Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Book Fairy Costume










Last year I  decided I was going to be a diction-fairy for Halloween. I had been making book page wreaths for my winter boutique and this just kinda evolved out of hours spent with a glue gun and  rolled book pages. If you have made a book page wreath the this should be pretty simple. If you haven't made a book page wreath then it's still pretty easy just with a bit more reading. Rather than make a new one, I'm just breaking down how I made it last year so if it gets confusing just let me know!

Book Page Tutu
First take a scrap of fabric 3-4 inches wide and cut it to just a few inches longer than what you want the waist to be. You want just a few inches of overlap to make it easier to put on and so there is no gap in the back.

Next lay the strip of fabric out flat and begin gluing on the rolled papers in rows along your strip. I started with the bottom row and went up so the pages with lay out nicely. 
For each rolled up section of paper I used 2-3 pages together because dictionary pages are so thin. 
To make the paper rolls I like to do a mix of actually rolling the pages into cones/tubes

and mixing in a few more free formed paper rolls. Like this S shaped roll

Make sure after you roll the pages that you fold the end before gluing so the rolls spring out like a tutu and not just lay flat.
To glue the roll down you will apply glue only to the folded part of the roll and then stick it down to the strip.
Continue rolling and gluing until the entire strip of fabric is covered except for  a few inches at the end. I did 3 layers of rolled papers but for fuller tutu you could continue to add layers.
here's the 1st/ bottom layer

2nd /middle layer and you can see the top layer folded over to the side

and here's the finished tutu. Once I had the top layer all glued down I  went along the top edge and trimmed along the strip of fabric so I would have a nice straight edge. I like the raw edge look of it this way but this year I might go back and add some ribbon along the top edge to make for a more finished look.










At the end you could either attach the tutu with safety pins or fold the ends over and add a cute ribbon to tie the tutu with. Last year I did saftey pins and they worked out fine, this year I want  to go back and add the ties to make it easier to take on and off. 
Also if you are making this for a child you would want to maybe do the ties so there is no fear of poking with the pins. 


Dictionary Fairy Wings





First you remove the entire cover from the dictionary. 









I wanted fairly rigid wings that would not flap around as I walked so I took a piece of  scrap wire from my garage ( you could use a wire hanger) and bent it slightly then hot glued it to the inside of my wings. 

next to cover the wire and add some interest I glued several fanned out pages to the inside of the cover.

Near the top of the center binding I punched 2 holes and strung a large rubber band through to use as straps to wear the wings. You could certainly use ribbon here and even leave the ends long so they flutter behind you as you walk. I think that is what I'll be doing for this year!

here's what you can see of the rubber band as you wear the wings. The large rubber band made for a very comfortable fit last year but honestly I'm not sure where this gigantic band came from.
This year I will be wearing this again but I am hoping to go back and re-vamp it a little and maybe even make myself a paper corset or paper wig to wear with it. What ever I do, I promise I will not wait until the last second! 
Hope this tutorial is inspirational for all the amazing things you can do with paper! All together this costume cost me only about 10 hot glue sticks, 1 thrift store dictionary (50 cents) and about 2 hours to put it all together.
If you decide to make an outfit please share your photos!

Ladybird Ln


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47 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the Book Fairy costume directions! Some teachers I work with and I are going to be Book Fairies this year for Halloween. I am so excited to get started on this costume! Thanks again :) Great idea.

    -Katie :)

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  2. Oh my goodness unbelievably cute! What a great idea!

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  3. I just found your lovely blog from ucreate. This costume is amazing! I'm from northern ca too, I look forward to following your blog.

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  4. So creative! Voting for you on CSI!

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  5. LOVE this, featured you on my blog today!
    http://diykindagirl.blogspot.com/2011/09/friday-finds-93011.html

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  6. Tu-Tu cute!!! Very inventive:D

    Visiting from LadyBird Ln linky party,
    Smiles,
    Suzanne in NW Illinois

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  7. Absolutely one of my favorite adult costumes ever! Smart, clever and creative! I saw your link-up over at Ladybird Lane today, and will be sharing a link to your post with my Facebook readers and on my Halloween Pinterest board.

    Have a great weekend!
    Jenn

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  8. This? Is amazing. Really creative. I might just have to do this for ME for Halloween! I shared this on my crafty facebook page, because it's so awesome : )
    Jaimee @ craft-interrupted.blogspot.com

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  9. WOW! That is crazy cool! What a great costume idea!

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  10. I just saw this on the CSI project. This is so cute and creative. I'm trying to talk my friend into doing this for Halloween. I would totally do it if I didn't already have a plan for my costume. I'll send you pictures if she does it!!

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  11. Definitely a winner, uh, in my book! Love this costume!

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  12. Sooooo stinking adorable. You look way cute in the costume.

    Found you via TT&J Weekend Wrap Up and am the post one after yours. I would love if you checked out my blog too! purplestpecalin.blogspot.com

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  13. This is just too cute! I linked to you in a post about book inspired Halloween costumes: http://readingconfetti.blogspot.com/2011/10/book-inspired-halloween-costumes.html Thank you!! Lorie

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  14. I LOVE it! I am being that for halloween. thanks soooo much!

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  15. Working at a bookstore this is perfect for me! Just hope I have enough time to get it made. Thanks for sharing this.
    Hope you will check out my blog.
    http://cnavphoto.blogspot.com/2011/10/ghosts-or-old-school-photo-fun-with-new.html

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  16. Just finished making my tutu! How cute:) Did you make the wand too? I might just use a store bought one but I like the one you have too. I will be wearing it this week for our vocabulary parade at school. I will be the word fairy ( I used encyclopedia pages - all I could find) and my 26 kindergarteners are each a letter of the alphabet:) Thanks for the idea!

