Craft: How I made a Monster Book of Monsters

Back in the summer whilst wondering around the car boot I came across this unwanted boring old box - I think it's a wine box but what I saw was a future Monster Book of Monsters book and to my delight whilst still at the same car boot I found this brown skirt!  So my total finds for my 'next' project at the car boot cost me £5!

The base materials found at a car boot - the perfect materials for making a Monster Book of  Monsters

After painting the box sides white to make it look more like a book, I left this project unfinished for quite a few months.  Mainly because I wasn't sure how on earth I was going to transform it into the MBoM, so did what I do best and that was to leave it until the opportunity arose for me to pick up the project again.

I finally saw some Dracula Teeth which I felt would make great teeth for my book and so I set about sourcing some fake fingers (which are harder to come by than you think outside of Halloween in the shops) so I got these from eBay and some modelling clay for the tongue.

Fake fingers for Claws, Dracula Teeth for the mouth and Modelling clay for the tongue

The Claws
I know in the book the claws look more like tentacles with little round suckers on them, but after searching the entire internet for something similar...... (I have been known to exaggerate.....) I gave up and settled for the fingers.

I originally painted the fingers grey but I didn't like the look so I painted over them brown.
I cut them in half then split them too to get them to stick onto the box, which I couldn't get to work with the glue gun so I used the staple gun instead!

Turning fingers into claws for my Monster Book of Monsters

Glue gun not strong enough for these claws - try a staple gun instead

'Skin'
Once I measured out the material I used my glue gun to stick the material around the top edge, leaving it slightly loose for the eyes.  I then made a slit in the material over each claw and pulled them through the fabric and glued down the remaining material down over the edges.  Fiddly, but I think worth it!

Covering the box with brown material to turn into the makings of a Monster book of monsters

Eyes
The eyes were purchased from the local toy shop.
I made a slit in the top of the material but kept it small to ensure a tight fit.
I glued each eyeball to the next and then glued onto the box before covering over with the material.

Creating the eyes for my MBoM 

Finishing touches
The mouth was glued on and the tongue was created using the modelling clay.
I printed out the wording of the book and stuck this on the front cover to create the finishing touches.

Creating a tongue with the modelling clay and gluing on to the box

A lot of patience was needed for this, but I got there in the end.
What do you think?  I LOVE IT and it now stands pride of place among my HP Pops and props.