Make: Black Beauty-ful Bookends

I love ceramics. I love to find them, and repaint them; it makes me so happy. So you can imagine the joy I felt when I happened upon these wonderful ceramic horse head bookends at a local thrift store.

But they weren't always the Black Beauty(s) that you see here...

 

Meet the original ceramic book ends. These might have fit quite nicely into the room Catherine and I shared, with the unicorn wall paper, but even then the pale blue mane might have clashed with the shade of pink dressing our walls. 

I wasn't too thrilled with Pegasus-head bookends, but I adored the shape and the only set of bookends I own presently are Harry Potter, and those actually belong to Ben.

So it was natural that I went right to Black Beauty, and decided to make lovely literal bookends. 

Several times throughout the process they looked like soul-less beasts, but it was only temporary.

 I wanted to add a little extra kick to them and decided to cover the back with fabric.  Another great use for the stack that Mom sent home with me in August! I'm totally on a roll!

To adhere the fabric I just used some basic craft glue and water, and painted it on similar to how you would handle a lovely sheet of wallpaper.

Then I set it out in the hot summer sun to dry, and let me assure you it dried quickly.

And there you have it, my new Black Beauty-ful bookends. Sadly I don't actually have a copy of the book yet, but I will certainly make it a priority next time I visit my local used book shop. Maybe I can even find the embroidered copy of Black Beauty from Penguin!