25 cent Book Jack O'Lanterns!
Before the fire, we had buckets and buckets of Halloween deocrations. Most of them were handmade. My boys are all grown up now and I'll never have that many decorations again, but I have started re-making a few of the things that we made together when they were little. These book Jack O' Lanterns are one of them. Don't you just love this cheerful duo? They cost me about 25 cents each to make! All you need is an old paperback book, hot glue gun, black construction paper, and a little bit of time and patience.
Choose a book that has a lot of pages - dictionaries work great, but any book will do. I like to look for books that have old, yellowed pages. Start by removing the cover.
Next, start folding the pages in half. Fold the first page in half, then push it back out of the way. Do the same with all the other pages, making nice straight folds.
Keep going...it will take awhile! Every once in awhile, fold all the pages back and really press them down, to make sure that your folds are nice and secure. Once you get done with the entire book, run a bead of hot glue along the spine, and press the pages together. If you have nice sharp folds, this will be the only place you need to glue it.
Then, just cut out your Jack's face (I did this freehand, and kept it to a classic style). You might also want to cut some leaves and swirly "vines" for the top. Attach these all with a few dots of hot glue, and you're done! You can also experiment a little bit by folding in the corners of the pages on these, to create different shapes of "pumpkins". I decided to keep it simple this time 'round.
My favorite way to display any kind of Jack O'Lantern or skull head is on a candlestick or pedestal. I found these two silver candlesticks at Goodwill for $1.50 each, and they work perfectly!
If you make some of these, please share a pic! And if you like this project, please share it on Facebook and/or Instagram!
Happy crafting!
-Jamey
