Animal Bookends

I found this idea over at Mad in Crafts while searching for cheap and easy crafts.  And boy, oh, boy, was it ever - cheap AND easy!  My husband and I worked together to make these two last night for our niece and nephew.  We're planning on getting them some books for Christmas and packing these cute bookends in with them.  I had everything on hand except for the animals and frames, so each bookend set ended up costing me a total of just $3!  Pretty cool, huh?

What you need:
- 1 plastic animal or car ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- 2 acrylic frames 5"x7" ($1 at The Dollar Store)
- hacksaw
- hot glue gun, super glue, or some other kind of sturdy glue

Optional:
- Scrapbook paper
- puffy paint

How to make:
1) Cut the toy animal or car in half with the hacksaw.
2) Glue each side of the animal to a frame.
3) Done!

You could stop there or take it a few steps further, like we did.

1) The frames lean inward at a slight angle.  To help them behave more like bookends, we slowly and CAREFULLY held them over the stove flame until the plastic became warm and slightly pliable.  Then, we worked the bottom little by little until the frame sat more straight up, closer to a 90 degree angle.  Obviously, this is optional, but it helps the books to stand up a little better.
2) Insert a piece of scrapbook paper into the frame for a cute background.  Plus, the paper kind of helps to camouflage any messy gluing.
3) Add embellishments - I had some cute letter stickers and used them to spell the kids' names.
4) Add a few drops of puffy paint on the bottom of the frame, the side that it sits on, and let it dry.  We found that the frames are pretty light and adding the puffy paint helps to create a little bit of friction and keeps them from sliding.

I think these turned out so cute.  I plan on making some for Olives room.  Now, if only I can find a plastic cat...