Zebra Butt Bookends: A Craft Project

You had to click on a link titled “Zebra Butt Bookends: A Craft Project” to get here, so I’m assuming you’re interested enough in the idea of making zebra butt bookends that I don’t have to convince you of its merits. But I will anyway.

Why should you spend your valuable time making zebra butt bookends? One, because they’re cute. Two, because you have some plain bookends that need sprucing up. And three, because you can.

Now that we’ve established that, let’s get started sprucing up your boring old bookends with some cute zebra butts. You can do it. Let’s start with gathering the supplies you’ll need.

What You Need to Make Zebra Butt Bookends

One pair of bookends—You really need the ones shaped somewhat like a horseshoe (see photo) because, to twisted minds like mine, they already look like the back haunches and legs of an animal, the beginnings of a great pair of zebra butt bookends. I used some black metal bookends that I somehow ended up with; you can find some similar ones online for just a couple of dollars per pair if you Google “metal bookends.”

Paint—Inexpensive craft paint or any other kind of nontoxic paint you have around the house will work just fine. If your bookends are already painted black, you’ll just need some white paint and possibly some green, if you want to add some “grass” below your zebra’s feet, that is.

Paint brush—You'll want a small craft paintbrush (similar to a watercolor brush) that will allow you to make brush strokes for the grass. You'll also use it for painting stripes on each zebra butt.

String—Plain old string or even yarn will do. You’re going to make the zebra’s tail with it. I used about four or five strands of plain white string and colored black stripes on it with a black permanent marker.