• Home
  • About
  • My Home
  • Project Gallery
    • Decorating
    • Painting & Antiquing Techniques
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Build It
    • Electrical
    • Plumbing
    • Gift Ideas
    • Sewing
    • Tool Tutorials
    • Home & Auto Maintenance
    • Landscaping & Gardening
    • Photography
    • Recipes
    • PHG TV
  • My Toolbox
  • Contributors

Pretty Handy Girl

A DIY Blog Empowering You to Complete Your Own Project. Build it, Fix it and Do it yourself. Home project tutorials.

  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Home
  • About
  • My Home
  • Project Gallery
    • Decorating
    • Painting & Antiquing Techniques
    • Arts & Crafts
    • Build It
    • Electrical
    • Plumbing
    • Gift Ideas
    • Sewing
    • Tool Tutorials
    • Home & Auto Maintenance
    • Landscaping & Gardening
    • Photography
    • Recipes
    • PHG TV
  • My Toolbox
  • Contributors
Home » arts and craft » Kids Bookend Kit: Build your own bookend

Kids Bookend Kit: Build your own bookend

April 17, 2013 Jaime Costiglio 10 Comments

844shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

bookend3

Do your kids want to build and paint just like you?  This project a great beginner build for young ones who want to get in there and make something to call their own. And once they’re done building they can paint it too!

bookend9

Or give the build as a unique personalized gift for that artsy friend who loves to paint:

bookend4

Attach a cute gift tag (download my tag free from here) and include some fun acrylic paint colors and brushes:

bookend11

This project is super kid friendly, I tested it at my 6 year old daughter’s birthday party and all the girls absolutely loved building their own project .  We used kid sized drills (like these kid sized drills) and they truly enjoyed painting their bookends:

bookend10

Here they are all lined up drying outside:

bookend8

Materials: (for 1 bookend)

  • 1 – 1 x 4 @ 5″ (base)
  • 1 – 1 x 4 @ 4 3/4″ (side)
  • 1 – 4″ wood letter (available here)
  • Drill and countersink bit
  • Wood glue
  • 4 – 1 1/4″ #8 wood screws
  • Circle cutter (if desired), punch & string
  • Acrylic paint & brushes

Instructions:

Note: An adult should complete Steps 1 – 3 to cut and predrill the pieces beforehand.

Step 1: Cut pine boards to size.

bookend

Step 2: Pre-drill two holes down through the 5″ (base) piece and into the end of the  4″ side using a countersink bit.

Step 3: Center wood letter on base piece and predrill two holes down through base into letter.

bookend1

Now we’re ready for kids to build.

Step 4: Attach the side piece to base first.  Set two screws in position but not all the way down.

Step 5: Apply wood glue to short side piece where the holes are predrilled. Then place base piece on top creating an “L” (upside down) and finish attaching screws flush.

Step 6: Apply wood glue to base of wood letter and screw in place.  It’s much easier if you let the L portion hang off the edge of the table (see picture).

bookend2

Step 7: To give as a gift, print out the project tag (free download here), cut with a circle cutter, punch hole at top and attach with string.

bookend5

bookend7

The natural wood look is nice but my kids love to paint. See how colorful and fun the bookends look painted, especially next to the kids books:

bookend6Grab your kids or make some bookends as gifts, kids are sure to love this fun project.

Jaime signature

~ Learn more about Jaime ~

844shares
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

You might also like:

arts and craft, book, Books as decor, Build It, Crafts, Gift Ideas, gifts, painting

Comments

  1. Patty says

    November 17, 2013 at 10:03 am

    These are a great simple project for kids, BUT they aren’t heavy enough to hold up any books!

    Reply
  2. Crystal says

    April 18, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    I love it!! So cute!!

    Reply
  3. jessica @fourgenerationsoneroof says

    April 18, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    This is a great idea! I could use a few of these myself 🙂

    Reply
    • Jaime Costiglio says

      April 18, 2013 at 9:45 pm

      Thanks Jessica, you and Jayne will be debuting the adult versions! They really are super fast and easy.

      Reply
  4. Jayne says

    April 17, 2013 at 3:02 pm

    What a great party idea, so cute. I think I might try to make this myself they are awfully nice bookends 🙂

    Reply
    • Jaime Costiglio says

      April 18, 2013 at 9:44 pm

      Thanks Jayne, you could even do a nice adult version with a bit of stain. Glad to hear they’re not just for kids :).

      Reply
  5. Christine says

    April 17, 2013 at 9:48 am

    You, my dear, are an absolute genius! This works great for a birthday party. I can think of so many themes that could incorporate this project. Pinning now!

    Reply
    • Jaime Costiglio says

      April 18, 2013 at 9:43 pm

      Thanks Christine. They are a fast project for the kids especially because kids love to see a completed piece (instant gratification) and then get on to painting which is fun too!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, I'm Brittany aka Pretty Handy Girl. I like the smell of coffee and sawdust in the morning. I live to break stereotypes and empower you to take on your own DIY project.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Saving Etta - Follow the Adventure to Flip a Historic House

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Privacy Policy

Affiliate Link Disclosure:

Pretty Handy Girl is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Copyrighted Content Permission

All images and tutorials on this blog are copyrighted material. Please contact me if you would like to borrow any media (photos, video or audio files), tutorials, or ideas from this blog. 99% of the time I would be happy to allow you to use one photo with appropriate credit and link back to PrettyHandyGirl.com (preferably to the same post it was borrowed from.) I can be contacted via email: PrettyHandyGirl (at) gmail.com.

© 2021 · Pretty Handy Girl ·

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok