A love of reading is something I’m working hard to instill in Ellie. As she amasses more and more books, we’re already running out of space on the bookshelf in her nursery. You saw in my post last week that I relocated part of her collection to the top of the dresser in the little nook.

I didn’t want chunky bookends taking up space on the dresser. We have enough going on here already and didn’t need more clutter. But the books needed some help to stay upright. I had an idea to make invisible bookends.

I was inspired by these basic metal bookends that you see at the library.

So I swung into a local store that specializes in materials for exteriors (siding, flashing, soffit, trough) and picked up some step flashing (picked up being literal since the man working the counter gave the pieces to me for free). Step flashing is small L-shaped pieces of metal typically used around chimneys. You could likely do this project with regular aluminum that you bend into an L yourself, but I liked skipping that step with the flashing.

This project uses just one piece of flashing and one tool, snips. Super simple.

Once at home, I used the very technical technique of holding a book up to the flashing to determine where to cut it.

I used snips to cut the aluminum roughly in half. I got two bookends out of one piece of flashing with a little piece of metal left over. (This was another mama-daughter project–appropriate since it’s her room.)

One end of the L tucks inside the cover of the book, and the other tail rests under the books. The weight of the books stabilizes the bookend and holds everything in place.

Obviously, these Beatrix Potter books are small and light. I tested the bookends with some larger books–another well-loved collection that Ellie and I will be reading soon–and everything stayed steady.

Sometimes bookends are an opportunity to make a style statement. Other times you want to keep things quiet and simple–or save space on your bookshelf. That’s a time for invisible bookends.

What’s your bookend style? Do you have a spot where you could use hidden bookends? What were some of your kids’ favourite series to read? What DIY projects do you do with your children?