You're one drill, a book and some Googley eyes away from a freakishly creepy Halloween craft. I really hate the word craft, but that's what this is. A cheap and easy Halloween DIY for scaring those you love.
I've always had an affinity for all things creepy. If I were to dig deep inside my sub-conscience I'd say it goes back to my maternal grandparents. They were weirdos.
My grandmother was ... well ... just weird, and my grandfather was a dentist. When I was 6 or 7 I used to look at his medical textbooks that were from the 1920s. I'm not sure if you've ever looked in a book of pathology from the 1920's but they're pretty disturbing. Lots of pictures of people who noses growing out of their elbows for instance - that sort of thing. Everyone knows for a fact that pathology books are where TLC gets ALL of their hit show ideas from.
Because of that text book and those grandparents I was shaped into the creep freak you see before you. In turn, I like to pass that quality onto you folks. Think of me as your book of pathology.
General Instructions for this Halloween DIY
For this moderately disturbing DIY you're gonna need just a few things. A book (the one I used happens to be about murder which I thought was a nice touch), a drill, and some glass or plastic eyes. Pluck them from anywhere or anyone you can.
If you're looking for something even more disturbing may I direct you to the crown made of actual bones?
I found my plastic eyes at the Dollar store. Old dolls, Halloween accessories or crafting stores should have them too.
All you do is drill holes into the centre of a book. You can use a drill bit the size of your eyes or you can cut the book with an Xacto knife. But BE careful, you don't want to end up looking like something from a pathology book.
This is just a "photo". When you're drilling your book, press down on the pages so they're compact while you're drilling otherwise the pages will just rip and tear. I didn't show a photo of me pushing down on the book on account of the fact that my man hands were more disturbing than this Halloween DIY.
True story.
Clean up the holes in your book a bit with some scissors.
Now just drop your eyes in. And you're done. If you want to be. It'll look like the photo below.
Do you want to take it to the next creep level ? Start tearing away at the drilled circles you've made. The outermost circles should be the biggest, getting smaller and smaller as you get deeper into the drilled hole. In other words, you're ripping out sockets.
This technique is harder than just drilling but gives you what looks like an ACTUAL eye socket. I've also used some black magic marker around the paper edges that touch the eyeball to make it look more ominous.
Also upping the creep factor? Using eyeballs that move. Like these. Which were $1 each from the Dollar Store. When you set the book slightly upright the eyes look up at you.
Creepy Halloween DIY Alert.
Book with Eyes.
Creepy Halloween DIY Craft. Book Eyes!
Going creepy for Halloween is the ONLY way to go. You can whip this creeptacular Eyes in Book DIY with just a book, a drill and some fake eyeballs.
Materials
- Book
- 2 plastic or glass eyes.
Tools
- Drill
- Drill bit that's slightly larger than the size of your eyes.
Instructions
- Open your book up to where it naturally falls open in the middle.
- Drill a hole on both pages, approximately ½" deep each. Hold the pages down firmly while drilling.
- Clean up the torn pages a bit.
- Set the eyes into the holes you drilled and assess. If the eyes aren't recessed enough into the book, drill a bit more.
- If you're happy with it, glue the eyes into place. If you'd like to go one step further, continue to step 6.
- Tear as many pages as your strong little fingers can handle into a bigger circle. Continue on doing smaller and smaller circles so the torn holes get concentrically smaller the deeper they are.
- Place your eyeballs in and glue in place.
Notes
To go ALL the way, use an appropriately creepy book. You can find scads of choices for $2 or so at a second hand store.
You'll get the most creep possible if you can find eyes that move like dolls eyes.
Tearing the pages is hard work, I'm not gonna lie to you. But it really makes the whole effect way more realistic and creepy.
Look for eyes around Halloween in dollar stores. Don't forget to check for rings, masks or necklaces that might have eyes on them.
Or you could order some from Amazon where they have a surprisingly huge selection of glass eyes.
Make your socket look more ominous by smudging some black marker around the edges that touch the eyeball.
They say you can't judge a book by its cover. You have to judge it by what's inside. I tend to agree.
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I have always loved being, "scared to death", by all things creepy, full of gore and horror. Gimme skulls, zombies, spiders, blood and guts. Anything.... except eyeballs. I have to admit that while the gag is a brilliant idea, this post freaked me out! I just can't handle eyeballs on their own. I had to close my eyes for the pictures while reading and scrolling. LOL...I think I was traumatized way back from seeing the movie Black Christmas. You know, when the eyeball looks through the crack in the doorway?
This popped into my head as a way to turn this into a costume:
Wear something historical (say Edwardian to 1930s) clerky/bookish/tweedy. And then put an extra pair of arms on the back, holding this book open, around waist level so it can be seen easily.
Bwahahahaha...and I'm not even fully caffeinated yet today.....
This is such a cool idea for Halloween (or even a birthday present to someone with "our" sense of humor). I even have chocolate candy wrapped in foil that makes them look like eyeballs. But, I like the eyeballs that move The Best!!
Before I retired from my old job as an Electronics Buyer I use to put 6" glow in the dark snakes in the envelope with my purchase orders at Halloween. I did it for years and then we switched over to faxing them and put a stop to my fun! I did get a LOUD phone call from a clerk who opened all the mail. She said she entertained the whole office dancing around the room when the snake fell out of the envelope and into her lap. Ah, good times!
I admire your creepiness-thanks to you I had to explain to my husband why there's a bowl of old chicken bones in the garage.
Love this!
Here's a great creep for you Karen. Halloween costume. Dress up like a nurse. Go buy a whole chicken at the grocery. Dry it off and fashion a doll sized diaper pinning it with old style diaper pins. Wrap the chicken carefully in an infant receiving blanket. For an added touch you can pin your favorite political button directly on the breast ofa the chicken. Voila! Your friends will get the surprise of their life when you --the baby nurse hand over your bundle of joy for their admiring cuddles and they fold down the blanket to reveal a headless chicken.
This is a never fail -- surprise creep Halloween costume.
You've finally given me a reason to buy 50 shades of grey...lol!