is dry, buff with a cloth to get a great lustre!
TIP – Use lustre dust to create creepy fingerprints on the inside pages.
You are now ready to attach all your decorations using PVA glue then leave to dry.
Now you have your very own Book of Spells – use it to hide the chocolate you don’t want to give to the trick or treaters! Make sure you share your Halloween creations on our Facebook group, CLICK HERE
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