Scrap Wood Book End DIY

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 I love to decorate with old books. They make my heart sing. All that crusty worn goodness is a treat for my eyes! Making sure these little treasures stay put in bookshelves and decor vignettes is important so I thought it was high time I created some DIY book ends from scrap wood. Wanna see what I cam up with? Yayy, let’s take a peek…

I feel like this simple scrap wood book end hold endless potential. I mean you can really finish it up a million ways to fit your style, so once you get the basic form down make it your own! I’ll show you how and give you some DIY ideas in a second. 

In case you are new here, last year was the roughest year of my life. I know it was tough for many as we navigated a pandemic and all that came with it. Running became an outlet for me on days when I thought I might just literally burst into flames with all the emotions and thoughts churning through my body. Running helped me not explode. It was a time to zone out and listen to my favorite music, cry or dream but most of all pray. The harder I ran the harder I prayed, sometimes the prayers were anger at God and sometimes shouts of thanksgiving. 

One day in particular, shortly after I made these book ends, I was running and crying and thinking out loud with God. I was looking at a particular book of my life and very angry at the book ends that I felt held the story together. Maybe you’ve done the same thing? Do you see a certain relationship, illness, time period, tragedy, job or struggle as a chapter or book in your life? Maybe it was great or maybe not. Maybe it’s still playing out or maybe it was years ago. Sometimes the chapter starts off amazing and ends sour and often it starts rough and ends up spectacular. Our lives can easily be divided into books or chapters (or is that just me???). 

On this day I was grieving bookends that held harsh words. Words that threatened to define a book of my life and leave me with tarnished thoughts and walls a mile high. Words like failure, grief, betrayal, disappointment and hopelessness. Eyeballing an imaginary book shelf full of books from this section of my life library I was distraught dwelling on the words that glued them together.

And that’s when I heard Him. I heard God gently love me through my hot tears and tell me…”I AM the bigger bookend.” 

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 22:13

He reminded me that He is bigger than any trial, any disappointment and any situation I may face.  The truth is our books are filled by stories and interactions between us and other humans. Books full of sinners, especially myself. Sure to disappoint and unable to be our salvation. Don’t get me wrong, community is right and good, ordained by God, but we live in a fallen world. Most stories have a mix of pain in the recipe. Even the fairytales. 

The mind blowing news is all the good, all the bad and everything in between is sandwiched by the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and the end. He is the outside set of parenthesis. He is the wrapping paper shrouding life in a layer of love, holding the joy and hurt together in with crisp lines and straight tape.  That loss, that person, that hardship, that set back is never ever the end. It’s not the last word, the last chapter or the last book on your shelf. The scathing words and hard memories aren’t what holds you up or defines you. God is. Heaven is. God wins. Therefore, because He chooses YOU and ME: we win. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

I started running a little slower, tears drying and smile forming. The truth will always do that. A warm hug of The Word from the big man never fails to calm my heart. And now the next book sits wide open with crisp clean pages waiting to be written, lessons learned and trust in the forefront. Freedom flies all around me. My prayer is that you will close the books that need to be closed and open the ones begging to be written. Then let God wrap them up in His good good love. Thank you so much for being a part of one of the most beautiful books on my shelf. 

How to Make DIY Scrap Wood Book Ends

1. Start with a 4″ X 4″ post. Please note the actual size of a 4X4 is 3.5″ X3.5″. 
2. Cut your post into whatever height you would like your book end to be. If you want a square then cut it 3.5″ long.
3. Paint or stain your wood. 
4. If you want to write words on your book end you can stencil them, hand paint them or trace and paint them.
5. To trace and paint your words print the phrase in your favorite font in the correct size on your printer. Use carbon paper to trace the word onto your book end. Use a small tip brush and acrylic craft paint to paint the letters you traced. 
6. Use straight metal brackets (like these) to attach to the bottom of your wood book end. Simply screw them to the bottom and allow them to stick out long enough to slide under a book or two. 
7. Some optional ideas to decorate your DIY book ends: Glue finials or trinkets to the wood for added interest, decoupage a pretty napkin on the wood as “paint”, paint stripes or circles for a whimsical design.