Scary Book - Fun Halloween Tutorial

Good morning Prim Peeps!

I haven't shared a tutorial in a while, but I found this idea a couple of weeks ago via another blog (I forgot to bookmark that blog, and I cannot recall it's name)...and thought it looked like such fun.  So I invited some fellow crafters over (okay, it was just our son, Scott and his wife, Stephanie), and we took a stab at making our own

SPOOKY BOOKS

Last week I went to the Dollar Store and nabbed the necessary supplies:

*a bag of Halloween skellies and critters

*a hard cover book
*package of thumb tacks

other things you will need are

*hot glue gun

*paper towels
*water
*paint brushes - one regular and one stiff one (like a stencil brush)

*decoupage glue or white glue

*black paint

*hair dryer (to speed drying process)

*antique metallic paint (I used antique copper metallic)

Let's get started!

Open your package of creatures and look them over...try to decide how you would like to design to look and grab the pieces you will want.

Take your thumb tacks and pound them into your dollar store hardcover book, placing them evenly along the outside border of the book and along the spine...or be creative and make a design with them.

Heat up your hot glue gun and start attaching your plastic pieces as desired.  You may also want to consider using the hot glue itself to add to the design....think spider webs or words....

Once you have all your pieces placed how you want and securely glued in place, recheck all the edges, just to make certain they are glued down well...you don't want any popping up.  I placed some hand bones on the spine of my book to look like hinges.  Scott placed these bats on his.

Right about now you may be thinking, like Scott was, that this is going to look stupid...but just wait and see!)

Lay down some foil on your work surface and place your book atop something...I  just used the thumb tack container.  You want to raise your book up a bit so that in the next step, your glue won't stick to your work surface.

Now, take a couple sheets of paper towel and carefully peel the two plys apart.  You want one ply to work with...rip this one ply into several random shapes smaller pieces.

Place your decoupage glue into a container and add a bit of water to make it more spreadable.  Using your regular paint brush, glue torn pieces of paper towel over your design.  Be certain to cover all areas well.  Go over the edge of the book too. Use the stencil brush to pounce into the crevices to get definition and detail.  Be sure to overlap pieces and make lots of creases (see picture above).

Here is my design, waiting to dry after apply the paper towels decoupage

Now set your book aside to dry, or use your hair dryer to speed up the process.  Make certain all the nooks and crannies are totally dry before proceeding with the next step.

Once your book is dry, now it is time to start making it come alive!
Apply a coat of black paint to the entire surface of your book, including the page edges..  I did both the back and front of my book, so allow drying time for all processes for both the front and back.

Let the paint dry completely.

Next, place a small pool of your metallic paint on your foil.  Using a DRY stencil brush dip into the paint a bit.  Working the paint into the bristles of the brush and then dab several times onto extra paper towels.  You want to take most of the paint out of your brush.  Once you have loaded your brush, make quick sweeping strokes over the top of your design, just catching the edges of the design.  Continue to carefully dry brush the entire book.  Don't work the metallic paint into the crevices or you will loose the definition in your design.  I also dry brushed the exposed page edges with my metallic paint to complete the look.  Play with the dry brushing until you are satisfied with the coverage....stand back and admire your
SPOOKY BOOK!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will share it!
It was a lot of fun to create and certainly adds a creepy touch to your Halloween decor.