20. Decorative Cardboard Bookends
Keep your favorite reads upright with heavy-duty, decorative cardboard bookends. The trick to making these functional is weight: construct hollow cardboard shapes—such as letters, animals, or geometric prisms—and fill the bases with sand, pebbles, or plaster before sealing them completely. Once weighted, decorate the exteriors with high-gloss paint, metallic leaf, or textured paper. These bookends are sturdy enough to hold up heavy novels while serving as stylish, modern sculptures on your bookshelves, proving that cardboard can be both incredibly strong and undeniably beautiful.
