The End is Near

No, not the end of the world.  Not even the end of The Great Clean-Out.

Bookends.

I know what you're thinking.  "Bookends?  She must be losing it."  Well, to set the record straight, I can't lose something that I was never in full possession of!  But yes, bookends.

To say "I have books" would be the ultimate epitome of an understatement. To say "I need books" might be closer to the obsession I have for bound, printed material.  Now that I have bookcases in which to store them, I need something to keep them from falling off the wall shelves and tops of the bookcases.

Hence, bookends.

So I shopped.  Google Shopping.  eBay.  Amazon.com.  And so many websites devoted to my goal: justbookends.com; book-ends.com; decorativebookends.com and so many more.

On eBay, I found some simple plastic bookends which were very inexpensive:

  I received yellow and pale green.  They're nice, but I wanted something more decorative.  I went back to eBay.  I was fortunate enough to find these magnolia bookends just after they were listed and I bought them immediately:

There are two identical bookends.

I continued to look online, but everything I liked was very expensive.  The shipping costs on such heavy items were astronomical.  When I sent my daughter some ideas for Mother's Day, I included a couple of sets of bookends.  She came to me and said if I really wanted to find decorative bookends I should check out Marshall's and T. J. Maxx's Home Store.

So last Friday I went to the strip mall that has both of those stores.  It was a nice spring day so I didn't mind if I had to park far from the door.  I'm trying to walk more, anyway.  As I went up and down the aisles in front of the Home Store, it began to look as if I wouldn't get in!  When I finally parked, I realized I was in front of Marshall's.  Okay, I started there.  Since my daughter is always trying to get me to "think outside of the box" or "go beyond my comfort zone", I opened my mind to the possibilities around me and thought "what does a bookend have to do?"  Well, keep books from falling, obviously.  So they need to be heavy, right?  Right.  With that in mind, I went up and down the aisles looking at all the decorative items that were heavy.  In the outdoor decor, I found these:

Not identical, but matching!

I loved the shapes and the colors of the marble.  Not really bookends, they were a little more expensive than I had planned, but I just had to have them.  I left Marshall's and decided that I would go to T. J. Maxx only if I could park.  Lo and behold, I found a spot just two in from the end closest to the door!

In the Home Store, there was a lot more to choose from.  I browsed (it had been years since I was last there) and found this little gem that I just could not resist:

I'm not sure where I'll hang it, but my mother wanted to put it in the living room!  Uh, no.  Probably in the storage/book room, but it's hanging in the kitchen for now.

There were so many bookends to pick from at T.J. Maxx!  I spent a good hour going back and forth, up and down the aisles.  I'd pick up a pair, find another and go put the first ones back.  At first I wanted something different than what I'd gotten at Marshall's.  But as I pondered all the choices, I decided to go with my gut and got two more marble bookends:

A half-sphere and a half-column. 

Again, I went with choices that are not identical, but go together.  These were in the clearance aisle, AND, I can mix and match them with the other marble pieces.

I wanted just one more pair of somethings,  Keeping with the natural substances theme, but something other than marble, I found these soapstone candleholders:

You can't see the holes for candles from this angle.   I'm thinking maybe some fake flower sprigs.

Mission accomplished!

I have a couple of sets of bookends downstairs that I think I'll switch out with the cheap metal ones my dad had.  There are pictures in front of the books down there, so you don't see them anyway.  One set is of brass musical symbols that my brother gave me many years ago for Christmas.  They are special to me because I know he put some thought into it.

I'm still waiting for Brittany to finish her room and get the rest of her stuff downstairs so I can assemble the last two bookcases and get the rest of the books out of my room.  Patience.  Aaaaagh!