While I haven’t been riding in oh, let’s just round down and call it 20 years, I still am amazed and
in awe of these gorgeous creatures. They are a little scary too for those of us who are not exactly
expert riders.
My daughter Abbie’s room has quite a few horse accents in it, and I find them popping up all over
since cleaning out my family home this past year.
1208 (twelveOeight) , the house I grew up in and our family built, was a small working farm
and orchard for many years. And the inspiration behind this blog of mine!
I think we had our horses until I was about 6.
I was sad to see them go, not really because I had done any riding at that point, but because how much
my Mom and Grandpa loved them.
So many stories, pictures, and memories of the way a tack room smells, and barrels of oats.
So while I don’t have a tack room, just a set of spurs, a few ropes, and lots of equine ephemera,
I thought I might add a twist on these rustic wood bookends by adding a pretty Spotted Saddle
Horse.
I was picking up a few pieces of furniture to refinish from a local thrift store and saw this horse
for .99 so you know, I had to buy it.
Am I the only one who feels obligated to buy really cute things because we are worried that
whoever ends up with them won’t appreciate them properly?
That really sounds like some sort of disorder that should have a name, and maybe some hope
that we can someday use self control when thrifting.
Thrift-itis.
That will work for now.
I brought it home and thought it would look pretty on Abbie’s dresser, but I have seen so many
fun spray-painted animals turned into bookends, or glued to the tops of jars that I figured I could
turn it into something fun.
Here is what I used and how I made these super duper easy DIY Horse Bookends…
Supplies:
- 4 pieces of scrap wood or pine board cut into 6″ long pieces (my board was 5 1/2 ” long)
- Wood stain or antiquing polish that is dark to tint the wood
- Plastic horse, I would avoid one with a mane, it might get messy!
- Saw
- Hammer and 6-8 nails
- Paper towels
- Glue
- Fine sandpaper
Directions:
To connect your wood squares, follow the arrows in the picture above and connect two pieces in an “L”
shape with a few nails. Next you can use either wood stain, acrylic paint, or I used dark wood wax
and I am really pleased with how rich the color is, yet still kind of sheer.
I rubbed in the wax, and once it was completely dry, used a bit of sandpaper to smooth out the edges.
The plastic horse wasn’t quite as easy to cut as the wood, but I just measured the halfway mark from
end to end and made the cut right down the center.
Placing each bookend level in front of me, I chose the placement for each end of the horse and used
a line of glue everywhere the plastic would be meeting with wood.
I let the pieces dry well, and put them to use right away!
So, I’m pretty sure we can safely add “carpentry skills” to our resumes now don’t you think?
So, there you have it. A pair of fun horse bookends that you could do all kinds of different things with.
A hot pink horse, silver horse, painted wood, adding metal brads to the wood for a more
detailed, industrial look. I think a couple of vintage garden gnomes would look like of cute too!
Until next time, thank you for reading friend, love you SO!!
I really like these bookends, Tanya! Very cool 🙂
Thank you Denise!! I really appreciate your sweet message today friend 🙂 have a wonderful weekend- xoxo
Ah, these are so cool! Love them, Tanya!
Hey Alexis!!
Thank you friend 🙂 I just can’t get over how easy they were to make. I hope you are having a fab week- xoxo
My mother’s friend would love this! She loves horses. You did a great job! Happy Wednesday!
My Mom loved horses too, isn’t it funny how having things like that around make someone we love seem right with us? Thanks so much Leslie, hope you are having a fabulous week- xoxo
These are seriously awesome!! LOVE!
Thank you so much Alice, I really appreciate it!! xoxo
Tanya I love this! I had something like this in my head for my youngest son! Now I just need to get on it. 🙂 Thanks for sharing at Fridays Unfolded! I will be featuring you this week 🙂
Thanks Denise!! We are really loving them, and thank you so much for the feature too 🙂 xoxo
Very cute! Perfect for any horse lover 🙂 My sister has a bunch of old plastic ponies like this one, but I doubt she’d let me have one to cut apart – she’s too attached! Haha
I love these plastic ponies! I don’t have any of mine anymore but since this one was a thrifty find I figured it wouldn’t be quite as painful to saw it in half. I still felt a bit like a horse hater though. Thank you again, xoxo
OMG i Love this idea and how they turned out! I have been looking for crazy bookends to showcase in my living room and this hit the spot. I am so excited right now!! I would love to invite you over to my blog to join our link party! I would be honored to have you there!!!
ok, now I am off to rummage through my daughters toys lol.
Shared EVERYWHERE!!
Jess
You are too sweet Jess, thank you!! They are a little crazy, and my 5 year old just stared at me when I came back in from the garage with a plastic horse cut in half. I am sure this will be something that scars him, but by golly it’s for the sake of DIY!! xoxo
I love it. I can’t wait to make one for my granddaughters room. She loves horses and books. Win Win. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Deborah!
My daughter loves them so much too 🙂
Thank you for your sweet message- xoxo
Tanya
Tanya, I love these! Horses have been my favorite animal since I was a little girl 🙂 I’m featuring these at Creative Spark today. Hope you’ll link up with us again this week!
Thank you so much Emily!! I really appreciate it 🙂 xoxo
These came out so great. I’ve actually had a similar project on my list for awhile but I can’t seem to find a elephant. I keep my eyes peeled at every thrift store I am at. The search continues! Thanks so much for stopping by Creative Spark Link Party last week. Hope you stop by again today! http://bit.ly/17pM9dP
Thank you Michelle!!
An elephant would be fabulous, hope you find the right one soon 🙂
Thank you for your message, xoxox
These are absolutely adorable and look easy to make. I think they would make a great client gift for my horse property buyers.
Thank you Dana! That would be a horse lovers dream for sure 🙂 Thank you for visiting!!
xo, Tanya
HK9CWl Thank you for this impressive report. I am refreshed following reading this. Thank you!
This is too cute! What kind of glue did you use?
Just a thin line of high-temp hot glue and I worked quickly before it set up 🙂 thank you for stopping by!!