Dr. Frankenstein’s Journal

$10 - $15 (based on 2020 prices)

Makes one journal

 

No mad scientist’s laboratory would be complete without a cataloged account of their experiments, so I created a fake journal to adorn one of the laboratory tables in 2020’s haunt. The prop is rather easy to make and, if there was more time (the curse of most haunters), I would have liked to create several to litter the laboratory.

• Five sheet of blank tabloid paper
• Sixteen sheets of blank copy paper
• Three sheet of copy paper with journal writings
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat black*
• One 10 oz. can of interior/exterior, fast-drying spray paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat black*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat brown*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in metallic gold*
• One 2 oz. bottle of acrylic paint in flat red*
• At least four tablespoons of black tea (e.g. Darjeeling, Earl Gary, English Breakfast, etc.)
• One pan large enough to soak the paper
• One 4 oz. bottle of all-purpose tacky glue*
• One to two yards of gray thread
• One 20” x 25” piece of cardboard
• One large paper bag
• Two small skeleton decals

1. Boil enough water to completely submerge the paper and pour it into the pan. Add the tea. The longer you allow the tea to brew, the darker the stain will become. Likewise, greater amounts of tea will produce a richer stain. I found that a combination of English and Irish Breakfast brewed for over ten minutes produces a nice, deep brown. Submerge the paper into the tea mixture and soak it until it reaches the color you desire. I soaked mine for eight hours and scattered the loose-leaf tea over the top of the paper to add spots. Remove the paper from the water and allow it to dry. Although it can be time consuming, this process works best if you stain each sheet of paper individually.

2. Fold the tabloid sheets in half and glue two sheets of blank copy paper on each side to form folios. Then, for the portion that will be open for display, glue the journal sheets on either side.

3. Glue the four blank folios closed and, after this, adhere two of each to either side of the journal folio. This will form a books which will open in the middle to reveal the written entries.

4. Use the gray thread to haphazardly bind the folios. As you do so, refrain from tying them too tight, since this will prevent the book from opening. This entire step is meant to be purely aesthetic and add to the book’s aged look.

5. Cut the cardboard into two 9” x 11.5” sections to serve as the covers for the book. You do not want them excessively large, since this will prevent the item from opening.

6. Cut the paper bag into two 11” x 13.5” sections and use them to wrap the covers. For the best results, press the paper as smooth as possible, removing any bubbles and wrinkles. To assist in this process, use a firm piece of plastic, like a credit card.

7. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, dust the covers’ surfaces with black and brown spray paint to give them a level of age. Then, water down black and brown acrylic paint and drip it along the edges.

8. On a newspaper-lined surface in a well-ventilated area, give the skeleton decals a base coat of black spray paint and then, once it has dried, gently brush metallic goal over their raised surfaces to give the appearance of distressed metal.

9. Glue the decals to the covers and use metallic gold to title the journal and red paint to smear bloody handprints on it’s surface.

10. Attached the covers to the folios. To make the book easier to open, align the edges of the covers with the spin.

11. The prop can be enhanced further with additional embellishments like an old bookmark protruding from the pages, dabs of green paint along the cover to simulate mold, or a collection of worms eating the pages.

*You will not use the entire bottle’s content for this project.