DIY - Dollarstore White Lion Bookends
September 22, 2011
Earlier this year I was exploring the aisles of my local Dollarama when I came across some rather interesting garden decorations in the form of lions. I liked the shape of them, but since I don't have a garden where they could sit proudly amongst the flowers I left them where they sat on the shelf. On my way home from the store I had what I consider a rather brilliant idea, and a day later returned and purchased two.
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| Dollarstore Garden Lions |
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| Chapters Owl bookends - $39.99 |
Anyway, my brilliant idea was to transform those somewhat regal dollar store garden decorations into a set of bookends.
My first step was to fill my garden statues with the river rock that I also got at Dollarama.
Once all the rock was inside I discovered that the rocks moved around a bit if I moved the lion, so I used paper towel to fill in some of the gaps and reduce movement. I sealed up the hole on the bottom of the lion with some thin cardboard from a box of frozen pizza.
Next up was painting. I decided that spray paint would be the easiest to apply. I mounted the lion on the painters pyramids I used during my first spray painting project. This allowed me to easily spray around the base of the lions. I did three coats of glossy white spray paint, letting it dry completely between coats.
The last step was to glue some white felt to the base of the bookends. This serves two purposes - it covers the unsightly cardboard, and it will also protect any surface I place the bookends on. I traced the base of the lions and then cut inside my pen mark to get pieces of felt that were slightly smaller than the base. I affixed it to the bottom of the lions with my glue gun.
I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the way that these turned out.
- Two dollar store garden decorations: $4 at Dollarama
- Two bags of dollar store river rock: $2 at Dollarama
- White glossy spray paint: $5.49 at Home Depot
- White felt: $1.02 at Fabricland - the location was closing, so it was 60% off $17/yd and I only bought 6.5".
I've decided to name them Fred and George - I'm sure you can guess why.
55 comments
I like them better than the owls. Nice job! I never would have thought to add the river rocks. So resourceful.
ReplyDeleteI love these bookends! You would never guess they were made from dollar store garden lions ;) Great Job! I need some!
ReplyDeleteI think you made them look so much more gorgeous than how you found them! Great job!
ReplyDeleteWow...I've seen this done before, but your detailed tutorial makes yours above and beyond. These lions are super cute...I like the picture of the lion in the box...looks like it's in time out! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWould love it if you would link this up to our Rockin' link party going on now at RoCa and Company. Here is the link: http://rocaandcompany.blogspot.com/2011/09/welcome-fall-and-you-rock-2.html Come and show off what you got. Hope to see you there...
Remember...YOU ROCK!!
Carmen @
RoCa and Company
www.rocaandcompany.blogspot.com
these are fabulous. so creative of you!
ReplyDeletei would love for you to link this post up to flashback fridays going on now over at love notes.
go check it out!
{love} lauryn @ lovenotesbylauryn.blogspot.com
They really turned out great! You did a wonderful job on the tutorial--I may have to make some myself. I think they would be a nice gift idea, too.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had known how well they would turn out - I would have bought more lions and made gifts.
ReplyDeleteOh well - maybe next spring they'll have a different garden ornament I can transform!
Michelle
Sharp and classy I adore the British flag pillow! Come check out blue boy and pink girl!
ReplyDeleteGreat project! I have got to get to the Dollar Store and put my imagination hat on!
ReplyDelete~Pam
pamspaintparlor.typepad.com
Hi Michelle. These turn out so nice. I think they're so much cooler than the Owls and look like you paid a lot more for them. Great job.
ReplyDeleteHugs...Tracy :)
Well, your dollar store lions look very regal now. Nice job.
ReplyDeleteThis looks great! LOVE it! So creative
ReplyDeleteJenny
www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
Great idea!
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful and creative! Hmmm, I'm going to have to really look at the ceramics at the dollar store today, you've made me see some real possibilities!
ReplyDeleteAmazing! My favorite.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe these are from the Dollar Store. Great facelift. I really love them. I would love for you to link this up at my Savvy HomeMade Monday blog party at: http://www.homesavvyatoz.com/blog-party-9/
ReplyDeletebriliant!! love this idea. must find me some lions!!
ReplyDeletechweryl xox.
These are so cool! I love bookends and I think it's really cool that you came up with them yourself. I wish they sold better figurines at the Dollar Tree here in AZ! I'll have to look around the next time I'm there for potential copycat bookends! :)
ReplyDeleteThe bookends are really cool. I love decorating with bookends and books for that matter. Thanks for linking up to Fall into Fall.
ReplyDeleteThese look fantastic! hugs ~lynne~
ReplyDeleteHow fantastic are these??!! What a great idea to use them this way! Am pinning this idea for sure!
ReplyDeleteSo cute! I love this idea. I never would have thought to look at the Dollar store, but these are fantastic. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI adore these! The lions turned out amazing!! Very very creative!
ReplyDeleteI have just linked up with Laura's party!
xoxo
Karena
Art by Karena
I like yours just as much as the owls! That was a great transformation, and an even greater price.
ReplyDeleteOh I just really love these! You are so creative. When you tire of them, remember that I am a Leo. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for linking up to Fall In Love Wednesdays.
