Beastie Book

     I am a huge Harry Potter fan.  When I came across some tiny composition books at the Dollar Store, I had a vision of little, cousin creatures to Hagrid's "Monster Book of Monsters".  Because the books are so small, I imagined how easy it would be to create cute creatures with scraps of fur and felt.  I made this first Beastie Book from scraps and bits of things I gathered from my craft supplies.  However, if you are starting from scratch, all these materials can be found at a craft store.  If you are buying your materials, know that most of the details on this project can be created using felt. 
     So here we go, my first DIY craft project; the dragon Beastie Book.

You will need:
                        A little composition book or notepad that opens like a book
                        A piece of short fur, large enough to cover the book 
                        A scrap of long black fur and a scrap of long fur that compliments the color of
                        the fur in which the book is covered 
                        A piece of red ribbon
                        Two plastic cat eyes
                        A piece of red tissue paper
                        Wooden toothpicks
                        A piece of felt that goes well with the color of the fur that covers the book
                        Purple or pink glitter
                        Little pom poms
                        Two long beads(for horns) 
                        Two black seed beads
                        Glue sticks
Tools needed:
                        Scissors, a glue gun, white glue, a glue stick, and a piece of aluminum foil.
 

Using the glue stick, paste red tissue paper to the inside of the front and back cover of the book.  You may want to wrinkle the tissue first to give it texture like the inside of a mouth.

Create teeth and fangs using a cluster of toothpicks.

Lay the toothpicks on the foil, flat in an even row with the toothpicks on the outer edge hanging down like fangs.  Use the glue gun to run a strip of glue across the toothpicks as shown and allow to cool.  Teeth cut from felt can be substituted here.

Trim the tissue on the inside of the cover.  Cut the short fur piece, to fit around the book cover to cover.

Glue the fur piece in place, using white glue.

Cut the excess parts of the toothpicks, with some tough scissors, along the strip of cooled hot glue.  Place the "fangs" under the edge of the fur on the front cover, centered on the opening side of the book.  Use hot glue to fasten the fangs in place.

Create the tongue of the dragon with the red ribbon.  Glue the end of the ribbon to the center of the inside front cover with white glue.  Make sure it lines up with the fangs when the book is closed.

Cut the end of the ribbon, so the tongue is forked.  Turn the plastic cat eyes sideways and hot glue them on either side of the mouth.  Make sure you check the positioning of the eyes before you glue them down.  Hot glue three pom poms behind the eyes as eyelids and place little strips of long black fur on top of the eyes to make lashes, but use white glue for this.  Eyes can be made of felt if necessary.

Hot glue two pom poms above the teeth, to create a nose.  Glue a strip long fur starting between the eyes and ending at the spine of the book.  Use hot glue or white glue.  Felt can also be substituted here.

Hot glue a small triangle of felt  at one end, to create ears.  Find a good position behind the eyes and glue in place.

Glue a bit of fur in the ears and add two black seed beads to the pom pom nose for nostrils.  Hot glue the long beads next to the ears for horns.  Nostrils and horns can be created using felt.

For fun, I created an upper and lower lip with hot glue and sprinkled on purple glitter.  This can be done with felt or white glue and glitter.

Almost done...

As a finishing touch, curl the pages of the book at the corners to give your beastie character.

Now your Beastie Book is ready to protect your thoughts and secrets.  
Tip:  The tongue makes a good book mark.

I hope to hear from those of you who give this project a try.  Let me know what you think of the instructions, since this is the first time I have done anything like this.  Questions are welcome and pictures of your Beastie Books would be fantastic!

Happy Crafting,
Kate