This time last year I sat at my laptop pondering my costume options. It was my first year working at the library on Halloween, and I was finally given the go-ahead to dress up like I haven’t done in eons.

But what to wear?

I love books. I love writing. And it had to be work-appropriate. (None of those NSFW hooker costumes for me, thanks.) Who better to be than a BOOK FAIRY? I imagined myself fluttering between the stacks sprinkling fairy dust, bestowing books upon grateful patrons.  (Okay, so maybe I snorted some of that fairy dust by accident.)

A Book Fairy I’d be. But how?

I scanned Pinterest and found a few examples Book Fairies, Library Fairies, and a cute Diction-fairy. Perfect. Now how to make the wings?

I rang a bell, but nothing happened. (Oh wait, that’s an angel gets her wings…) No magic would help me. I had to murder a book. Mea culpa.

I Instagrammed this pic while doing the dirty deed:

And my book loving friends and followers united in their animosity.

But seriously, this was a donated book past its prime. It had lived a good life. And I like to think of it as recycling. Upcycling. Okay, I still felt an itty bitty bit guilty ripping the pages from the spine, but it had to be done. It wasn’t like boiling a live lobster.

The repressed Crafty-Girl in me had a blast designing the wings, cutting out favorite fairy tale passages to highlight, and making everything sparkle. Figuring out how to attach the wings AND make the straps adjustable for comfort—well, that straddled the line between mystery and adventure, but I figured out how to get my Happily Ever After. You can always cobble your own set of wings together with a nose twitch, duct tape, and shoelaces, but the method below worked for me.

(Please pardon the dorky pics. My hubby snapped a few photos before I ran to work, and of course, I was too shy to pose at the library!)

How to Make Book Fairy Wings

Supplies:

• large hardback book (I used a 9×9 book, but any size larger than a paperback should work)
• 2 sheets poster board
• 3 to 4 yards sturdy ribbon
• glue (Elmer’s or craft glue)
• clear packing tape
• scissors
• Foam Paint Brush
• hole punch (optional: Self-Adhesive Reinforcement Labels)
• Awl or small screwdriver (to make hole in book cover)
• optional:  spray glitter, regular glitter, or any other extra decorating elements

Instructions:

1.  Carefully rip the pages from the book binding. (Mutter apologies and try not to cry.) Set aside.

2. Draw wing template. I freehand drew mine—it doesn’t have to be perfect!  Start by placing the book on one sheet of poster board. Decide what wing shape you want (I went for butterfly) and in pencil, draw an outline of the wing. Make it as tall as the poster board, so you have plenty of wingspan, and make sure the inside edges are smaller than the height of the book.

3. Like your wing design? Good. Cut it out. Use it as a template to cut out your other wing.

4. Rip or cut up your book pages. Creativity level is up to you. If you’re using a special book, maybe you’ll want to have favorite paragraphs or lines highlighted on your wings. If you’re using a book with small print, it might not make a difference. You can have rough edges, cut pages into scale or feather shapes—go crazy. If you’re in a rush—who cares—just get those pages ready to glue.  (Since I had a large print book of fairy tales and I am a total dork, I artfully tore favorite passages from stories such as The Velveteen Rabbit, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. You don’t have to go through nearly as much trouble.)

5. In a small bowl, pour glue. Add a tiny bit of water to make it easier to spread. (No more than 3 parts glue to 1 part water). Now, using the sponge brush, coat each book page and glue it to the wings–front and back. It’s like decoupage. You can be as creative as you’d like.  Once both sides are covered, let your wings dry for several hours or overnight. (They’ll harden, yet still remain slightly flexible when dry).

6. Meanwhile… Using your awl or something sharp and pointy, punch four holes in the back of your book cover. Make sure holes go all the way through the back cover only.

7. Have dry wings? Good. Hold them up to the holes you made in the book cover, mark the holes, then punch holes in your wings about 1 inch from the inner edge. (Hole punch does this nicely.) Strengthen the wing holes using reinforcement labels and/or tape.

8. Cut about 1.5 yards of ribbon for each wing. (My wing holes were 7 inches apart. If you have a taller book, you’ll need more.)  NOW PAY ATTENTION: the tricky part is coming up! With the inside of the book cover facing you (wings outside), thread about 1 foot of ribbon through the top hole, leaving it dangling outside. (This will be one of your adjustable ties.) Thread the rest through the inside bottom hole. Make a large loop on the outside of your wings (I used 2 feet) and thread it into the top (outside) hole (where you have that 1 foot of ribbon dangling). This will be your arm strap. Still with me? Pull ribbon somewhat snugly inside (but leaving that 2 foot loop outside) and thread end again through bottom hole.

It should now look like this:

INSIDE with two loops

OUTSIDE—two strings to pull to adjust the length of the big loop, a.k.a. shoulder strap

Got that? The purpose of all these loops is to make the shoulder straps adjustable. We’re all different sizes, and if you’re like me and wearing these babies all day, you want to be comfortable.

Now, Tie the strings in a pretty bow (yes, it can be ugly or pathetic—it won’t really show) and test out your wing sizing. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just close.

