Wednesday, September 28, 2011

2x4 Harry Potter Books

We come from a family BIG on Halloween. I love getting the whole house decked out in a tastefully spooky nature. Each year, we add to our decorations (something I picked up growing up). One of the things we added this year was my "ode to Harry Potter." I'm a rather big Harry Potter fan (still jealous that Meg a.k.a. Mule went to the World in Florida). So, I was bummed our Halloween decorations had no Harry Potter in them anywhere. Que this idea. I loved them so much, I shared the idea with the planning committee for our church craft day and everyone wanted to do them.

2x4 Harry Potter Books
Not attending our Super Saturday and want to make some too?

Gather It:
  • 2 ft of 2x4 wood
  • 2x2x2 wood cube
  • dark stain (optional)
  • orange, black, green, purple, cream & gray paint
  • vinyl or contact paper
  • 2 black pipe cleaners
  • acrylic sealer
  • glue gun or gorilla glue
Create It:
  1. Cut your wood. You need two 4 1/2 inches long and two 6 inches long.
  2. Stain it using the directions on the stain can. This is an optional step. I wanted my book to look worn & used, so I added an extra layer of color to make the books look really distressed (it's showing through on the Quidditch book).
  3. Paint. First, paint the pages. Using the cream paint, paint three sides to make each block look like a book. After that is done paint each book a different Halloween color. I double-coated everything. Don't forget to paint the spider.
  4. While you wait for the paint to dry, hop onto the computer and create the book covers, spines & spider face. I used my Silhouette to cut it out of vinyl (or you can use contact paper---thickness 1, speed 2) and use the negative as a stencil. OR-- if you don't have a cutter--- an exacto knife is your friend (I did it A LOT before I got my machine). Trace it onto the contact paper and cut it out with an exacto knife. If you want the Silhouette document, email me.
  5. Put the stencils on your books & paint. The bottom books just have spine stencils; the top two have small pictures too. After everything is dry, use a little bit of gray paint to make the books look even more used and distressed--- then seal it so they don't get scratched-- unless you want them to look even MORE distressed.
  6. Cut the pipe cleaners into fourths (half--- then half again). Using your glue of choice, glue just enough of the tip of the pipe cleaner to the bottom of the spider... since it's a spider... glue four legs on each side.
  7. Assemble the books from bottom to top with a layer of glue in between each, all the way up to the spider. Remember to put the glue on the small book FIRST when you transition in sizes.
  8. To glue on the side book, put a strip of glue along the edges of the stacked books, then gentle push the side book on the glue. After that dry, flip the whole thing upside down, and add a little more glue to the bottom of the side book/stacked seams (for added strength).
  9. Let dry and enjoy your new Harry Potter addition to your Halloween decor.
If you're not a Harry Potter fan, I also have just Halloween stencil too. The book titles are: Haunting Haunts, Perfectly Potent Potions, Spooky Stories & Tales, and Spells & Charms.

Enjoy!

I link {HERE}.
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5 comments:

  1. I LOVE this! My family is really into HP- I don't know why I never though to incorporate into the Halloween Decor. Thanks for auditioning for American Crafter!

    ReplyDelete
  2. this is great! I will have to show this to my husband tonight so we can add some more harry potter to our halloween. we are huge harry potter fans and I just yesterday did a post on our halloween harry potter pumpkin. you'll have to check it out! I'm a new follower, take care.

    kathryn
    www.thedragonsfairytail.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so making these next year Ive been doing all of Halloween decor Harry Potter themed this year! Thanks for such a good idea!

    Here are some Harry Potter Potions bottles labels I made:
    http://overthebigmoon.blogspot.com/2011/09/halloween-decor-harry-potter-potion.html

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