This creepy collection of books are a lot of fun and very easy to make. Add a book of hidden secrets, spells or potions to enchant your haunted library.  Despite the drying time, they are a lot of fun to make!

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Supplies

• Cheap hardcover book
• Foam alphabet stickers
• Hot glue
• Plastic spiders, snakes, bats, thumb tacks, designs, etc.
• Paper towels
• Mod podge
• Black acrylic paint
• DecoArt Metallic Lustre Wax in Gold Rush
• Distress Ink in Vintage Photo
• Mini ink blending tool
• Spray bottle of water

Getting Started on Your Book

I picked up some cheap hardback books from Goodwill and Salvation Army since I didn’t have any of my own, I wanted to part with. Who knows what the book below is about, but the cover was creepy enough without me changing a thing!

Adding a Book Title and Designs

After I decided what I wanted to title my books, I arranged Foam Alphabet Stickers on the covers of them to spell their new names.  By the same token, you can also add the title on the spine of the book. On this one I added Vol. 1.  I purchased my alphabet stickers on Amazon with the link above and I use them for a several of my props including my DIY tombstones you can read about here: Easy DIY Tombstones to make your Halloween Graveyard Look Authentic.

I used a variety of random items to decorate my books.  In fact, for this particular book I simply used plain old thumb tacks along the edges of the cover to create a partial border.  To further decorate the book, I hot glued some craft sequins in the corners and a snake on the spine.  In the same fashion, I hot glued spiders, bats, and other creepy items on some of my other books.  On other books I even used hot glue to make designs and lettering.

Making the Book Leather Bound

After I had everything placed where I wanted it on the book, I painted mod podge over the cover and spine.  Next, I wet a paper towel and set it over the mod podge.  Then, I tore off the edges carefully in order for the paper towel to fit on the cover and the spine with just a little overlap to wrap around the edges. 

When the paper towel was in place, I painted mod podge all over the top of it.  It consequently bunched up a bit in areas, but this is okay. As a result, this creates a leathery look.  Make sure to get down into the crevices with the mod podge around the objects you placed on the book to really emphasize the title and designs.

After painting on the mod podge, I allowed the cover and spine to dry overnight.  The next morning, I turned the book over and glued another wet paper towel to the book in the same fashion as I did the front.

Painting Your Book

After the entire book was dry, I then used black acrylic paint to cover the paper towel.

In order to cover all sides and as much of the edges as possible I stood the book up while painting black all over the book.

Once the painted areas of the book were dry, I then stood the book up in a different direction in order for me to paint the remaining edges of the cover.

After all the black paint had dried, I next used the Metallic Lustre Wax very lightly over the book.  This is the really fun part and allows you to emphasize your title, designs and decorations! You can purchase this wax on Amazon using this link.

I just used my finger to wipe the wax on. The first thing to remember is that a little of this wax goes a very long way. Start with small amounts since you can always add more as you go and make sure to get the edges of the cover as well.

As an example of what happens when you get a little over-zealous with the wax (as I did) the lettering and designs consequently did not stand out on this particular book. I was able to salvage this as can be seen below, by painting around the edges of the lettering and thumb tacks with the black acrylic paint again before lightly rubbing more wax over the raised parts after it had dried.

Final Touches

Once the cover was completed, I used a spray bottle of water in order to wet down the book pages. I sprayed inside the book as well as on the edges. Additionally, you can tear some of the pages, but I just crumpled them up.  In other words, you just want the book to look really old and worn. I ended up using a lot of water on this book because I’m not sure it had ever even been cracked opened before and therefore looked brand new up to this point. As can be seen below, once the pages dry it will give them a worn, crinkly effect.

Following roughing up the pages, I used an Ink Blending Tool to apply the Distressed Ink to the outside of the pages. In addition to the alphabet stickers and Metallic Lustre I also purchased these on Amazon.

In order to really give the book an even older appearance I made sure to blend the ink onto all visible sides of the pages.

These books of hidden secrets are now ready to place in your library, on your bookshelf, or coffee table. I place my potion books in the kitchen and spell books over my fireplace coupled with my distressed potion/poison jars. Watch for that tutorial coming soon!

If you liked this tutorial make sure to give me a thumbs up. I’d also love to see how your books turn out. Send me a picture or leave me a comment below. Make sure to check out my other haunted prop blogs at Terror House Haunt DIY Prop Blog.