My little cousin is a book worm and he was starting high school...as a gift i thought to make his own engraved book ends.
I got the engraved idea from Creativeman ( I love his instructables) .
As this was the first time i was playing with concrete I make the molds from styrofom too as i thought to just try it out and see how it goes...And it went pretty well! :-)

Step 1: Materials

Paint
gesso/ filler
paint brushes
Cement
Sand
something to mix the cement and sand
clear tape
scissors
thick Styrofoam (I used 1/2" thick....it would have been better to use 1" thick or more for the mold)
1/4" Styrofoam for letters.
hotwire cutter

Step 2: Make the Mold

Cut the Styrofoam in to small rectangles according to the measurements you want with a box cutter.
Cover one side with clear tape (this is so you can grease it and also for easy removal...and you can reuse it.)
then make your box by pinning the Styrofoam...reenforce with masking tape.
Print out your letters and then transfer it with carbon to the Styrofoam.
Then Cut your letters with a hotwire cutter and glue it in the mirror image. to the bottom of the mold.
to make sure the letters don't move you can pin them too.
Now grease well with vegetable oil.
mix your cement and sand...in 1:1 ratio...add water little by little till you get a slightly thick mixture.
pour on the letters slowly...make sure that it goes into all the little nooks :-)...then pour more and flatten the top. I should say vibrate the box a lot now...but since it's Styrofoam...just rest your molds in a wobbly table and shake the table...or like i later thought make your cement mixture a bit liquid so there is less chance of air bubbles. once done let dry.

slowly unpin your mold and remove the Styrofoam letters....if you find it difficult to remove with a pin or something simply pour a cap full of acetone and your are done! :-) it's that quick
If you like the concrete look you may sand the edges and leave it like that.
else...go to next step.

Step 3: Paint It!

I wasn't too worried about the air bubbles as i was going to paint it.
I filled the holes with wall filler and painted whole thing blue...make sure the paint goes inside the gaps where the letters are.
once dry i painted colored strips....you of course can paint it however you like!
hope you enjoy making it as much as i did!

thanks for reading through! if you like this please vote above for the Make it Stick Contest!