Romeo & Juliet "Pop Up" Book

Part of the Katie's Crafting Closet series hosted by Two River Theater. For more Shakespeare inspired crafts, check out our previous projects here.

Make You Own Shakespeare Faux Pop Up Book 

Soft, what light through yonder window books—uh, breaks!?! 

This DIY crafting video was made as part of the promotion of the Two River Rising Benefit Reading of Romeo and Juliet in the summer of 2020. The project was inspired by the opening night decor of another TRT Shakespeare production, The Merry Wives of Windsor in 2017. 

Opening Night decoration for The Merry Wives of Windsor. 

Tutorial Video

Follow along with the video tutorial, or use the step by step instructions below. Remember to share your artwork! We would love to see what you've created - tag @tablesettingismylife on your completed project.

Materials and Supplies

This project was originally crafted during the beginning of the Covid-19 lock down, so I used whatever material I happened to have on hand. 

• Old book
• Romeo & Juliet book pages (print onto cardstock for sturdier pop up) 
• Theater set template 
• Poster board or cardboard for backing 
• Moss
• Hot Glue Gun
• Scissors

Step 1 Book It 

Start by gluing the spine of an old opened book to a base. 

For my base, I used foam board covered in moss (from another opening night project). You can use a piece of foam board, some old wood, card board - whatever! The base just needs to be large enough to glue the book so it stays open. 

For Romeo & Juliet book pages, I did a google image search and printed the pages to fit an old book, then glued the R&J pages on top.

Step 2 Gather the Actors 

Using the google search images, I printed the R&J book pages onto cardstock paper. Then, using the same paper (now with book page on it), I printed out my template and cut out the silhouette images. 

Notice the tabs on the bottom of some of the images. Fold these tabs down. This is what you will use to attach to the opened book. 

Step 3 Set the stage

Glue strips of foam board or cardboard to the back of your large images to help keep them sturdy.

Then glue the folded tabs onto your book.

To hide any white paper, glue strips of book page on top of the tabs. The words do not need to match up... no one will notice! Refer to the tutorial video to see how I did it. 

Step 4 Curtain Up 

Bravo! Project complete. For more Shakespeare inspired crafts, check out our previous crafting projects here. 

Make sure to stop by the #TableSettingIsMyLife Etsy shop for the Playwright Signature Series ornament of William Shakespeare.

About Katie's Crafting Closet at Two River Theater

A part of #SceneAtTwoRiver, Katie's Crafting Closet is a monthly series where I get to share crafting projects inspired by past productions at Two River Theater. 

Check out TRT's website for other staff member spotlights, artist features, workshops and more!