Hello and happy February 1st! Where have you gone, Father Time?! Did you know February has 29 days this year? Does that mean there are 366 days in 2012? Weird. I guess our employers get a free day out of us. *disgruntled*
Today’s project is one I am stupidly, inappropriately giddy about, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you! I’m also on a roll with the $2 project this week, since my only purchase was….wait for it…..
…..Plastic elephants from the dollar bin! I found these at the Target Danger Dollar Zone for $1 each, and the spray paint I already owned (duh). As for the rocks, you can find them in the garden department of the hardware store, on walks in park, or stone yards. I happen to have a stone yard nearby (kind of random, right?!), so I grabbed my ‘Rattlesnake Rocks’ (that’s really what they’re called) there. The poor guys were so confused by my request, they just let me wander around and take whatever scraps I wanted.
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| I originally planned to use stone tiles as the bases, but they were too small and not heavy enough to hold the weight of books. |
I didn’t love the tusks, so I trimmed them off with scissors, then gave each animal a few light coats of spray paint. I wanted the rocks to sit straight, so I filed the bottoms down using our concrete driveway. A dot of super glue to the bottom of each foot adheres the plastic to the stone.
Here are the mighty elephants now!
I think my Living Room was getting too sweet, with all the soft blues and pinks, so I’m adding some pops of red to liven it up. The Elephant Bookends are the perfect addition to our Updated Bookshelves!
Oh, Elephant Bookends, how I love thee! (See, stupidly, inappropriately giddy!)
So are you off to raid your kid’s toy closet, or the local dollar store? You can find these plastic animals everywhere! In fact, I can’t seem to stop spraying them, and have another goodie to show you soon! As well as more red accents!
So cute, had to pin it. What a great idea. Thanks for sharing, liz
Oh my gosh these are SO stinkin' cute! I MUST do this soon!!
Amazing! You never cease to impress me. I too am obsessed with the target dollar bin. It is quite the money trap! Love the book ends ! oh and glad you trimmed the trunks they were extra long ( wonder what that means in the elephant world)!
GIRL!!! This is why I love you! Fabulous and affordable. A project with scissors and spray paint. This is a DIY I might actually try! Don't be too shocked if you see something like this in baby boy's room soon 🙂
They look great with the lined bookcase, pretty clever!! Janell
Love the little things that can make us giddy!
Love it! So cute and easy. What a great idea!
Very impressive!! You are so creative! I can't wait to make my own set.
Love these so much! Just yesterday I was spray painting little animals for a project I plan to share tomorrow. This is super inspiring and I might try it!
Jenny
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
There you go again…genious. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought of this…they look fantastic!
These are so great! Love them! They go perfectly with your eclectic and fun decor!!
Those are such a great idea! You really are so clever. I love that they look so posh, but were done so economically!
Love your newly styled bookcases! They look magazine worthy!
This is ridiculously genius and adorable!
ok you are the smartest little gal ev-ah!!! I love this!!! I've been trying to think of something for my boys room and I am totally going to steal- um I mean borrow this idea!! LOVE it!
Genius!
Such a cute & clever project Cassie! Love it.
So smart!! I love them!
Haha! Those are so cute! You are too creative!
I.LOVE.THEM!!!! As a mattao'fact, headin' to Tarjay right now!!!!;)
Oh Cassie this is SO fabulous! I have so many of these little guys left over from Operation Shower. Maybe I should make some for Lauren's room.
AWESOMESAUCE! i am all over it!
This is pretty darn amazing!! Love how high end they look once they're finished!
Ok, those are rediculously perfect!!! And you are insanely creative! I'm pinning these bad boys 🙂 This makes me want book shelves so I can decorate them.
Cassie…these are just too cute! Love a cheap DIY that turns Fab!
Genius! I would love to try this in H.'s room or for on top of my piano. Your shelves are looking so fab. Just pinned them to my "shelves/styling" board. 😉
Abby
Adorable!! You are so creative! Love them!
So cute! I love elephants 🙂 What a fun idea…
So perfect!! Love them… Please link them up to my no spend link party!! I am digging through my sons animals is I type!!
Ah! So cute! You blow me away with your creativity – so great! And love the colour!
love it!!!
awesome, you seriously have some of the best ideas.
