I think I can safely speak for all of us when I say that sometimes we just need a day to ourselves…I feel like it’s been AGES since I was able to do my SSB (“Secret Single Behavior,” if you’re not a big Sex and the City fan like me), which typically consists of playing the Sims 3, watching sappy chick flicks in my pj’s, taking a bath every other hour or so because I get chilly so easily, etc. etc. Don’t get me wrong – I ADORE our “us” time, but it had been a long time since I had a little girly time alone…
But this Saturday changed all that when John decided to go on a camping trip with some of his buddies. When he left the house at 2:30pm, I heaved a big sigh in the contented silence of our near-empty home, kicked off my high heels…
…and got comfy in my fuzzy slippers. It was time for some “me” time 🙂
After a bit of random lazy-around-the-house activities (mentioned previously), I decided to do something productive and got to work on a Pinterest project I had been wanting to try. The idea was to wrap a pair of bricks in pretty fabric to create bookends. Genius!
No real source for this one…The link didn’t seem to catch properly on the pin – Sorry about that!!!
Instead of doing the smart (and free – although possibly illegal) thing and grabbing a few bricks from a construction site, I went to Lowe’s and did the responsible thing. Only problem was that my karma was DEFINITELY not with me that day, because they had run out of standard bricks, and all I could buy were these mismatched pavers. One was a bit thicker then the other, but they were the same measurements everywhere else so I bought them anyway…They were pretty cheap too – No more then $3 each – so I couldn’t get too worked up about the predicament.
As you saw in this recent post, I had a lot of fabric to choose from – I just grabbed the top pattern in the basket and went with it. I ended up with the big, wide pattern.
Using nothing but this handy-dandy, much-loved, often-used tool…
I got to work attaching the fabric to the brick!
Only problem was that, after cutting the fabric swatch to size and test-wrapping the first brick, I realized that the “big, wide” pattern was a bit TOO ” big” and “wide” – You could hardly see any of the pretty details and shapes on the small brick!
So on to the next option! This second fabric is a bit tighter in pattern and the shapes are smaller, so more can fit on the brick’s surface.
Starting over, I cut the fabric to fit and then laid the brick in the middle. Then I put a few squeezes of hot glue right on the surface of the brick, folded the fabric on top and pressed until it seemed secure.
Then I put some hot glue on top of the fabric I had just laid over and then pulled the other end over the remaining exposed brick. This is when I realized that I should have folded over that raw edge of fabric so that my uneven cutting didn’t show…Oh well! I’ll just put that side towards the books to hide it. Oh, and don’t worry about that excess glue showing. Once it dried, it was easily peeled off and discarded.
For the ends of the brick, I just folded the fabric over like you would the wrapping at the end of a gift box – My sister is SOOOOO good at this, I wish she had been around to help me…But mine came out okay!
Here it is all done!
On to the next one – This time I made sure to fold over that pesky raw edge to get a nice finish…
MUCH better:
Time to test them out.
I first tried them on the inside of a bookcase, as seen below. I liked them in that arrangement, but they seemed a bit hidden.
I put them sideways inside the book case because their “spines” (i.e. the thin,outside edge of the brick) were a little boring. If the bookshelf walls hadn’t been there to hide the pretty outside, flat edges it would have been fine. But alas, they would have been hiding in the recesses of the enclosed shelf.
Solution? I took them out and put them out in the hallway in a place of real visual glory!
(Sorry for the terrible lighting…No windows makes it hard to photograph anything in that hallway!)
I love how, when out in the open, the fabric pattern wraps around the brick. And of course I picked books off the shelf in the same color scheme as the fabric (blue, white, yellow and green) – Gotta be consistent!!!
One thing I have to mention is that the hot glue and extra folds of fabric on the ends of the brick make them a bit wobbly…But once they sandwich some books and have something to lean on, physics (or something…) takes over and all is in tip top shape and balance.
Not only do the pretty finished edges look refined and elegant, they also remind me so much of Christmas presents – What’s not to love about that?
A fun, simple and ALMOST free project! And they help keep my extensive book collection in check all with a little style to boot. You should DEFINITELY try this one at home 🙂
