Gilded Brick Bookends

I love a DIY that involves spray paint because they're always the easiest kind. This gilded brick bookend project was so ridiculously simple and inexpensive (did you know bricks cost, like, eighteen cents??), it's hard to believe that it resulted in something so beautiful. 

Materials Needed
2 bricks
Gold spray paint
Hammer
Self-adhesive felt dots

Wipe the bricks with a damp cloth before starting--they're extremely porous so you want to get them as smooth as possible. Using both the hammer head and the nail remover, start chipping away at one end of the brick only (you'll want to do this outside, as brick pieces can go flying). I found that, even though I was hacking away at one end, the brick eventually split in two, horizontally, and had a really cool shape and texture. Do the same with the second brick. Using the brick pieces that have flat bottoms, start spray painting the bricks, moving the paint can back and forth to cover each side of the brick. Once the paint has dried completely, apply the felt dots to the bottoms (this will prevent the bricks from scratching your furniture).

photo by Angelica Golden