I thought I would mention this little project I did recently.
We are redoing my little girl’s bedroom and I was looking around for a whimsical bookend for a few things on her dresser.
She just started Kindergarten and we are reading chapter books now so I wanted a special place to keep those books readily available.
I have been eyeballing these little owl bookends from Pottery Barn Kids but to be honest, I am too cheap to shell out $30 for bookends.
So I decided to try and figure something out on my own. I wound up making little bookends that cost $2.00 plus a little spray paint so not too shabby.
These are not so very attractive owl things from the Dollar Store. The important part is that they have little holes at the bottom and they were hollow inside.
So I grabbed two of them for you guessed it- $1 each.
We marched home and I just used a can of spray paint to paint them. I had silver I wanted to use but any color would be ok.
Once they were spray painted, I took little rocks I had left over (from that boot tray project awhile back) and filled the hole. Then I just taped over the hole to keep the rocks inside. That makes them sturdy enough to hold some weight.
If you don’t have any rocks on hand, you can grab a little pack of rocks or marbles for just $1 at the Dollar Store while you are there.
I have found these to be pretty sturdy and they will hold a few paperback books. You could also just do one of them to use as a little display piece on shelving units.
I also wanted to mention another idea. Pottery Barn Kids has these lovely little silver birds that are $29 for a set.
I spotted some that are very close to this look at Michael’s for just $3.99!
I think these look almost the same and if you grab a Michael’s coupon- well you have a great deal! I didn’t test the weight on these so they might not be sturdy enough for bookends but I do think they would be a really pretty little display item. You could always lay the books flat on a dresser and then put one of these birds on top as a paperweight.
I personally like the shiny silver better but if you prefer that Matte finish, just grab a can of silver spray paint and you should have something really close to what they have.
I love Pottery Barn products but not necessarily the price tags. Does anyone else have a Pottery Barn knock off idea? I’d love to hear what you have come up with!
I am so glad you posted this! I was just considering buying the pottery barn birds for my daughters room, but really didn’t want to pay that much! Thank you for sharing the deal at Michael’s!
Megan,
Here is the coupon for this week:
http://www.michaels.com/c/081912-TLC,default,pg.html
or most stores take competitor coupons as long as you print them out, so here is Hobby Lobby for 40% off
http://myfrugaladventures.com/2012/08/hobby-lobby-40-off-coupon-3/
These are great ideas, and I also wanted to thank you for posting about the Ivy & Bean box set when it was under $14. I bought it for my 6 year old, and she LOVES the series. What a deal for 8 books that she has been reading all summer. I wish it wasn’t up to $99 now so I could buy some as gifts! Also, the new book is coming out in Sept. I have to admit I will probably pay the $10 for it.
Oh Betsy I am soooo glad you got that!! I swear that is one of the deals I always think of when I remember back to the very best stuff I have posted. You got a steal ;). I wish I had grabbed some for gifts!
the inspirational idea looks like stuffed animals. you could take stuffed animals that stand up but your child does not play with much, or get animals from thrift store or freecycle. slit them open along a seam and add some small or medium river rocks, or ziploc bag of sand, and then sew back up. should be sturdy enough for bookends or a doorstop.
Cute! Thanks for all DIY ideas lately. How do you have time for this with two kids and a blog??!!
Cute ideas! If you are crafty and have time you can always use felt–heres a quick tute I found online:
http://weefolkart.com/?q=node/265
I always love spray paint for fast quick decorating and making everything look uniform–getting different sized vases, spray painting white and putting on a dark wood bookshelf looks REALLY good. Also thrift store furniture with some loving looks great too.
How cute!! and for $2! Thanks for sharing!
Yours look even better than the PB bookends! I love all these ideas you’ve been posting lately. Keep them coming please!
LOL- Ana the PB one is way better but thank you so much for the encouragement :). It wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I thought for the price you can’t beat it :).
When you say dollar store, do you mean dollar tree? super cute. thanks for sharing.
Bree,
Any Dollar Store will have a ceramic figurine section but I think I did shop at a Dollar Tree.
I saw these at the dollar store and thought they were cute! But also cheap looking as well because of the color. I love how you painted them, they look so great!!
Thanks Amanda! They feel flimsy but once you add the rocks, it is actually really sturdy. Ours holds several books :).
Just stumbled upon this earlier today and made them tonight! So, so cute. I filled them with sand (also purchased at the dollar store) and then glued a circle of felt around the bottom of the figurines- now they’re quite sturdy!
Thanks for the idea!
So glad Erika!