DIY Potions Book Candy Bowl
Something's brewing — luckily it's something sweet. Make this spellbinding Halloween candy bowl from a stack of book boxes.
Karen Kavett
Materials + Supplies
- 3 large book boxes
- masking tape
- pencil
- craft knife
- black paint
- silver paint
- paintbrush
- black craft foam
- letter stickers
- tacky glue
- hot glue
- dowels (optional)
Stack and Mark
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Stack in Place
Begin this project by stacking three large book boxes on top of each other, using masking tape to temporarily hold them in place.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Trace
After stacking the decorative book boxes in your chosen design, mark where the books overlap. Flip the entire stack and mark where they overlap on the bottom of the books.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Stack three large book boxes on top of each other, using masking tape to temporarily hold them in place. Mark where they overlap. Flip the stack over and mark where they overlap on the bottom of the books.
Cut
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Mark
After marking off where the book boxes overlap, disassemble the stack and connect the lines, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the book boxes so you can glue the stack back together later.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Cut
Using an Exacto knife or box cutter, follow the lines you marked to cut out a hole in the middle of the book.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Cut
Use an Exacto knife to cut out the top of the bottom book, the bottom and top of the middle book, and the bottom of the top book.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Cut and Stack
After cutting the book boxes, restack them. They should form one large container for filling with candy later. Make any necessary adjustments here before painting the book boxes.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Use the lines you marked as a guide to draw, and then cut out a hole in the middle of the book, leaving a 1-inch border around the edge of the book boxes so you can glue the stack back together later. Cut out the top of the bottom book, the bottom and top of the middle book, and the bottom of the top book. When you stack them on top of each other, they should form one large container.
Paint
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Bowl Candy Bowl: Paint
To more visual interest, you can paint one of the hollowed out book boxes silver. We'll use black paint to give it more depth and an aged look in a later step.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Paint the books black or any color of your choice. We painted two of ours black and one silver.
Embellish
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Cut Craft Foam
After tracing, cut out the craft foam letters and any additional embellishments.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Position Craft Foam Letters
Position the craft foam letters and embellishments on the spine of the books and on the front of the top book.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Trace letter stickers and other shapes onto craft foam. Cut them out to create decorations for the book spines and the front of the top book.
Glue
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Glue Foam Embellishments
Use a small paintbrush to paint tacky glue onto the foam letters to adhere them to the spines of the book boxes.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Gluing "Spells" Letters
Use tacky glue to decorate the spines of the painted book boxes. For our silver book box, we added the word "Spells" and stars.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Glue the embellishments onto the books with tacky glue.
Paint
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Paint Foam Letters
If you painted one of the books silver, paint the black foam letters silver as well.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
When the glue is dry, paint the letters silver on the silver book.
Age
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Age
Use black paint and a stiff, dry paintbrush to gently sweep black paint onto the spine of the silver book to create depth and give it an aged look.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Age
Next, sweep silver paint onto the spines of the black book boxes with a stiff brush to give them depth and an aged look.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Lightly brush on black paint to give the letters an aged effect. Repeat with silver paint on the black books.
Reassemble, Glue and Fill
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Glue
Once the paint dries, use a hot glue gun to begin assembling your stack of book boxes.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Glue and Stack
Use hot glue to assemble the decorated book boxes back into a stack.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Touch Up
Once the glue is dry, open up the top book and touch up any bare spots with black paint. Let dry completely.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Use hot glue to glue the stack of books together. Touch up with more paint if needed. Fill with Halloween candy.
Add Dowels
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Add Dowels
Optionally, paint two small dowels black to prop open the candy bowl
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Potions Book Candy Bowl: Add Dowels
Optionally, position two painted dowels to prop open the candy bowl.
Photo By: Karen Kavett
Optionally, paint two dowels black and use them to prop the candy bowl open.