{NOTE: If your craft-cussing, spatially-challenged hands are a-flapping right now because this seems WAY too complicated, relax. You can always pick your strap size, thread each end into a hole, then tie a nice granny knot and be done with it.}

Yes, the book cover will be flapping open. We’ll take care of that next.

9. GLUE. Glue the covers together. Use good craft glue if you have it. Depending on the inside cover paper type, hot glue may or may not work. (My paper was glossy, so the hot glue didn’t hold.) Make sure no glue goes near your ribbon straps–we want this part to remain adjustable, remember, so limit your glue to around the edges. Now is also a great time to glue your wings to the cover of the book. I used heavy duty craft glue and clear packing tape to secure them.

Let it all dry.

10. Do a final wing sizing. Figure out the rest of your costume. Literary-themed dress or skirt? Fairy-like gossamer gown? Vintage dress?  (I found the dress I’m wearing at a Salvation Army back in college. Think it was a homemade 1970s bridesmaid dress!)  Funky steampunk leather and tights? The options and themes are endless!!!!

You can dress up your wings with glitter or rhinestones, as well. I had bought some metallic gold hairspray, but after reading the warning labels, decided it would destroy/incinerate/permanently discolor my hair. So I sprayed it on my wings, adding a delightful golden patina to the pages. It doesn’t show well in photos, but the subtle sparkle is absolutely perfect!

I added a tiara studded with aqua Book Page Roses—love!

I updated a gold leaf crown from an old Greek goddess costume, adding homemade blue book flower roses. Wish I’d had one of these for my wedding!

An extra Book Page Rose turned into a delicate pendent.

And this cheesy wand I made in less than two minutes.

Have fun! Make it magical! And spread your book love on Halloween!

BOOK NERDS—er, FAIRIES—UNITE!

Please excuse my messy desk.

Spring is in the air! At least it is here in the Sunshine State, where it climbed to the upper eighties this week. More like summer is fighting it’s sweltering way in already.

The  Frosty the Book Snowman display I created for winter melted in this heat. Since it was such a hit at my library, I challenged myself to create another eye-catching display for the branch. I’d made tiny book flowers for my Book Fairy Halloween costume (check back in the fall for those details). Why not go for big?

These book flowers are relatively easy to make, and cost almost nothing. They do take some time to put together. After my first few, I was able to craft one in about ten minutes (minus page dying time).

Supplies:

old paperback book (I used 12 pages per flower)
food coloring
hot glue gun (and many extra sticks–I used almost a whole stick for each)
thin wooden dowels ($1 for pack of 16 at Walmart)
optional: florist tape (Dollar Tree)
old towel & old containers to hold the dye bath

Instructions:

First you need to dye the pages. Wait, first you need to destroy a book. Make sure it’s a novel you enjoyed, and if you’re using it for a public display, make sure it’s not riddled with anything that could be construed as offensive. (Yes, I had to destroy a few petals because swear words were showing. Oops.)  Make it a donated book or a well-loved sample from a used book store, so it will have led a long and productive life. Say a few words honoring the author’s work, give it one last pat, then rip the pages from the spine. It won’t feel it, I promise.

Now onto dying. Add several squirts of food coloring to water in a bowl. Place each page into the dye, pushing it down so it becomes saturated. Layer as many as will fit. The longer you let the pages sit in the bath, the deeper the color. I let some sit for as little as two minutes, while others soaked for hours. The color grows richer over time.

Set the pages to dry on an old towel. Let them dry for several hours or overnight, if possible.

*Note: as you can see from the photo, I cut the petals out first for that particular batch. It really doesn’t matter if you cut before or after you dye.

Once the pages dry, you cut.  Draw five different sized petals on the pages. Hand drawing works best, because like natural petals, you don’t want them to look too perfect. I didn’t want to waste precious book pages so I fit two large on one page and three smaller on another. You need six pages of each. Yes, you can stack them and cut the pages together if your scissors are sharp.

*Leaves are optional. If you want them, make them now.

Once the petals are cut out, crease the pages gently down the center so they lay naturally when on the flower.

Now we assemble. Heat up that glue gun. Place a blob of glue on one of the smallest petals and wrap around the tip of the dowel several times so the tip of the stick doesn’t show. Then place glue on the base of each smallest petal and glue them, slightly overlapping around the stick. Go one by one. Continue with each size.

You might want to take a pencil and slightly curl  some of the petals as you go. You don’t want them sticking out straight, but gently opening, like a rose.

All the petals glued? Perfect! Now, if you made leaves, have them handy. Break out that florist tape. I cut three inch strips and glued them to the base of each leaf. Place a dot of glue at the end of your roll of florists tape and adhere it to the stick just below the base of your rose. Now wrap the tape around your stem. Pause to add your leaves, by holding the trailing leaf tape along the stick/stem and wrapping over it. Glue the end.

You’re done! Hopefully you have a glorious paper rose.

For my library display, I stuck the stems in Styrofoam and covered with shredded green paper. They’d also look stunning in a vase or jar.

My flowers started out as the centerpiece of my Spring Gardening display, but to make to make them stand out, I’ve moved them to their own table. Patrons and staff love them!

**Please excuse the crummy photos. I used my cell phone camera. It stinks.**