Beetlejuice - Handbook For The Recently Deceased Build

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 seen 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 (Extra Strong Pritt Stik), 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!).

 

If making this again, I'd probably use rubber adhesive, or contact adhesive.

And here we are:

B'bye kitty!

 

You can see the overlap from the back 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:

 



Lookit that texture!

I think the canvas would work better on an actual book, as I had to play around with the edges of the cover to get it to fit. The material can fray when cut, so use of a sharp blade is best for trimming.

The canvas took the inkjet print really well. I expected a little softening of the edges, but it came out very sharp!
The printable coating is only on one side, so if one were to use this stuff to make a map,for example, the back would probably take weathering & aging a little differently.

This would be great for quick & dirty embroidered-style patches for a costume, tho they may need sealing.

BONUS! Beetlejuice flyer from the book!

Had some free time today, so I made the Betelgeuse flyer that falls out of the Handbook. Don't think I've seen it around? I know how pointless it is to say it, but please don't steal it for profit.

Hand drawn from screengrabs, tho the running family is almost all guesswork.
Would make a cool T-shirt!

Paper size (print to fit page) (click to enbiggen:

Screencap:

The result after a little tea-staining:

Probably went a little heavy on the staining, but its fine for it!

Once dry, I sprinkled a little talcum powder on it to smooth it out - fades the ink down a tad, and once rubbed in gives an almost greasy, aged sheen to the paper.

Grateful thanks to Howlrunner on www.therpf.com for pointing me in the right direction on a couple of points!

Thanks for reading!

Coz.