Pirate Bookends

Hello ULD Fans!

Are you ready for an adventure?  Let's Go!  :)

Today I am gonna show you these bookends that I made using Unique Laser Designs.  They turned out pretty cool-I hope that you think so too!

I bought these bookends at a yard sale.  They were like a $2.  Now I am not good with saws or drills or anything like that so I thought these were just the perfect little things that needed a little love--a little ULD love! 

Here is a side view.  My initial concern was that the pieces couldn't be flat against the standing "wall."  If they are on a book shelf you wouldn't be able to see it.  Then how could I create a 3-D look?

I painted the bookends in gesso first.  Probably 2-3 coats.  I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate them so I had to be ready for anything!

I like to see how people plan things out-what their process is.  It's not always easy to record.  But here is how I planned out where things would go.  I did the pirate ship on one side.  Here are the pieces that I used:

Pirate Ship, Treasure Chest, and Palm Trees (2pc set).

The treasure chest and the other palm tree on the opposite side.  I wanted to use the clouds but later as things came together I didn't need them.  Clouds for another day! :)

Here I painted the sky and water on the bookends.  I used craft acrylic paint.  The water blue is a metallic which I think is really cool.   Also, I used a craft sponge and blotted some clouds on the sky using white acrylic paint.

 Originally, I thought I was going to hot glue the pieces onto the bookends.  And I was trying to think of ways of hiding the glue.  Sometimes when I use hot glue it can be thick.  But I figured something out!  I have light modeling paste which I normally use for stencils.  But it has the word paste in it.  I also have gel medium.  Gel medium is used for thinning out acrylic paint but also has an adhesive.  Experiment time!

First I made sure I knew where the 2 palm trees and chest were going to touch on the bookends.  Then I had an idea where the leaves of the trees could touch the top part of the bookends.

I made a stencil for my island.  I free handedly cut an island.  Then I took out a good bit of paste.  I wanted this to be a distinct island.  But this isn't a white beaches island ;)  So I mixed 2 drops of So Saffron Stampin' Up Reinker and mixed it really well.  That is what gave the color of the sand.  (In the picture there are 2 reinkers but I just used the one.)  I spreaded the paste on thick.  On the other side I put another island but much smaller for the other palm tree.  I placed the trees and chest in their respective spots.  For the palm trees I put some of the gel medium on the edges that touched the vertical part of the bookend.  Then I went to bed so the paste would dry completely.  For the pirate ship I put the gel medium on the bottom and placed it in the "ocean."

Here is the up close on the treasure chest and palm tree.  I painted them which craft acrylic paints.  The pieces are so well designed with detail lines that you just pick the colors and start painting.

Here is the pirate ship.  I used Tim Holtz's Distress Crackle Paint on all of the sails.  But it is so thick it started to cover up the skull and crossbones.  So I wiped it off and used my other white paint.  Then the colors were really off.  So I painted the skull and crossbones back onto the sail and painted just that sail with white paint.  What is cool is if you look closely you will still see some crackles.

Also, I wanted to tell you that I did not gesso these 4 pieces.  Say what?  I know--I love gesso!  But just I like the look of just paint.  In this application it works nicely.

Here's another look at the finished bookends.

 Look!  The really do work!

Thank you for stopping by!  Make sure you stop by everyday.  There are so many wonderful and creative projects here!  The DT makes them especially for you! :)