Have a blessed weekend.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI'll keep that in mind, however I think my mom might have first dibs - she was visiting as I finished them, and quite liked them :)
Michelle
Those lions are fierce! Great idea!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I've been wanting bookends, but they're so pricey. I would love for you to share this idea on my link party at cookienut.blogspot.com.
ReplyDeleteHi Bekah,
ReplyDeleteI've only seen this type of thing in the spring in my local dollar store - the rest of the year is very slim pickings.
Michelle
LOVE THIS !!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this. I'm a sucker for transforming dollar store finds.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I totally love these! I've had my eye out for some owls too, but haven't had any luck! I love the lions though! Thanks so much for linking up tonight!
ReplyDeleteEllie
[...] When Michelle from Sweet Suite 10 spotted a shelf of lion garden statues at Dollarama, she initially passed them by. After all, her condo doesn't have any kind of garden space in which to display them. She went back and snagged them, however, after she was struck with a brilliant idea: turn them into bookends! Her inspiration was a pair of white owl bookends she'd found with a $40 price tag. Her lions cost just $2 each, with a makeover coming in at just a few bucks more. [how to turn garden statues into bookends] [...]
ReplyDeleteI did the EXACT same thing to my lions that I bought at Dollarama... except I sprayed mine black! Very cool! :)
ReplyDeleteSo creative and clever! I see a new pair of book ends in my future :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDelete[...] White felt: $0 (I had it on hand from my bookend project) [...]
ReplyDeleteI posted it..................http://cowiescraftandcookingcorner.blogspot.com/2011/12/dollarstore-white-lion-bookends.html
ReplyDelete[...] dollar store bookend project is a favorite because it was the first time I’d really made something new instead of just [...]
ReplyDeleteAwesome project. I'd love a "Pin It" option for pinterest sharing!
ReplyDelete[...] after my successful first two forays (one, two) into the magical world of spray paint I decided to unearth the bird for his [...]
ReplyDeleteI made these!! but in black! Love them!
ReplyDeleteThese look ultra fancy and expensive... but the best part is that they're not! I love this project.
ReplyDelete[...] #8 Dollar Store Bookends from Sweet Suite 10 [...]
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Who would think these came from the dollar store? No one!
ReplyDelete[...] least that is how I use it, among other things). My inspiration for these bookends came from these dollar store bookends and these cute animal [...]
ReplyDeleteI have spent a bit of time going through your posts, more than I should have but I must say, its worth it!
ReplyDeleteOMG Michelle, I didn't realize yesterday this was your blog! I remember seeing this post a while back and thinking you were so clever! I think I may have emailed you a question about linky parties, and you were incredibly friendly and helpful. So glad we connected yesterday. Great idea, luv the makeover you gave Fred and George.
ReplyDeleteThis is hilarious! I had this exact idea last year when I saw these lions at the dollar store. I bought a pair and went so far to paint them white. I had intended to fill them with sand or even concrete. But I abandoned the projects, as I had too many on the go and decided I may never get to finishing them so off to the Goodwill they went.
ReplyDeleteFast forward to today when I saw those white owl bookends (the black ones are on sale) on the Chapters website.
I sighed knowing that I wouldn't splurge the $40 and googled DIY bookends. And lo and behold, I see your set of white lions.
Great minds!
Hi Cindy,
ReplyDeleteI hope you go ahead an finish yours now.
Michelle
[...] – the numbers trap. Over time, I’ve had a few posts appear on some major blogs (my Dollarstore bookends were listed on Babble, and my Craigslist dresser was featured on Apartment Therapy) and those [...]
ReplyDeleteLove 'em!! You can still buy these lions at Dollarma this year :D I have also spray painted these guys. I thought about book ends... maybe I need to buy more lions. LOL... and I already have three... I have a white one in my bedroom (with a white spray painted wooden elephant from Dollarama), and two black lions on either side of my front steps. Aren't they an amazing find? :D
ReplyDeleteSomeone else had this idea too: http://www.mydailyrandomness.com/2011/05/weekend-projects-black-spray-paint.html
[...] DIY Dollarstore White Lion Bookends by Sweet Suite Ten. I love projects that originate at the Dollar Store, and this is one of the best [...]
ReplyDeleteThis morning I curated a "DIY Ceramic Animal Hall of Fame" collection (obviously, just my humble opinions) and this made the list! Obviously, not everything on the list is very “ceramic-y” but they are all adorable. Your lions turned out so perfectly painted I can’t imagine they didn’t come straight from West Elm! Love them ? The post is here: http://paintingsunny.com/2013/06/21/diy-ceramic-animal-hall-of-fame/
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! I'm sharing this! I wouldn't have thought to use garden statues like that. I have this huge thing for gnomes, and I found this beautiful grandpa gnome holding grandson on GalleyDirect I am totally using this idea to make them into book ends for the living room shelf. Thank you soo much for the post
ReplyDeleteOh.my.goodness. I love them!! Being a Leo I would've bought them just because & hopefully found this blog to figure out what to do with them :) I love the ideas all around of painting everything a glossy white. But what is upsetting is all of the awesomeness found at Dollaramas... because being in the states we don't get such finds! So sad :( Anyhoo thanks for this post!!
ReplyDelete