I made these book ends for my game room, I saw these busts at a comic shop and thought they'd make cool book ends.

materials

1- 1"x6"x48" piece of wood (i used oak for weight)

1- can white primer

1- small sponge roller

1- tube gorilla glue or wood glue

4- cans spray paint (or less depending on the colors you need)

1- roll masking tape

2- toys or figures (i used marvel bust banks purchased at a local comic shop)

2- pieces of felt

1- tube felt glue

Tools

mitre saw

c-clamps or carpenters clamps

tape measure

pencil

ruler

x-acto knife

Step 1:

start with a 1x6" piece of oak from lowes it was about 8 dollars.

Step 2: Cut the Bottoms and Backs

cut 2 4" pieces and 2 6" pieces using a compound mitre saw. any chop style saw will work. or if your really good with a skil saw you can try it that way. the 4" and 6" pieces fit perfectly for what i'm using them for but you could make them bigger if you are using them on tall books.

Step 3: Add a Little Design

i cut off the corners of the 4" pieces for the half hexagonal shape i wanted on the base of my book ends. you dont have to do this but i thought it would make them look nice.

Step 4: Sand Edges

sand all the edges to make them slightly rounded and smooth.

Step 5: Glue and Clamp

using a gorilla glue pen and a c-clamp or carpenters clamp, you apply a small amount of gorilla glue between the two halves and press them together. make sure they are lined up on the bottoms, so your book ends sit evenly. you only want to use a small amount of glue because gorilla glue expands. now you can check on your book ends every 5 minutes to wipe away any glue that has foamed out. or you can come back later and cut off and sand any excess glue.

Step 6: Resand and Clean

after your glue has dried completely (see instructions on bottle) remove the clamps and sand or correct any issues from the glue.

Step 7: Prime Your Bookends

prime the bookends to ensure that you get even color when painting them. it may take multiple coats to get the bookends smooth i think i put 4 coats in all. paint them, then sand down any wood splinters or imperfections. and repeat until they are smooth enough for you.

Step 8: Paint Your Bookends

using spray paint, paint your bookends the primary color you are using. it is a lot easier later if you use the lighter of the 2 colors first. as the darker color will cover it up easier.

Step 9: Cut Your Designs

once they are completely dry, at least 24 hours. tape the entire bookend off with masking tape and draw out the design you want on your bookend (i used the designs of wolverine and deapools costumes). using an x-acto knife cut out your design leaving the masking tape covering the parts you want to remain the primary color you used.

Step 10: Peel Off Detail Tape

now paint the bookends again using your secondary color. allow it to completely dry again. and using your x-acto knife to pull up the corners and peel off the remaining masking tape. being careful not to damage your awesome paint job.

Step 11: Felt the Bottoms

cut some felt squares or whatever shape matches your base and glue it to the bottom of your book end using felt glue. i like to put some felt on the bottom so the slide smoothly.

Step 12: Attach Your Figures

after the felt glue dries, you can attach your busts/toys to the bookends, using either hot glue or super glue. (depending on how permanent you want to make them) you can also fill the busts, or toys whichever you used. with art sand or pebbles to give them weight depending on how heavy your books are.