DIY Harry potter boxes

At the beginning of September my Auntie asked me to make some DIY boxes for her and my cousin and I couldn't wait, she had seen some in a market in London but they were quite pricey! I had been given  picture of the third year potions on one side of a box as the only guide and pretty much got to do what I want with the rest! I knew straight away I wanted to do the other box as if it came from a wizarding shop in Diagon Alley.

To make the boxes you need:
- Plain pinewood box
- Wood dye (  I bought the georgian medium oak - from B&Q)
- sandpaper
- some paint ( I mixed brown and black to get this shade)
- thin paint brushes

Depending on how you want to put the words on.... you can draw them on, but I used
- tracing paper, oil pastel covered plain paper.

Firstly, you need to sand the boxes down to help the dye stick and it'll take two coats of the dye. ( the third pic down is the difference between the two coats! and the second pic is the difference between the original box and first coat) Then cover a piece of paper with a dark oil pastel, trace  your design onto it and then trace it on and paint! I used a really thin brush and just take your time,you can add any accents on that you want!  ( if you make any serious mistakes you can wipe them off with a watered down cloth - just be verrrryy careful) 

First the first box I went for the hogwarts school and third year potions my aunt had sent me a picture of and on the side I decided to add what any 3rd year may need - a cauldron, phials and of course - ingredients! Like I said for the second box  I wanted to do a shop from Diagon Alley, so I researched and found the name and then found some apothecary stickers on pinterest and adapted them to the design I wanted which was the dragon claws.

         Pretty simple and they look amazing! I really loved doing these and I may have to do a few                                                                    more for myself, I'm already brewing ideas!

                                                                            x
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Book review: Queen of the tearling

I was looking for some new books for my holiday and heard that Emma Watson was loving this book ( so much so she is starring in the film version and even producing it!) so I thought this would be the one to take with me. Safe to say I know why she loved it so much. 

This is such a fantastic book, I didn't quite catch at first this was set in the future as she was referencing Harry Potter and the Hobbit and then I realised. Basically in the future Jonathan Tear has a vision of a life where we aren't ruled by technology and we start afresh- this gets expanded much more in the sequel so I'll leave it at that for now.  Kelsea is a normal 19 year old, except she isn't, she's about to come out of hiding to inherit the throne and rule a country she doesn't really know anything about. Her Uncle is the current regent and will stop at nothing to make sure she doesn't make it to claim what is rightfully hers. Her Uncle is also working with the powerful and immortal Red Queen for Morteseme. Kelsea has to prove to her guard and the rest of the Tearling she isn't just some girl is who isn't afraid of getting her hands dirty and she stays true to her beliefs no matter the cost all whilst trying to stay alive. I really don't want to give too much away about this book, I think I say this with all my book reviews! It's a brilliant dystopian novel and Kelsea is really relatable. You have a great insight into how her mind works and why she makes the decisions she does. She is trying to best not to be a queen like her mother was but to do the right thing for her people. She's also a 19 year old who has no experience of the life outside of her adoptive parents and hasn't really had any interactions with men or what life is really like. Guiding her is the mysterious Mace head of her queens guard but she comes across many other influencial characters such as the Fetch.  PICK THIS UP NOWWWW  I loved this so much I bought the sequel as soon as I got back from my holiday so look out for that review coming soon! Erika Johansen PLEASE finish the 3rd book and also do more books than the planned trilogy.  Keep up to date with my latest posts by following me! :)
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