Fun and Unique Bookends

How cute are these?!?  I saw this genius idea from a great little site called Mad in Crafts and decided to try something similar!

I found these two toys from Goodwill for $1 each.  By a stroke of good luck, I found a couple of sets of plain metal bookends at Goodwill too - each set was $1!

I used my Dremel tool to cut each of the toys in half. 

***Make sure to use safety glasses and a mask.  Cutting these plastic toys kicked up a LOT of little plastic particles, so please be safe!!

UPDATE: I have found that using a chop saw is much easier to use to cut these and gives you a nice clean edge.  A Dremel will still work, just a suggestion!  And again - wear safety glasses!!!

I used Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint to give them a great bronze look.  You'll want to use several light coats of spray paint to keep the paint from running. 

UPDATE: I've found that it looks better if you glue your pieces on the bookends FIRST, then paint the entire piece.  Obviously if you want your animals a different color than the bookends, then don't do this, but otherwise try it this way :)

Once the paint has had plenty of time to dry, just glue each half onto the metal bookend (I spray painted those bronze as well).  I use E6000 glue and so far it's held up really well.

That's all there is to it!  I'll be scouring the thrift stores for more fun toys to cut in half :)

UPDATE: I have found some really cute animals at the dollar store, but they were too short to attach to bookends with the hole in the middle (like the ones with the horse attached above).  I've come up with a solution: use a small piece of wood from the craft store (mine were $.79 at Michaels).  Attach the wood to the bookend, the animal to the wood, then paint the whole piece.  Here's an example:

Have fun creating your own bookends.  Or if you really like the ones I made, check them out on my Etsy shop!  Happy creating friends!