I cut up the black tissue paper and glued it to the surface of the binder. This is why I removed the clear plastic first. It is not easy to glue the paper to the binder. I applied 3 layers of the tissue paper and smoothed the glue to prevent bad wrinkles or air bubbles. I have to let it dry maybe even overnight.
Then once I had the tissue paper secure on the front and back of the binder and on the spine, I smoothed the glue again and worked it over the top and bottom edges of the binder. It looks real cool. I then added the silver glitter letters. The front of the binder reads: Hexes and Spells. The spine of the binder on the side reads: Grimoire.
I love how it looks. I glued the spider iron on decoration with a glue gun to the front of the binder between the words. I added a lot of hot glue. A tip to make the glue stick adhere in the glue gun: add a drop of the hot melted glue to the glue stick then stick it in. It won’t fall out. Be careful with glue guns. I was badly burned once.
I want to add some paint to the black tissue paper to give it that aged antique look. I also plan to soak the pages for the binder in hot coffee/ tea and let the pages dry. Then I will write on them in black ink-with a witchy pen. Oh yeah I know I will have fun with it. I want to add photos but if anyone has friended me on facecrack, you can see the pics there. The tea stained pages will add that antique look too.
This can be a messy craft. Plan on using up a lot of glue and either peeling the glue off your fingers (like we did when we were kids) or washing your hands. I can’t wait to add halloween/ witchy themed stickers and illustrations, dried herbs, artwork. A Book of Shadows/ Grimoire should never be mediocre. It should be magickal. I would like it if it rattled the china when it opened but I can settle for fairy dust rising from my tome. On the Grimm shows, blood had to be offered to open the Hexenbeist spellbooks. I don’t know if I can go that far with my tome.
This is a fun and affordable project that can be done within a few days. It doesn’t need to cost a fortune and can lead to good memories. I will add spells, potions, moon spells, etc to the binder. I can’t wait to get back to work on it. I will also add illustrations, runes, the moon phases, and whatever I conjure or bewitch in the future.
Today the paint on the binder was dry. I then began the next step of creating my Book of Shadows binder. I first painted with gold and a lighter brown paint all over the binder covers. I didn’t like it. Then by some accident I tried a darker brown acrylic paint, painting carefully over the wrinkles to avoid any tearing of the tissue paper. I found the perfect color!
I love the brown paint. F I painted the brown all over in 1 or 2 coats. I also added small strips of brown cardboard rectangles to give it more definition. I love how the binder looks.
I painted over the letters that spelled out Hexes and Spells on the front of the binder and the letters on the side of the binder that spelled Grimoire. That is exactly what I intend for this BOS to be.
I have pockets already on the insides of the binder. I can store little spell papers in the pockets.
I am so happy. I still have to tea stain 500 pages, a task in itself. I hope this inspires others to try it themselves.
Blessings to all Spiderwitch
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