10. Hollow Book Hidden Storage Bookend
A hollowed-out hardcover is part disguise, part storage, and part bookend when you weight it properly. It hides small items in plain sight on the shelf and holds the row steady at the same time.
Materials:
- A thick hardcover book from a thrift store
- Craft knife with fresh blades, metal ruler
- Mod Podge and a foam brush
- Wax paper and a heavy book for pressing
- A small fabric pouch filled with rice or shot
- Felt pads
How to make them: Open the book and brush Mod Podge along the outer edges of the pages, then close it and press it under a heavy stack for an hour. Once dry, use the ruler and knife to cut a rectangular cavity, working a few pages at a time and changing blades often. Brush more Mod Podge along the inside walls of the cavity and let it dry. Slip the weighted pouch into the bottom of the hollow to give it real heft, and add felt pads underneath.
Time: one to two hours, plus drying between steps. Difficulty: intermediate — patience with the cutting matters more than skill.
Use it to stash bookmarks, charging cables, or a spare key, and place it at the end of a row of similar hardcovers so it blends in. Choose a book with a spine color that matches your shelf palette, and avoid rare or valuable volumes for obvious reasons.
Frequently Asked Questions
How heavy should DIY bookends be?
As a rough guide, each bookend should weigh close to or more than the stack of books it is supporting. A pair weighing one to two pounds each handles a typical row of paperbacks or a dozen hardcovers. Very tall or heavy art books call for heavier bases, which is why stone, concrete, and brick work so reliably.
What household items can work as bookends in a pinch?
Heavy mugs filled with coins, jars of marbles, stacked bricks, a sturdy plant pot, or a sealed bag of rice tucked inside a fabric sleeve all do the job. The only real requirements are weight, a flat base, and a surface that will not scratch the shelf.
Do bookends damage book covers?
They can if the contact surface is rough or the bookend leans into the spine with too much pressure. Sand sharp edges, add felt or cork to the base, and let the books lean slightly against the bookend rather than pressing them in tightly. Avoid placing heavy bookends directly against jackets that are already fragile.
Can I make bookends without power tools?
Yes. The brick, tin can, fabric pouch, and air-dry clay projects need nothing more than glue, paint, and a pair of scissors. Concrete casting and driftwood assembly only require a stir stick and sandpaper, while pipe bookends are the main project that benefits from a drill.
Which material is best for a first bookend project?
Concrete is a strong starting point because it is inexpensive, forgiving, and heavy enough to work on the first try. Fabric pouches filled with rice are the other beginner pick, especially for anyone who already sews or is willing to use fabric glue.
How do I keep bookends from sliding on a wooden shelf?
Add self-adhesive felt or cork pads to the base. If a bookend still drifts, increase its weight with a hidden sand pouch or a small metal plate, and check that the base sits flat — a single wobble is often the real reason a bookend creeps sideways.
Can kids help make these bookend projects?
Children can handle painting bricks and tin cans, filling fabric pouches, and decorating clay shapes. Keep the knife work, resin pouring, and concrete mixing for adults, and choose water-based paints and glues that are safe for young helpers.
There is a particular pleasure in walking past a shelf and knowing you made the thing holding it all together. Start with whichever project matches what you already have on hand — a spare brick, an old book, a bag of rice — and let the materials guide the style. Paint one bookend a color you would never pick from a store shelf. Leave another one raw and unfinished because the texture is already doing the work. Add a found object, a pressed leaf, or a strip of ribbon from a gift you saved.
Bookends are small enough that experimenting costs almost nothing, and useful enough that even a failed attempt still holds up a few paperbacks. Pick one idea, give yourself an afternoon, and let your shelves start looking like they belong to someone with a point of view.