Harry Potter style Hogwarts Library Spellbooks

PrintPrint PDF FacebookFacebook TwitterTwitter Send this to a friendE-mail
by gingerpete50
 

introHarry Potter style Hogwarts Library Spellbooks

I recently found a huge collection of ruined old books at the local dump and immediatly thought of Harry Potter the Hogwarts library.
 
This is a tutorial to show how I converted these old encyclopeadias into Hogwarts style spellbooks.

These books are a great way to display your Harry Potter wands or other collactables, and are very cheap and pretty quick to do, all you need is and old book some easily avaliable supplies and a fair ammount of patience!
 

Harry Potter style Hogwarts Library Spellbooks
 
Remove these adsRemove these ads by Signing Up.
 

step 1Choosing a book

There are two VERY important disclaimers to note at this point, the first is that this is really and adults only project (or adult supervision STRONGLY recommended!) as you'll need to use a very sharp scalpel to cut the new title into the cover of the book. The second point is to be careful what book you use! The olny reason I could bear to de-face these books is because they had been left in the damp and rain for months so they were ruined before I started.
 
In short be VERY careful that you're not going to destroy a first edition copy of "Peter Pan" or "The Count of Monte Cristo"

Below is a pic of the book as I found it
Choosing a book
To Download the PDF or View All Steps,   
Become a Pro Member »
76 comments
1-40 of 76next »
Sep 3, 2010. 9:31 AMcrsunshine says:
Wow, wow, wow!!! This has been a huge inspirtation.
Jul 5, 2010. 10:02 AMShastaw2006 says:
I love this instructable, but cutting the title out was a bit much for me, so I'm combining it with this craftster tutorial: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=305857.0
Aug 12, 2010. 10:56 AMi like cheese says:
amazing! i made 35 of them thanks!
Jun 22, 2010. 9:26 AMmrzpeterwentz says:
Any suggestions as to where I might find some old big books like that?
Jan 14, 2010. 11:36 AMmarinekid says:
I am only 13 and I use 'very sharp scalpels' regularly in my dissections (best way to learn about the body) and in construction.
Jun 7, 2010. 7:41 AMzayin says:
lol
Feb 4, 2010. 12:55 PMbettbee says:
I'm hoping that you are not harming live animals of any sort in order to dissect them. You can get organs of large animals from any real butcher shop - try kidneys, while reading about the transfers of solutes through membranes and the structures of kidneys in a college bio book. Maybe your school has dissecting scopes you can use in your investigations, or you can get an old on on eBay. In summer, I suggest trying dissecting flowers, seed pods, leaves, branches, etc. as well.
Feb 7, 2010. 10:20 PMmarinekid says:
corse not, love animals, and i did plant biology over 5 years ago.
Jan 14, 2010. 6:43 PMBob Phil McMooow says:
i am also 13, and use scalpels for modeling, and half the time unintentionally dissecting myself.
Aug 6, 2010. 12:23 AMi like cheese says:
im 14 and i use scapels 2
Feb 6, 2010. 2:23 PMthedragonmaster says:
I'm a 13 year old girl and I use scapels for modelling, dissection and craft. I can usually NOT dissecting myself, but my mum probably wouldn't let me near either her books or a scapel.
Jun 4, 2010. 6:12 AMJeronimus says:
Is there a story behind those other books on the last picture? They look interesting as well. Any details? I like making "props", but I can just never put myself to work. This, however, seems like something that's extremely fun and doable. So I've been meaning to try this project or something similar out for a while now... I'm trying to design an interesting cover title at the moment.
Jan 22, 2010. 8:24 AMaaronscottaugustinhotmail.com says:
 I don't see this as just an adults project because of a xacto knife. I have been using them since I was nine or so. Granted maybe you shouldn't give a knife like that to a child with ADHD, ADD, or Autism, but I think your not giving our younger viewers the credibility they deserve.

Non the less do recommend supervision and give them some safety tips. But this would be a great project for kids if they want to make a harry potter themed bedroom or something.  

Great "Ible" 5.0!
Mar 21, 2010. 1:23 PMFFVIIBOY says:
Hey Im 14 and I have ADHD and i find that insulting
May 18, 2010. 3:09 PMphant0m_sp00f3ra says:
 imma fully functional autist and i don't find that insulting.
May 18, 2010. 4:03 PMFFVIIBOY says:
yeah me neither
Feb 4, 2010. 12:07 PMbettbee says:
You have to recommend adults only or adult supervision to be responsible. What parents choose to let kids do on their own is their business.

Having said that I was breaking my dad's old razor blades in half in the 3rd grade to make my own craft blades - had not yet heard of X-acto or single-edge blades LOL. Some teacher saw me using them to sharpen and shape pencil points and had kittens on the spot. Did not understand why regular pencil sharpeners weren't enough. Sigh. Artistic kids have been dealing with their own kind of "muggle" for years!

In fact I hereby propose a new use of the word "muggle" to mean oblivious people who just don't get what their more creative friends and neighbors are up to! (This should not be used to imply stupidity, but rather lack of a special understanding only a few people out of the billions in the world are lucky enough to have been given.)
May 16, 2010. 1:00 PMnoelle_tan says:
I like your comment
May 16, 2010. 3:30 PMbettbee says:
:-)
Mar 19, 2010. 6:23 PMsurvivletroop says:
instead of useing a book, use cardboard or wood and put a bunch of carsstock in it
Mar 2, 2010. 8:46 PMtrebory6 says:
 I had a question about how you acquired the books.   Did you have to dig through trash and waste to find them, or were they just at a junk yard or something?

I want to get old leather bound books, but have no idea where to find them.
Feb 23, 2010. 11:44 PMXessos says:
 What font is that?
Feb 17, 2010. 1:53 PMmee-mee says:
 that poor book...
Feb 8, 2010. 4:26 PMBonnie in SC says:
I think you could use stencils for the lettering if you didn't want to do all of that cutting. Or maybe use rubber stamps and ink .
Feb 7, 2010. 8:36 PMaolsen says:
 Bloody Brilliant!!
Jan 29, 2010. 5:24 AMTechBot says:
cool!
Jan 14, 2010. 8:37 AMjenalden says:
Brilliant job! Super inspirational. I have absolutely no use for this and no time to do it, and yet I read the whole thing and I'm dying to try it out. Great job.
Jan 24, 2010. 6:44 PMblaza1141 says:
exactly the same with me :]

great job, looks very legit!
Jan 16, 2010. 4:34 PMTheDocLayton says:
what did you do about the spine on the book? was there lettering and engravings on there and if so did you change them up or leave them?

all the books i looked for today had spinal lettering running the length of it and that really didnt fit into my plan for the book
Jan 18, 2010. 2:29 PMbassplry says:
 where can you get gold leaf for cheap?

Jan 19, 2010. 11:51 PMgooga555 says:
if there is a label already pressed into the cover of the book how do you take it off
Jan 22, 2010. 8:09 PMcaylieazn says:
Should i print the title on plain printer paper? Or should i use a thicker paper?
Also, where did you find those swirly details that you put between the author and the title?

Your books look brilliant by the way.
:)
Jan 20, 2010. 6:59 AMFabioBurkard says:
GREAT! Thanks for the artworks!
Jan 19, 2010. 5:30 PMMDude says:
There's also a few intructables on binding your own books, if you lack  ruined texts but have plenty of raw material.
Jan 19, 2010. 12:05 AMTheDocLayton says:
 i was doin good until this step. im gettin owned right now
1-40 of 76next »