Hi, It's Lainie here and if you have been around lately, you have probably seen that I love Halloween and all the fun, silly, spooky decorating that goes along with it. Well, I am running a challenge at Flying Unicorn (here) for a really cool altered Potions Bottle, and of course you can't have a Potions Bottle without a Book of Spells prop, too. Therefore, I wanted to use very similar techniques with a few changes to alter a faux book (really a storage box) my mom gave me a long time ago - but you can use any real book, too. Flying Unicorn Store also sells a smaller book that can be altered with a cute mini inside (here.)

I started off using the Golden Medium Regular Gel that was offered in a sample pack in this months Kit of the Month - this stuff is great and it dries clear. I applied it with my little palette knife. While it was still wet, I added some web chipboard pieces. When that dried, I found some old thick cardboard letters that were in a suitable style (the color doesn't matter, only that they are raised) and arranged and glued them down.

Next, I mixed some Ayeeda Vivid Blue paint with some Mink Pearl Ex pigment powder to get a peacock blue color for my base.

When the base was dry, you could see the form taking shape. I then sprayed a little Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray in Screamin' Banshee Black all over for added depth.

Next I added touches of Silks Acrylic Paint in Rich Cobalt and Spiced Pumpkin for some color variation and a rusted, aged look. Then I inked the top of the letters in Prima Ingvild Bolme Black Chalk Ink.

After everything was dry, I added the last touch of Viva Décor Inka Gold (man, I love this stuff!) And the last, piece de resistance is, of course, Flying Unicorn Adornments and some chain.