Saturday, October 15, 2011

Knock Off Halloween Books





I love this wonderful decorative set of Halloween Books that my daughter gave me last year.









They came from "The Shop Around the Corner" that I told you about from our Weekend Wander in Waconia!

They are still available to buy this year.....


I have mine on the hall entry table with my new Owl....cute!





I loved the idea of the this so much that I wanted some for my school Halloween display....and of course I didn't want to spend the money to buy the "real" thing....

I did a knock-off version for $7 instead of the $25 for the originals.

Since this was BB (before blog), I can't do an actual tutorial with photos.....
but this is what I did!




You can buy these paper mache books in a set of 3 from Michael's for 6.99


  • I painted the outside with flat black craft paint.
  • I painted the book page area with metallic gold paint.
  • I printed out the cover and spine images on my computer
  • I used Modge Podge to attach the printed titles and cover to the books

And here is the finished result! 
I left them loose....instead of gluing them together....so I can stack them every which way!

They sit on the table with all of the Halloween books for kids to check out.....I even had a kid try to check one of them out.....He was so disappointed when he found out they weren't real!






This morning I was looking in the craft cupboard for something and came upon these photo albums that I bought at Goodwill.....hmmmm
I am thinking I should distress these....add some Halloween themed titles and have another set....
Wish me luck!







You might also be interested in the post I did about Halloween Books for Kids!


Linking to these parties:
My World Made by Hand
 You are Talking Too Much
The Power of Paint
Sew Woodsy
http://sewwoodsy.com/2011/10/1327.html
A Vision to Remember
I Am Along for the Ride 
Lovely Crafty Home 
Tater Tots and Jello 
Cherished Treasures 
Homemaker in Heels
Nifty Thrifty Things
Addicted 2 Decorating 
Candace Creations 
Sunday's Best 
Debbiedoo's Newbie Party 
Making the World Cuter 
The Girl Creative 
Amaze Me Monday 
Three Little Singing Birds 
Between Naps on the Porch 
Making Monday Marvelous 
Polish the Stars 
Sisters of the Wild West 
My Girlish Whims 
Creations by Kara 
GingerSnap Crafts 
Sweet Peas and Bumblebees 
Type A Decorating 
Whatcha Work Up Wednesday 
Fireflies and Jellybeans 
House of the Hepworths 
A Glimpse Inside 
Christina's Adventures 
Momnivore's Dilemma Halloween
Katherine's Corner 
Sumo's Sweet Stuff 
Made by Me

27 comments:

Ann @ makethebestofthings said...

Good idea with the albums! Love your books, I've been wanting to do something like this for awhile. I made a tissue box cover look like a set of books by using hot glue for dimension and tissue paper for texture. I'll have to give real books a try! Thanks for the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Very clever idea and could be adapted for history themes too! Halloween is not very big in Australia so not many people do things like this here. I am fascinated that people in America decorate their homes in this way.
God bless x

Sarah said...

Love this idea, so creative. Yours look as good as the ones you could buy!
Sarah
www.budgetfriendlydesign.com

Cathy @My 1929 Charmer said...

Such a clever idea, and I love them. This is a very flexible project. I think I will give them a try. Would love it if you would share at my Sunday's Best Link party going on right now.

Cathy @My 1929 Charmer said...

That's for posting, and now I am your newest follower!

Mandy said...

These are great! Good for you for making your own. I think I need to make some now...thanks for the inspiration.
I'd love it if you linked these to my party that will begin on Tuesday morning!
I'm a new follower.
www.projectqueen.org

Kelli @ The Loss Cause said...

This is great! Thanks for sharing.

New follower.

Gayle Page-Robak said...

I am so pleased to have found your blog. I love your original set of books, as well as the ones you created. Awesome! I look forward to returning. I am now a follower and invite you to follow my blog as well. Hugs, Gayle (in Canada) my blog: http://atastefultouch.blogspot.com

outjunking said...

Very smart. I may try this with old books. Your newest follower.
Lisa

Debbiedoos said...

NO way! I have never seen those book covers, but you can bet I am looking for some. I love this project and thanks for sharing your tutorial...easy fun and cheap and the end result is magnificent. Thanks for sharing with my newbie party.

Katie said...

LOVE your spell books! I'm a new follower of yours... lucky number 99!

Sarah, Three Boys said...

What a great idea. Those books are so cute. Love that you are reusing the photo albums!

Linda said...

I love your books!!I may have to give this a try. I am a new follower. Hope you follow back.:0)

Dee ⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️⚜️ said...

Very cool idea! I love your spell books.

Dee

Suz in FLorida said...

Hmmmmm ... wonder if some of those 25 cent hard backed books at garage sales would work for this? Classic Reader's Digest? Could also be roughed up with sandpaper and painted a flat black. Then stick on letters and paint them for the titles? Gonna try it and see! Great idea!

Chris said...

What a great job you did with the books. I have found and am following you through Debbie's Newbie Party and I hope to visit more often. Please come and visit me. I would love to have you. Hugs, Chris

Lindsay Artsy-Fartsy Mama said...

This is fantastic! Thanks for sharing it at Weekend Craft Soiree! :)

Anonymous said...

Those are awesome! I actually like them even better than the originals, especially since you can arrange them however you want. Thanks for linking up to my Halloween party!

Candace @ Candace Creations said...

Love these! thanks for linking up to scrappy saturdays, you are being featured this coming weekend!

Candace

Mindie Hilton said...

These spell books are so cool. I would love for you to share these at my Fall ongoing linky (see my right side bar for the button link). I would love for you to join my regular weekly linky anything goes too, that runs fri-monday, come strut your stuff.

http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

You have really come up with some creative ideas for Halloween. Looks good. I am a new Follower from Jamaica. I learnt about your Blog from Katherine Corner's Thursday Favourite Things Blog Hop.
Judy - JUDY H-J'S THOUGHTS

Pat M said...

How creative you are! Very clever! I am blog hopping & following you from Katherine's Corner. Pls follow back. Growing Old With Grace http://growing-old-with-grace.blogspot.com/. Thanks for linking up with the blog hop today!

Katherines Corner said...

These are wonderful, I love them!!!!! So creative I can't wait to see what you do with the photo albums. P.S. thank you for linking up at The Thursday Favorite Things Hop

Anonymous said...

These are amazing. I love them.

I would love for you to come link up at my new linky party...it's a co-hosted party so you get double the exposure and may be featured as a fave on Friday.

http://myworldmadebyhand.blogspot.com/2011/10/day-25totally-tutorial-tuesday-linky.html

Hope to see you soon...
Jessica

Erin said...

What a clever idea for Halloween!

Youaretalkingtoomuch.com said...

I think this is such s cool idea! I LOVE THIS! Thank you so much for sharing this at the "Meet Me Monday" linky party! I love seeing what you are up to! Love, Me www.youaretalkingtoomuch.com

Honey at 2805 said...

This is such a great idea! Thanks for the tutorial!

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