A couple of weeks ago, I came across a blog post featuring this adorable Dinosaur bookend:
I fell in love with it on several levels. For one, it's just too cute. For another, I write a book blog called Story Carnivores and our mascot is a T-rex. I decided that a painted dinosaur bookend would be quirky and perfect. It took me a while, but I finally found the perfect dinosaur for the project.
I bought it at Goodwill for a dollar, and I'm sure the cashier thought I was nuts, since it was the only thing I found in that store! I wish I could let Tryshen know that his dino went to a good home.
When we moved into our new house, there was some scrap wood left over from repair to our back porch. Ruby picked out a piece for me. I decided I didn't want to spend the money on a nice beveled piece. Dinosaurs are rough and tumble, right? Their bases can be, too, I guess. I used wood glue to attach the dinosaur to the wood. It worked like a charm.
At first, I thought I'd just copy the original picture, since I loved it so much, and use green spray paint. I had a half-full can that I bought for a dollar at Goodwill during a different shopping trip. But for some reason, maybe just because the paint was old, the paint didn't give good coverage to the dinosaur and the base. Even after three coats, it didn't look right. I also thought that the green made the dinosaur look like a lizard.
I had a $4 can of metallic spray paint that I'd bought to freshen up this:
I still need to get to that, but I broke out the paint and gave gold a try. The results were instantly spectacular! I absolutely love my new dinosaur book end.
I spent a dollar for the dinosaur, the wood was free, and I used maybe another dollar's worth of paint and glue--cuteness for two bucks! I think just about anything would look great glued to wood and spray painted. Ruby has some plastic horses that I'm thinking might make pretty awesome bookends for her bedroom.
I especially love the way the dinosaur looks like he's taking a step, sort of, so he's putting his shoulder into holding up those books. What a good boy!
The bookshelf might be his new home, but this dinosaur is simply irresistible in his natural environment. I'm seriously tempted to collect a bunch and just line my patio railing with them!
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