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  17. I loved this cute costume idea! It's perfect for my 14 year old daughter who loves to read. You can see my finished costume here on my blog. http://devinandkathy.blogspot.com/2011/10/dont-be-shocked.html Thanks so much for the most perfect idea! It was a huge hit at the Halloween dance my daughter went to. She even won a prize!

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  18. This is adorable and have decided to make it for my 10 year old bookworm. She is very excited. We made some differences b/c she would not even let me get an outdated thrift shop book to desecrate, so we compromised and used newsy magazines, newspapers and book dustcovers (which she has removed from every book she owns). It has made a very colorful tutu! We've added a necklace and made book covers out of Shrinky Dinks. I will try to send you photos if you'd like to see it. I hope it comes out half as good as yours. I am considering going as a book lamp to continue the theme. BTW - I found out about yours from my niece who sent the photo to me via FB. I like lots of your other ideas too. Am an architect and love your kitchen! Thanks, Jeanne

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  19. I love this costume! they have a costume contest at my school and i think i have a good chance of winning, thanks to you...

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  20. I like your blog,and also like the article,and thank you for provide me so much information :)) uv detector

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  21. I put the tutu and wings over my "librarian" outfit and won the contest! Thanks for the awesome idea!

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  22. I used this tutorial to make for my daughter for Halloween. She got SO many compliments! Thanks for the great idea!

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  23. wow.. i tried this for my neice and she LOVED it it's a great way to spend time with your little fairy and a inexpensive way to make a unique costume. i reccomend it for ANYBODY

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  24. I did a variation on your book fairy costume and wore it today to give books away for World Book Night. My high school kids treated me like I was crazy but I think they secretly liked the whole thing. Thanks for the great idea and thanks for sharing!-Kyla in Texas

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  25. This is the cutest thing ever! I'm going to make it for Halloween next year.

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  26. This is absolutely adorable - I found it on Pinterest. Well done!

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  27. Helpful info. Fortunate me I discovered your website accidentally, and I am stunned
    why this twist of fate did not came about earlier! I bookmarked it.
    Take a look at my homepage : halloween

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  29. Love the costumes---they are all so fun and great ideas. Now I've just got to get started.Super selection of Costumes and Canada Halloween costumes for adults, kids, babies and infants at super low prices with same day shipping.

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  30. Very cute fairy costume, I like book idea, I was looking costume for my school party I think it is best costume. Thanks

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  31. I haven’t tried creating book page wreath before but I hope creating this costume will be easy for me. The tutu looks so cute and the dictionary fairy wings look unique!

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  32. So excited I found this tutorial...I was curious if you were planning to do an update anytime soon? I want to make it for Halloween! :0)

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  33. I just finished making this for my 11 yro daughter that loves to read. Everything looks so cute. We added a little sparkle to the tutu, wings and wand with glitter and sliver "gems". I had little time to make it and needed to be able to work on it durning a car trip, so I modified the tutu by stapling the rolled pages to a wide length of ribbon instead of glueing. I then, when I got home, folded over the ribbon and hot glued it down to cover the front and hot glued another narrower ribbon on the back to hide the staples. It worked great! Thank you so much for this great idea!!

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  34. Absolutely love this costume. I am an author and I am going to create this out of my book for Halloween! Thank you for the inspiration :). So crafty!

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  35. Awesome idea!!! I decided to do this as my costume to wear at our church Trick a Trunk event. But instead of using a dictionary I used old phone books instead. The lay of the tutu is so ADULT friendly. The tutorial was very easy to follow too!

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  36. I am an elementary art teacher and teach all ages Book Sculpting...so, I sort of took this idea and went a bit further...I made the costume to wear to our school's Book Fair & Family Night...it was the hit of the event! Later in the week, I wore this to an adult Halloween Party and everyone was amazed by it. I actually hot glued the wings and the flowers to an old white shirt. I did 3 layers of cones on a misc.piece of tule...I teach my students also to make paper 3-d snowflakes and I like to make them out of book pages with a paper rose in the center....so, I used the idea to make headpiece...I made the wand from one of my book sculpture with roses piled on top and streamers down the side...also made a messenger style bag to carry books etc. in....I'm trying to find a way to post the pictures...thanks for a great idea!! Terri in Pensacola,Fl.

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  37. Thank you so much for the tutorial and inspiration! I made my own version to wear to work in my Children's Library as the Book Fairy and it is a hit! Thank you again.
    Karen in Jonesboro, AR

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  38. Hi! I was SO excited when I came across this idea since I was totally blank for Halloween this year. Here's my take on it: http://aisle-hi-five.blogspot.com/2012/11/jam05-when-creativity-spews-out-like.html

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  39. I finally posted my version of this darling costume on my blog today.

    http://thosenorthernskies.blogspot.com/2012/12/ahemah-yeshalloweed-costumes-oh-yes.html

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  40. Adorable costume! And such a great recycling activity for kids too!

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  41. Love love love this diction-fairy idea!! So very creative and fun too! Thank you for the idea and tutorial! Catherine

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  42. I am a Librarian at a small school. Every year at out Fall Festival we also put in out Book Fair. You have given me the great idea to dress up as a Book Fairy! Thank You!!

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  43. I love any craft that includes book pages and your costume is awesome! I just featured it in my 25 Last Minute DIY Halloween Costume Ideas post :)
    ~Katie @ Upcycled Treasures

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  44. Hello, Lillie, One of my graduate library classmates shared this post with me and I was inspired by your outfit to make my own for Halloween. I had a grand time--I tried to use all things related to what we check out at our library to make it. I'd love to show you a picture of the costume. How would I do that?

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