http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10-bookends-reused-not-bought.html
Reuse and Redecorate! 7 Bookends You Don’t Have to Buy
Reorganizing and redecorating your bookshelves doesn’t have to mean a trip to the store. You needn’t buy expensive bookends to hold your tomes together on the shelf. Instead, rummage around the house for items that are weighty and attractive. You’re bound to come up with something more unusual than those brass numbers you see in catalogs and department stores. And you’ll help save the planet in the process. Here are some ideas!
1. Small jars filled with beads, shells, marbles, or colored sand.
2. Decorative beer steins.
3. Ceramic pitchers or crockery.
4. Duck decoys.
5. Piggy banks filled with change.
6. Small baskets filled with gourds. (Shellac the gourds to preserve them.)
7. Dolls or teddy bears. (Try ones that are tall enough to slide into the bookshelf in a sitting position, with their heads barely touching the bottom of the shelf above).
Adapted from Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More, by Earl Proulx (Rodale Books, 1999).
For more on reducing and reusing things, read Sustainable Dave’s blog To Buy or Not to Buy: Is There Really a Question? or learn all about Freecycling things you no longer need, or finding free items instead of buying new.
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Vinegar, Duct Tape, Milk Jugs & More
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add your comment »i buy my goji berries here http://www.tibetangoji.ca
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My daughter, who is 11 yo, had these boots when she was 3 and could not part with them... When we re-did her room, I took the boots and filled them with a bag of sand, hence instance bookends !! She LOVES them and it is a nice piece of her past for her to enjoy now.
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I love reading Earl Proux-- he is my hero. We share Yankee mindsets that don't let us throw anything out that will be "good for something someday". I look forward to this new book!
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I didn't know about flaxseed oil--great tip. I've used my heavy antique dial phone as a bookend for antique books. Most bookends make good doorstops, too.
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Recycled bricks, pretty rocks, potted plants, those pretty gift boxes I did not ask for, the old iron I never use...oh, my..this could get interesting!!
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Nice ideas. Did you know that flaxseed oil makes a good non-toxic substitute for shellac? It takes a long time to dry, but I've used it for gourds and many other things.
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Nice ideas. Did you know that flaxseed oil makes a good non-toxic substitute for shellac? It takes a long time to dry, but I've used it for gourds and many other things.
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