7 Cool Ideas for DIY Bookends You Can Make

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

Bookends are a dual purpose home decor item. They are really quite helpful in holding up books, and they can also add a little pizzazz to otherwise plain bookshelves. You can even use them to create little vignettes on your coffee table or mantle. And they don’t have to cost a lot of money either–especially if you make your own DIY bookends.

Need a little inspiration? Read on for some easy ideas for how to make your own DIY bookends using stuff you might already have in your home.

7 Simple Projects for Making DIY Bookends

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

1. DIY Terrarium Bookends – Turn mason jars, or other glass jars, into living, breathing bookends and also add a little greenery to your space. Making your own terrarium is super simple, just follow the steps in this easy terrarium tutorial.

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

2. DIY Brick Bookends – Regular paving bricks are versatile and very functional bookends–they can even support heavier coffee style books. The bricks can be covered using fabric or paper, painted, stenciled or left natural for simplicity’s sake. The pictured ones are decorated with painted pop art designs. Image: FancyBrick

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

3. DIY Concrete Bookends – If you are looking for another study alternative, try making concrete ends to support your stacks. Here is an easy tutorial for making concrete bookends utilizing a plastic mold and added felt dots to protect the shelf. Image: mhoch3design

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

4. DIY Beanbag Bookends – Believe it or not those beanbags you learned how to make in camp can actually come in handy for holding up your books. If you don’t remember exactly how it’s done, here’s a simple how-to. These would be ideal for a kid’s room. Image: ColoringTheirWorld

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

5, DIY Thrift Store Knick Knacks – Turn fun and funky thrift store finds into functional bookends by mounting them to blocks of wood and spraypainting them. Use a monochromatic palette or get crazy and alternate the colors. Image: robinseggvintageNC

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

6. DIY Diorama Bookends – If you are a nature lover, consider making your own diorama bookends inspired by some of your favorite natural places. Here’s a fun tutorial that shares one technique for making dioramas. Image: heidis bridge

Bring form and function together with DIY bookends you make yourself.

7. DIY Pipe Industrial Bookends – Have leftover metal or PVC pipe from a plumbing project? Repurpose it into bookends for both form and function’s sake. Here is a tutorial for a project that shows one technique for the how-to. Image: TheCleverRaven

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Image: LuxeWoodworks

Jen Wallace

Jen Wallace shares her indie life by writing about making, creating, cooking, learning, playing, decorating, and pretty much anything else that strikes her fancy from indie biz tips to the modern history of the American hemline.