Wooden Decorated Book Box

  -This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. I receive a small commission at no cost to you when you make a purchase using my link.-   

It is time for another book inspired craft, this will be the second to last book in the series this year, there will be one more tomorrow. Today is a book that was a favorite of mine when I was a kid- The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. 

In the book Kit, the main character, befriends Hannah, an old Quaker woman who has been shunned by the community and accused of being a witch. Hannah's little cottage near Blackbird Pond becomes a refuge for Kit, as well as for a young girl named Prudence. There Kit secretly teaches Prudence to read and write.

This is the part of the story I decided to take inspiration from for the craft project that I made. For this project I decorated a plain, unfinished wood book box. I wanted to make it look really old leather book, kind of representing the Bible that Kit used to teach Prudence to read. But in addition to looking like an old book, it is also a hiding place, similar to what Hannah's cottage was to Prudence and Kit. So it kind of represents both the learning to read and the secret nature of Kit teaching Prudence. 

Hopefully that makes sense, the connection made sense to me so I decided to go with it, but I feel like it is less obvious than a lot of the projects I make to go along with books so hopefully it isn't too much of a stretch. 

I wanted to make the book look old, like an old leather book. I started with a plain unfinished wooden book box. Then I used mod podge, a napkin, clay and paint to give the book box the texture and color that I wanted. I also used paper to line the inside of the box. 

I feel like it was really fun to play around with different materials to try to create the textures that I wanted to make the book look the way I was trying for and I think it turned out pretty cool. My 12 year old daughter so my finished box and immediately asked if she could have it when I was done with my post, so I guess that means it turned out pretty good. 

How to Decorate a Wooden Book Box to Look Old

You will need:

• unfinished wooden book box
• Mod Podge
• napkin or tissue paper
• air dry clay 
• paint in desired colors- I used 2 shades of brown and 2 shades of cream (Plaid Folkart in Coffee Bean, Burnt Umber, Linen, and Vintage White)
• paintbrushes
• paper to line inside (2- 12x12 sheets of scrapbook paper or cardstock)

Instructions:

Use the air dry clay to make accents to put on your box, set them aside to dry. I rolled out thin ropes and used them to make raised pieces to put on the spine of the book box, trimmed and shaped to fit on the curve of the spine, and also to make a rectangle on the front of the books. 

To create the wrinkled texture on the cover of the book box take a 2 ply napkin (or tissue paper) and separate it into 2 thin sheets. Using one sheet (I used the inside sheet so it was plain white, not printed, but it doesn't really matter since you will paint over it) ball it up to wrinkle it, then open it up. Put a layer of Mod Podge all over the front of the book box and lay the tissue over it. Don't worry about wrinkles, you actually want them this time. Trim the edges so it fits the top of the box (I just ripped it off around the edges). Then repeat that same process on the spine. Put another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the tissue. Let dry. 

When everything is dry glue the clay pieces in place on the box, I actually just used more Mod Podge, putting some underneath and then putting it over the ridges as well and making sure it was stuck well. Let it dry again.

Paint the book in the lighter brown and the edges of the pages in cream. I painted the edges and inside edges of the cover brown as well, not worrying about the center of the inside because I would be covering it with paper. 

It took a couple of coats to get everything well covered, make sure you get in all of the wrinkles of the tissue and in the crevices of the clay ridges. 

Finish off painting your book by dry brushing some darker brown paint over the cover to give it some added dimension and streaks of the other shade of cream to the sides to make it look like pages. 

Finally cut the paper to fit the inside dimensions of the box as well as a piece to fit on the inside of the lid (don't cover the magnet). Spread Mod Podge over the space you will put the paper, then place the paper down. Cover with another layer of Mod Podge. Let Dry.