Hoo, Nelly! This one was a wild adventure. When I was challenged by FloraCraft® to create a craft using a FloraCraft® foam head, I didn’t think it would be too tricky to come up with a fun project. I did have a few ideas but they both turned out, well, kind of creepy. One was creepy in a good way and then other in a less good way. I may share those projects down the line, but today I want to share my final, quirky craft.
I reached out to some crafting friends (Hi, girls!) who helped me brainstorm all kind of different ideas of ways to use these foam heads. Never underestimate the brilliance of crafty women, I asked for a little help and got dozens of ideas! My friend Carolina from 30 Minute Crafts suggested using them as some kind of bookend project. Since I am no stranger to quirky bookends, I thought the idea was perfect.
If you are in need of some humor or quirkiness to add to your bookshelf displays, this is a simple and hilarious way to add the charm.
Can you imagine opening up an enormous UPS box filled with six of these guys? If only the delivery man knew what he was transporting!
FloraCraft® sells foam heads in both male and female versions at Michael’s and Joann Craft Stores (affiliate link). You may have seen projects using them floating around the blogosphere right now, especially in Halloween projects. I am stubborn though, and I wanted to create something that wasn’t pigeonholed to one season. These bookends might be crazy, but they are year-round crazy.
While you can cut through styrofoam with any serrated knife, you will get a much smoother and straighter cut by using a keyhole saw. These heads are solid all the way through, so the longer blade and sharper teeth make short work of cutting. Before you cut, run a long piece of painter’s tape around the middle of the foam head from top to bottom. This will serve as your cutting guide.
Head outside to do your cutting because you will make lots of foam schnibbles as you cut. Plus, it’s fun to watch your neighbors’ expressions when they see you sawing through a foam human head.
After the head has been bisected, you will want to glue it to a set of cheap metal bookshelves so the head can actually prop up books. You can use a low temp glue gun, white craft glue, or StyroGlue to adhere the foam to the bookends. Recognize though that foam is only so durable, so don’t expect these bookends to take a licking and keep on ticking.
Let the glue dry and cure and then smoosh some books between the two halves of the head. I could wax poetic about how the books symbolize the knowledge gained through literary study blah blah, but really these bookends are just kind of hilarious to me.
I have other white ceramic pieces on the built-in shelves in our living room, so unless guests scrutinize the head bookends they will probably assume that they are ceramic too. For more of my projects using styrofoam, check out this project gallery!
What’s your verdict? Are these head bookends quirky good or back away slowly strange?
I’ve gathered links to the materials I used in this tutorial. If you purchase after clicking one of these links, I will receive a small commission. Thanks!
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Thanks, Jessica
Ha!! Those are so fun! Pinned!
So “smart”! Thank you!