# Spell book How-to



## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

I want to show you guys how to make a spell book like the one I showed here
http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=28009

The first thing you'll need is a book. It doesnt have to be so big, it just has to be a hardback book. I used an encyclopedia.










The second is only necessary if you want the book to have faux brass corners. This is craft foam. I used it for the entire cover, but if you dont want the brass corners, you can just use cardboard










Cut the foam into the shape of the corner pieces, and make sure the fit on the cover. Mine were painted brown previously, that wasn't necessary.










I took an old talisman type thing I got with and old halloween costume, and 
covered it in foil, using the back end of a paint brush to press it in to all the indents. Fill it up with hot glue. This gives us an easy, rough cast.










I then took the foam, and cut it into the the shapes I needed, making ridges along the spine, and all the shapes on the cover. I hot glued them into place.









^You dont even have to get out of your oscar the grouch pj for this!


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## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

I took the pentagram thing made earlier, and spray painted it with brown, and then over with a brass color. I hot glued this on in the center.










I didn't take any pictures of the next step (even though I shouldve). It's pretty simple though. Get a small bowl, and put some watered down school glue in it. Take a paper towel, and lay it on the cover. If you're doing a center piece like me you'll want to tear a hole, slightly smaller than the piece, and right above it. Grab a paint brush and paint on the water/glue mixture. make sure to press the paper into all the indents and folds. If the book is large, you may want to lay it on a tissue box or something so you have both sides of the cover facing up, but not so the spine is folded. Repeat the covering process for the back cover.

I painted it as it was drying, to allow it to "bleed" into it. I didn't go over the hinges (?) with the red as they would be a different color.



















once thats dry, add any touch ups to the paint that you want. Take the corner pieces and paint them the same way as the center.
Hot glue them into place. paint the hinge pieces brown (or what ever color you want, it is your prop.) I made the small "brass" pieces out of hot glue, just drops that I painted. I took a watered down black and went alond all the creases and rubbed it out, to age it.


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## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

I took a sharpie, and sketched out what I wanted it to say on the cover. You can use any font for a reference.










I took the hot glue gun, and just went over the letters, drawing them out, and giving them depth. I painted them a very light orange, and did the black around the edges in the same way as earlier.










I went back and painted some smaller strips of foam brass, and hot glued them around the edge of the corner. In the future I'd cut it out so it would be able to fold over like an actual corner piece.

This was how I made my spell book. The original technique is not mine, but Dave Lowe's from here

http://davelowe.blogspot.com/2008/09/halloween-08-making-old-creepy-books.html

Although I did do a few things different.


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## weaz (Sep 11, 2010)

very cool! thx for the how to. I just made a necronomicon for my witch kitchen, but I may make one of these as well.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Draik41895 said:


> Although I did do a few things different.


Like wearing Oscar the Grouch PJs while you make props

Nice tute, Draik!


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## scaryjak (Sep 28, 2009)

very nice!!! hubby was going to make some old books from left over foam but I may have to steal this idea


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

Very cool and easy How-To, thanks for sharing!

Now I gotta figure out two things:
1- Will I have time to get a couple of these done before the big night
2- Where can I find me some Oscar the Grouch PJs!!!!


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## Buzz (Aug 26, 2011)

RoxyBlue said:


> Like wearing Oscar the Grouch PJs while you make props


LOL  ...made me scroll back to look!!!
Now for a trip to the thrift store to get an old hard cover book.


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## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

Hahaha, thanks guys.

Yeah, MrGrimm it only took me like two hours. I used a Hair dryer to help speed up the dry time.


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

Draik41895 said:


> Hahaha, thanks guys.
> 
> Yeah, MrGrimm it only took me like two hours. I used a Hair dryer to help speed up the dry time.


That's another good tip, thanks!

I have found three books, so it looks like I'll be trying this out tonight!

In related news, I could not find any cookie monster PJs, but I did find cookies!

Om nom nom nom!


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## Vlad (Aug 2, 2005)

Very nice! I have one in progress and love the leather look binding straps.


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## meshelltann5371 (Jul 26, 2011)

Ok, it's 3:30 am here. Got to get out the glue and such! Was going to bed until I ran across this! Gee, Thanks! LOL! BTW, I'm already in my PJs so This should work for me!


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## beelce (Jul 21, 2007)

nice how-to..........


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

You can find quite a selection of hardcover books at most "Friends of the Library" stores.
These are fundraising groups that typically have little stores or shops at your local public library. Great selections, very low prices, and you help your your library stay alive/undead.
You might look at some rune fonts or fonts of astrological signs for stuff to add to your cover or the book's spine.


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Great Job Draik!


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## ephemerally (Oct 9, 2011)

This is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. I can't wait to try it out.


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

Very nice and well laid out tutorial. I'm looking to make a Necronomicon for a costume and am looking for tips. This will help. Thanks!


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

Buzz said:


> LOL  ...made me scroll back to look!!!
> Now for a trip to the thrift store to get an old hard cover book.


Bahahahahaha..... I scrolled back too!!!!!!!! 

I've always wanted to try this. Maybe your wonderful tut will motivate me to get back to work. Nice work.


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## Headless (Sep 4, 2011)

Thanks for that Draik. I started one a couple of months ago but the mache lifted off so I think I needed to rough it up a bit before I mache'd it.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Nicely done!
A trick you can add into your recipe is to wipe down the edges of the page with coffee, tea, etc.. This does a couple of things for you, it "foxes" (darkens the page edges) to make them look like old parchment, but it also tends to make the paper warp so it doesn't lay perfectly flat and smooth like a modern book does/would. I'd do this before I did the cover treatments. You might also drill holes through the cover and pages and use leather thongs to "stitch" the book together. Perfect binding, like we use today, is a relatively modern trait, but if people need to be able to see and read the binding, then leave the binding on the book. Stitching, a printers term, either has to be a bit loose to allow the book to be opened, or, if the book isn't to be opened, tie the thongs tight.


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