Make your own Monster Book of Monsters

Posted on March 22, 2016 at 6:00 am

By Kelsey Hudson

With the new Harry Potter play coming out this summer (and the accompanying book that I may have pre-ordered the first day that I could), I have been in full Harry Potter fan mode for months. Thankfully, I work with a group of people who are every bit as excited as I am when I show off my 3D printed Luna Lovegood glasses, the pieces I spent all weekend knitting for my Molly Weasley costume, or my very own pygmy puff.

Well sadly I never got my Hogwarts letter—though I still keep my eyes open for that poor lost owl—but I am very excited to take a spring break staycation by joining some other Harry Potter fans for a trip to the wizarding world right in our very own libraries. We’ll be hosting four Harry Potter events this April full of potions demonstrations, sorting hats, and even a Horcrux scavenger hunt (can you find them all?)

So while we’re hard at work prepping for potions, wands, costume contest prizes, and more, I figured that I’d give you a sneak peek into the making of one of our party props: The Monster Book of Monsters. If you want to make one of your own, you’ll need the following:

Felt: Brown, Yellow, White, and Red
Fabric Glue
Black Marker
Fabric Paint
Scissors
Velcro (optional)
Old book or notebook

Lay out a piece of brown felt and place the book on top. Wrap the felt around the book and trace lightly around the edge of the book (you may have to flip over the book to get the second side).
Trace around the outline on the felt giving yourself about ¼ inch room on each side and add jagged corners. Carefully cut out around the second line. In the picture below, I’ve illustrated this using light felt so you can see the lines. The black line is the book itself, and the red line is the one I drew that I’ll cut out.
Use a hot glue gun or tacky glue to attach the felt to the cover of your book. Make sure the sides you marked are facing in so they won’t be seen on the finished project.
Cut out a rectangle of red felt about 2 inches wide and a little longer than your book is thick. Glue one end just inside the front cover and the other end inside the back cover. If you want to be able to open your book, you can use Velcro on the second end.
Attach small triangular pieces of white felt to the red felt with your fabric glue to finish the mouth.
Cut out four circles about the size of a dime from the yellow felt. Add pupils using black fabric paint and glue to the top of the book.
Cut one final rectangle of red felt about 6 inches long by 1 ½ inches wide. Cut out a small triangle piece from the end and draw and line up the middle with your fabric paint. Once dry, you can use it as a bookmark or glue it into your book about halfway through to make the monsters tongue and you’re finished!