DIY Network

Letter Bookends These literary bookends make great gifts. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-205

Spell out your thoughts with these striking bookends.

Michele Beschen loves crafting with the written word, whether she's using whole books, vintage magazine pages or even individual letters. In this two-part project, the B. Original host shows how create bold, sophisticated bookends featuring oversized cutout letters.

In this first part of the project, Michele Beschen shows how to craft the chunky letters from ordinary plywood. In Part 2, she demonstrates how to make a weighted base, mount the letters and B. Original with embellishments. Scroll down to get started.

advertisement

Letter Bookends

You can make these bookends using pre-made letters or by crafting the letters yourself. If using pre-made letters, buy two of each letter and glue them together to make a double-thick letter. If they're slightly different sizes, either sand them to fit or offset them for a fun 3-D effect. Follow the steps below to assemble and finish the bookends.

Creating your own letters gives you far more flexibility to B. Original with your type styling.

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Materials:

wood (Michele Beschen used birch plywood)
wood glue
clamps
lettering from computer
graphite paper
scroll saw, band saw or hand saw
drill with large bit

• Determine the size you want for your letters and cut four pieces of birch plywood (or whatever wood you happen to have) slightly larger than the letters' final size.

• For each letter, glue two pieces of wood together and clamp until the glue has dried. You will end up with two double-thick work pieces (figure A).

• You can draw your letters freehand or use a computer
  to render them. If using the computer, input the letters, select a font, blow up the type size and print out the letters. If you can't get the type large enough with the computer, print it out and use a copier to blow it up further. Then,
  use graphite paper to trace the letters onto the wood
  (figure B).

• Cut the letters out using a hand saw, scroll saw or band saw (figure C). If a letter has a closed loop—like the letter O, for example—drill a hole at the inside edge of the loop to get the saw started.

• For another interesting effect, try using cork instead of wood for the top layer of your letters. The whorls and variations in cork can add new dimension to the bookend design.

With your letters cut out, you're ready to move to Part 2 to finish up your bookends.