Coz
Sr Member
So - I've wanted a Handbook for the Recently Deceased for a while now, but didn't know what book to build one around. After all, you'd want to be able to read it, wouldn't you?
I found one of those craft box / fake book things housing a letter-writing set for a pound - looked to be the right size, and thick enough too. No pages
, but it'll be useful for storing bits & bobs, or sweeties on Halloween. Sold!
So - how to make the cover? Simplest way would have been a dust jacket, but it wouldn't look quite right. Found some leather-effect paper, and considered that for a while... Until screengrabs showed the book to be fabric covered. Hmm.
On a recent recce to one of my local Pound Shops (that's 'Dollar Store' to you Americanese speakers), I spotted some Inkjet printable canvas, two sheets to a pack. Kinda like those framed canvas posters you can have printed up.
Didn't hold out much hope for the quality, but the price was more than right, so what the hey. Sold!
So now I had this:
Aw, nice kitty!
Size reference:
Note to Warner Bros. - any Beetlejuice special edition should be packed inside one of these, appropriately detailed as the Handook!
Box / book open:
Either the pink goes, or I do.
After measuring up & designing the cover to fit over two sheets of the A4 canvas, I also created the pages to wrap around, and printed them out onto matte photo paper.
So now, I had this:
Front cover and overlap spine on one sheet, the back and partial spine on the other.
Cover image was cleaned up & fixed from a pic of the Hot Topic tee (curiously, the HT tee design seems to have been made from the magazine version at the end of the film - the cloud over the sun is missing from both).
The reveal pic of the Handbook (in the movie) shows the cover to be rather light in colour (almost reddish orange), but all other scenes show it as quite dark. I hedged my bets, but went with a darker brown for the back, but slightly lighter front cover and spine.
Cut out and glued the pages to the box, trimming the edges tight to the corners.
I included a lip on the pages' edge to hide the join with the cover, just in case.
Make the best of your time, kitty! Looking more like a book now, I think!
After buying a new glue stick, I proceded to apply the canvas cover. A little tricky this, as the canvas wouldn't stay folded over the cardboard cover edges (clothes pegs handy here!).
And here we are:
B'bye kitty!
You can see the overlap from the front cover along the spine there.
And after that bit of practice, I did the front, including the spine:
See the title on the spine? Yeah, I shoulda put that text vertically. Ah well, next time!.
Put the publisher info at the bottom of the spine, just for fun.
I also added a couple of inner pages, just for the heck of it. Title page was easy enough. Stuck to the spine on the inside, also covers the visible edges of the canvas. Still usable as a box too.
I don't think we survived that crash...
There ya go! Pretty straight forward, really. Still got a few things to do - hide the seem & edges with a brown marker, dust it up a bit & age the corners a bit too. May give it a coat of sealantor something, as the canvas does fray. Really recommend the inkjet canvas for a book cover like this!
Here's a close up of the cover image showing the texture:
I think a version of Tobins' Spirit Guide is in order...
Bettel-guys? Beetlemeyer? Beetlej-
Thanks for reading! Questions, comments?
Coz.
I found one of those craft box / fake book things housing a letter-writing set for a pound - looked to be the right size, and thick enough too. No pages
, but it'll be useful for storing bits & bobs, or sweeties on Halloween. Sold!So - how to make the cover? Simplest way would have been a dust jacket, but it wouldn't look quite right. Found some leather-effect paper, and considered that for a while... Until screengrabs showed the book to be fabric covered. Hmm.
On a recent recce to one of my local Pound Shops (that's 'Dollar Store' to you Americanese speakers), I spotted some Inkjet printable canvas, two sheets to a pack. Kinda like those framed canvas posters you can have printed up.
Didn't hold out much hope for the quality, but the price was more than right, so what the hey. Sold!
So now I had this:
Aw, nice kitty!
Size reference:
Note to Warner Bros. - any Beetlejuice special edition should be packed inside one of these, appropriately detailed as the Handook!
Box / book open:
Either the pink goes, or I do.
After measuring up & designing the cover to fit over two sheets of the A4 canvas, I also created the pages to wrap around, and printed them out onto matte photo paper.
So now, I had this:
Front cover and overlap spine on one sheet, the back and partial spine on the other.
Cover image was cleaned up & fixed from a pic of the Hot Topic tee (curiously, the HT tee design seems to have been made from the magazine version at the end of the film - the cloud over the sun is missing from both).
The reveal pic of the Handbook (in the movie) shows the cover to be rather light in colour (almost reddish orange), but all other scenes show it as quite dark. I hedged my bets, but went with a darker brown for the back, but slightly lighter front cover and spine.
Cut out and glued the pages to the box, trimming the edges tight to the corners.
I included a lip on the pages' edge to hide the join with the cover, just in case.
Make the best of your time, kitty! Looking more like a book now, I think!
After buying a new glue stick, I proceded to apply the canvas cover. A little tricky this, as the canvas wouldn't stay folded over the cardboard cover edges (clothes pegs handy here!).
And here we are:
B'bye kitty!
You can see the overlap from the front cover along the spine there.
And after that bit of practice, I did the front, including the spine:
See the title on the spine? Yeah, I shoulda put that text vertically. Ah well, next time!.
Put the publisher info at the bottom of the spine, just for fun.
I also added a couple of inner pages, just for the heck of it. Title page was easy enough.
Stuck to the spine on the inside, also covers the visible edges of the canvas. Still usable as a box too.
I don't think we survived that crash...
There ya go! Pretty straight forward, really. Still got a few things to do - hide the seem & edges with a brown marker, dust it up a bit & age the corners a bit too. May give it a coat of sealantor something, as the canvas does fray. Really recommend the inkjet canvas for a book cover like this!
Here's a close up of the cover image showing the texture:
I think a version of Tobins' Spirit Guide is in order...
Bettel-guys? Beetlemeyer? Beetlej-
Thanks for reading! Questions, comments?
Coz.
