How to make wood bookends from salvaged materials

I have a thing about books….like the actual paper page, hard back, colorful binder, musty smell, non-virtual kind. You might have guessed I had a thing for them from the name of this blog. Books and shoes…you can never have too many. Our collection of books is rather enormous, and I’m constantly picking up new ones at thrift stores. I just can’t resist when they usually only cost a few cents.

Naturally, I rather adore bookends and interesting things to prop up my books. I made this set of wood bookends from some architectural salvage I found at my local salvage shop. The “L” shape of the bookend is two blocks of wood, 6″ x 5″. I used a 1 x 6 and sliced it up with a miter saw. (Miter saws are weirdly addicting…you should try it.)

I used wood glue at the bases to put them together.

Leave it alone until it’s thoroughly dry. Reinforce with screws (not pictured).

Grab something interesting for the decorative part of the bookend. I used these two wood tops that came from stair rails. Glue together and again reinforce with a screw.

Make sure all surfaces are sanded smooth and then work some magic with paint. I did a brushed metallic silver over black paint for an industrial sort of look.

They don’t match perfectly, which I sort of love. An eclectic look is so much more interesting to the eye, don’t you think? Don’t forget to pad the bottoms so that your bookshelf won’t get scratched!

These are quite sturdy and hold my thick books upright easily.

You could use about a million and half different things to glue onto the wood to make interesting bookends…deer antlers, rocks, driftwood, small vases, vintage cups, small figurines, wood letters…what would you use?

P.S. These bookends are available for purchase HERE.

Romans 5:21   That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

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