Well your brilliance has helped me deal with a little dilemma. I was thinking I was so brilliant to come up with the idea of spraying some cheap animals but couldn't for the life of me figure out what to mount them on. Look for my brazen rip off of your idea coming soon!!
Such a smart idea!!! I like the pops of red. I also love the white vases with the pink bases on the top shelf. Did you paint those? How did I manage to miss those beauties in previous posts?!?!?
LOVE it!!!! This is an awesome project Cassie 🙂 Keep 'em comin'!
You smart cookie you! I love. The styling on the bookcases is looking so great.
Yep, that dollar bin will get you every time! Love the red Elephants!! So cute!!
How fun! I love the rocks you used…(is that a weird thing to love?) they didn't scratch up your driveway? Genius!
Now that is just awesome! Your bookshelves look really cool- I love those pink dipped bottles at the top too.
I LOVE them! What a great idea! The red looks great in the bookshelf.. good call:)
Brill.I.Ant.
OMG. I am so doing this in my son's room. What a great idea, Cassie!
Ha! Now THAT is creative! I love it! The red paint was the perfect choice of color too! Very cute!
What a clever idea!! Love them!
I was totally thinking about spraying the dollar giraffe I bought! hahah! awesome!
So darn cute and clever!
what a wonderful idea!
LOVE this idea! might have to try it in turquoise or orange for my girls room!!! thank you
http://www.glitterandgoldblog.blogspot.bom
My oh my, those are awesome! How clever you are. They look so professional.
These are so great!!! They look really high-end! And I am so in love with your whole styled book case. It seriously looks like a magazine!
Came over from Serenity Now party!
xo Megan
Just too cute! I love the Dollar Zone too:)
These are awesome! Although I must say I would have loved the tusks myself! I can definitely see myself making this project in the future!
These turned out great. Spray paint never ceases to amaze me!
Wow love that cross section fabric behind the shelves. Did you do that yourself?
i featured these adorable bookends at my blog today!
http://www.kimboscrafts.blogspot.com
Amazing! What creativity! I love them, they look great.
What a great idea! You are so creative. I will be pinning this so I can recreate it!
Thanks!!
so much better red! I love them!
You should join me for handmade 52 http://raisingoranges.blogspot.com/2012/02/handmade-52-5.html
Are you kidding me? Plastic animals? I never would have thought to do this! And how perfect and interchangeable for whatever animal or various themes you'd like. I love it! Thanks so much for this GREAT idea! I'm always looking for wonderful ways to hold up my books.
Hey! I did this too a while back in November, I got my elephants for $1 at Target! I picked gold spray paint! Check them out on my blog Hello Boudreau or over at Mr. Kate from The Nate Berkus Show 🙂
http://helloboudreau.blogspot.com/2011/11/odds-bookends.html
&
http://www.mrkate.com/2011/12/02/reader-submitted-diy-bookends/
Genuinely,
Kelly
http://helloboudreau.blogspot.com
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Milodon 84550 Aluminum Blower Stud Kit
so cute! love them
Passing this one on to the school – i think i may have more than i can use soon lol
{Popping over from Mrs. Limestone's} I seriously want to go out and buy some plastic elephants right this very second! This if fab!
Hey Cassie, love your blog. I didn't realize you made animal bookends too! I also have an obsession with spray painting things! Thanks for checking out my dino bookends too. xoxo
Thanks for giving me another great idea on how to decorate my bookends. I think this would do it. Using other items that i can stick into it would be very cool. I can also use action figures in this.
Thanks for sharing such kind of nice and wonderful collection……Nice post Dude keep it up.
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home decor accents
outdoor furniture
so very cute! I must do this project one day.
These are so cute and elegant! I've just featured this tutorial on my blog: http://jadeandfern.com/2013/04/05/friday-finds-not-so-hidden-inner-child/
Love this tutorial! Very cute but still elegant. I've just featured it on my blog: http://jadeandfern.com/2013/04/05/friday-finds-not-so-hidden-inner-child/
Can you tell me who the artist is for the picture on your bottom shelf (girl in flower field)? I lOve it! Thanks.
Is it possible to use normal acrylic paint to paint the animals?
Absolutely! xo
Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I featured this project on my website as one of my Top 10 Favorite Back To School Crafts! You can check it out at
http://greyposy.com/top-10-favorite-back-school-crafts/
I love it! Thanks for sharing this great idea! You're amazing!