How to Make Book Ends

Books that lean against each other or slide across the shelves make the entire room look messy. It's also a lot harder to find the book you're looking for when they're all slipping and falling. You can make your own functional, yet whimsical, bookends in about an hour. Keep your books neat and upright, and find exactly the book you want from now on, without them all tumbling to the floor.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 4 Bricks per bookend
• Duct tape
• 2 Cardboard boxes
• 2 Small bags of sand
• Household glue
• 2 Half-gallon milk cartons
• Gift wrap
• 2 Chinese food cartons
• 2 Fortune cookies
• Gold spray paint
• Cowboy boots
• Plaster-of-Paris
• 2 Plastic bags

1. Wrap one strip of duct tape around the middle of one four-brick stack. Now wrap another piece of duct tape around the length of the four-brick stack. Cover the bricks completely with the duct tape, and place on the book shelf with your books neatly arranged in between. This is "techno-geek" decorating.

2. Put one bag of sand in each cardboard box, and glue the top firmly closed. If you use cereal boxes, they look especially cute and add a touch of whimsy holding up the recipe books in your kitchen.

3. Wash the milk cartons thoroughly and let them dry overnight. Put one bag of sand in each carton, and glue the top closed. Decorate each carton with glued-on gift wrap as a nice finishing touch. If you don't like the "peaked roof" look to the top of the carton, cut the top off. Turn it upside down and glue it into the carton, peaked side down. Finish it by covering it with gift wrap. Your choice of gift wrap determines the decor accent.

4. Buy two unused Chinese food cartons from your favorite restaurant and two fortune cookies. Spray paint the cartons and cookies gold. Let the paint dry overnight. Put a bag of sand in each carton and glue it shut. Glue a gold fortune cookie to the top of each carton for a set of Oriental-style book ends.

5. Mix the Plaster-of-Paris with water, according to directions on the box. Pour into the plastic bag lining each cowboy boot and let the plaster set up completely. Trim away any plastic bag that shows above the tops of the boots. Now you've got western-style book ends.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the cereal box book ends in a kid's room as a fun touch. You could use two identical recipe card file boxes and fill them with sand instead of using food product boxes for your kitchen book ends. Use pretty paper fans folded out and glued to the front of the Chinese food cartons if you don't want fortune cookies on top. You can fill in the tops of the cowboy boots with moss and short-stemmed wildflowers. You can also paint the plaster the same color as the inside of the boots, using poster paint and a small brush.
• Be very careful not to get Plaster-of-Paris on your skin. It can cause a burn if you don't wash it off immediately. If you prefer, use bags of sand instead to fill the boots. If you have a teething toddler or curious new puppy, don't use the spray-painted fortune cookies on top of the food cartons. Gold spray paint is not to be nibbled on or eaten.

Resources

• An actual history of book ends
• If you want more of an interior designer look