Who doesn't need a Monster Book of Monsters? This version uses Oogoo (DIY sugru from Mikey77) which you can read about here: https://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-O...

Since it dries to a rubbery consistency, it is great for the tentacles and tongue. I also use it for the gums.

You'll need:

A large textbook, mine measures 8" x 10.5"

Clay to make the teeth (white) and eyes (black) - I used polymer clay but air dry will work too.

Acrylic craft paint - brown, antique gold

Yellow paint pen

Gloss sealer for clay (I used Flecto Diamond Varathane Gloss)

2 large rabbit skins or suitable substitute

Clear Silicone Caulk, 1 tube and caulk gun

Cornstarch

Artist Oil Paint - Brown, white, red (I bought a cheap set at Walmart)

Mineral Spirits or Paint Thinner

Nitrile Gloves

Paper towels and/or rags

Plastic or paper cups, popsicle sticks, toothpicks

1 Ziplock bag

Craft knife and/or scissors

Ruler

Press N Seal

Silver or Gray Sharpie

PVA (white) glue

Chip brush for spreading glue

Silicone/plastic mats or other nonstick surface for working with silicone caulk (it sticks to everything!)

Photos of the MBOM from the internet

Step 1: Step 1: Make Clay Teeth

Make the teeth out of clay. Roll a log to the size you want for your teeth, then cut into pieces about 1" long. Shape into teeth. Roll a long sheet of thin clay and wrap around each tooth to make a gum. Using pictures of the MBOM, put the individual teeth together to make the upper and lower set of teeth and shape to an L shape leaving a good sized base so that the teeth can be firmly attached to the book.

Step 2: Step 2: Make the Eyes From Clay.

Using black clay, make 4 eyes and an eye support strip. I used clay sheets formed using a pasta machine on setting # 1 and cut pieces 1" x 1" to make each eye and a piece 4" x 1.5" to make the eye support strip. Roll the piece to make the support strip and then make depressions for each eye and shape the ends, then make the strip curve gently.

Cook the clay if necessary per clay brand instructions.

Step 3: Step 3: Complete Teeth and Eyes.

To complete the eyes, use a yellow paint marker to give the eyes the snake-like appearance of the MBOM eyes. This make take several coats of the yellow marker. Finish with a gloss sealer to make the eyes look glassy.

To complete the teeth, water down some brown craft paint, then paint onto the teeth, let sit for a minute or two and then gently blot/wipe with a soft cloth to give the teeth an antiqued appearance.

Step 4: Step 4: Prepare Book Page Edges.

You can do whatever you wish with the inside of your book. I cut the middle out so that mine is a "box" of sorts. I glued the pages together by brushing PVA glue around the edges and then painted the page edges with antique gold acrylic craft paint.

Step 5: Step 5: Time to Oogoo the Teeth!

Now it's time to move outside to work with the silicone caulk. The fumes from the silicone are nasty and you will be using a lot of it, so it is best to do it outside. If you have to do it inside, make sure to have really good ventilation. This is messy stuff btw!

Please read the instructable on working with Oogoo from Mikey77 since it gives a lot of great information.

Wrap the text block of the book with Press N Seal to protect it while working on the covers.

Mix red Oogoo in a wet, slow-drying mix and carefully apply to the teeth to cover the gums. When both sets of teeth are done and dry enough, mix more red Oogoo in a faster drying mix and use it to apply the teeth to the book, completing the gums.

Cut a ziplock bag into 2 separate sheets of plastic. Use some red Oogoo between the plastic sheets to form the tongue, using a tool or toothpick to make a line down the middle of the tongue. Set aside to cure. When the tongue is completely dry, use scissors or a craft knife to cut it to shape.

If you get some silicone on the teeth remove it immediately.

Step 6: Step 6: Make the Tentacles.

The instructions for this step are simple but it will take a while.

Mix brown oogoo and use it to form the tentacles and to cover the edges of the book covers. You will have to mix multiple batches of the oogoo and you want them to all be similar in color so the second picture is shown to give you a tip on coloring the oogoo. I used brown and white cheap artist oil paints and found that squeezing the brown onto one side of a popsicle stick and the white onto the other allowed me to get the proportions right so that I mixed consistent color batches. The size of your batches depend on how quickly you can work and how wet or dry you mix your oogoo. I mixed the silicone and oil colors first and then added the cornstarch.

It is very helpful to have a work surface that the oogoo will not stick to. I have sheets of an industrial material made to be nonstick that work great but I don't even know what the stuff is called! You can get nonstick mats of various types to use for this sort of job though. Spread the oogoo to roughly form the tentacles and then as it sets up, shape them to suit you. Also spread some oogoo between the tentacles to cover the edges of the book. When you have completed the tentacles working from the tops of the covers and it is all dry, carefully work from the insides of the covers to apply an edge of oogoo around the inside of the covers (just a 1/4" or so) to make sure than everything is firmly attached.

Step 7: Step 7: Cover With Rabbit Skins.

When the tentacles are nice and dry, you can proceed to cover the book with the rabbit skins. You will use PVA glue to attach the skins. It glues easily and quickly with the rabbit skins, almost like instant glue.

First, size and cut the rabbit skins to fit the front and back covers but don't glue them on yet! Place the skin on the book and figure out where you need to cut it to get it to fit. Fold the skin back and mark the back of it where you need to cut. You want to cut the skins from the back so that you just cut through the skin, not through the fur. This will give you natural looking edges where you have cut the skins although on one edge the skin will be visible because of the direction of the hair growth. Be careful with cutting the skins. As with many other materials, you want to measure twice and cut once. You can always cut a little more off but if you cut it too short, there is no way to go back! Allow a little extra for the front cover since it will have to go over the eyes. Cut it a bit big and then when you are getting ready to glue it on, you can cut it down if needed.

Once you have cut the skins to size, you should have enough cut off of the skins to have 2 long strips to make the spine which sticks out from the book. This is a feature of the MBOM that many replicas don't take into account. To make the spine, take 2 long strips of fur and glue them together about 2/3 of the way. Separate the last 1/3 and glue to the spine of the book so that the part of the skins that are glued together will stand out from the spine (it makes a T shape with the top of the T being the parts of the skins glued to the spine and the bottom of the T being the fur sticking out from the spine).

After making the spine, cover the back of the book with the skin that you have prepared for it. Applying the PVA to both the book and the skin will give the best adhesion.

Now you are ready to do the front cover. Attach the eyes on the eye support strip to the book using straight silicone caulk. Lay the skin down and roll it back along the eye strip, marking the back of the skin at the middle point of the eyes. This will give you a curved mark on the back of the skin so that you can cut the skin to fit around the eyes. You will need to cut the curve and then cut a wedge from the skin so that it fits nicely over the eyes. You may need to keep fitting and cutting and fitting and cutting until it works well. Getting the skin to fit around the eyes is a bit of a trick. I found that using some scraps of the rabbit fur glued around the eyes helped to make it all fit together. When you are happy with how the front cover skin fits, glue it into place with PVA glue.

Finally, cut a slit in the edge of the book pages to fit the tongue and glue it into place using a bit of silicone caulk.

Step 8: Step 8: Add the Book Title.

Print the image attached to the step and then color in the lettering using a gold marker. Cut around each word leaving a little bit of the gray as an edging around the words. Glue the title to the book cover.

Now all you have to do is find a belt to keep your Monster Book of Monsters from hurting any one. Always remember to stroke the spine before removing the belt!