Bookends for a Sports Loving Dad

by Beverly Roderick at Across the Blvd

3 Materials

This is a fun idea for the sports loving dad. This was easy to put together, very inexpensive and children can help make it, making this a great gift idea for Father’s Day. I used baseballs, but it could easily be switched up for any sport. I made this using the colors of the Oakland A’s, my husband’s favorite pro baseball team.

bookends for a sports loving dad, crafts, seasonal holiday decor

Making these took very little time and I had everything I needed on hand. I started with three rectangular craft wood pieces. Any type of wood will work, but since I already had these, they were perfect for this.

I used a utility knife to cut one of the pieces in half by scoring it on each side a few times. I sanded down the rough edges. I'm not a power tool kind of crafter, but if you are, then using thicker wood that you cut to size would be an option.

I used Americana acrylic dark green craft paint to paint each side of each piece of wood. Once I had them all painted, I sanded them down a little to give them a worn look.

I have a ton of wood chip letters in my craft supplies. Since Oakland only has a two letter mascot name, that wasn’t going to work. That’s when I decided that “Play Ball.” would be a good phrase. If I wanted to do one for football, “Kick Off” or for basketball, “Tip Off” would work. I’m sure appropriate short phrases can be found for most sports.

I spray painted the letters yellow and used a spray adhesive to attach them to the wood.

To attach the base, there are various types of glue that would work, but as much as I love my hot glue, I didn’t think it would be a good choice for this. I used Carpenter’s Glue and ran a bead of it along the edges of the wood.

While the glue was drying, I worked on the baseballs. The ones I used for this are hard plastic balls that were sold as Easter Basket candy holders.

I wanted to make them look a little less plastic and more worn. To get the look I wanted, I looked through my craft paint and found a bottle of Apple Barrel in Antique White paint. I poured some onto the baseball and used an old rag to smear it around and then dabbed it with a foam brush. I think the end result looks pretty much like a dirty, well used baseball.

Of course, you could use real baseballs, but I didn’t have any of those on hand, so this was a good, inexpensive alternative.

I used a dab of hot glue to secure the balls to the wood base.

We have a sports room with lots of memorabilia and these bookends look great there.

You can find more by visiting the link below.

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 8 comments

William on Jun 07, 2016
SOOO CUTE AND COOL! A gift that will be cherished forever! Nice work!

1 Reply
- Beverly Roderick at Across the Blvd on Jun 07, 2016
  @William Thanks so much!
  
  Like
Hillela G. on Jun 08, 2016
I love this! Perfect for Father's day!

1 Reply
- Beverly Roderick at Across the Blvd on Jun 08, 2016
  @Hillela G. Thanks!
  
  Like