Make cute animal bookends out of cardboard. Up-cycle your kids empty juice cartons and use them as the base of the bookends, then cut out animal body parts and glue them to the carton. After it is covered with paper mache, paint them or let your kids paint them for their own personalized bookends.
Cut open the top of the juice box, leaving the long folded sides intact as you lift them. Sand the outside of the cartons with sandpaper to roughen their surfaces up.
Fill the cartons with sand. Fold the top flaps down and tape the box shut with masking tape.
Draw animals heads on the cardboard and cut them out. Trace the heads on the cardboard and cut them out. Glue the heads together with white glue.
Draw eight paws on the cardboard that are 2-inches long and 1-inch wide, with a round end and a flat end and cut them out. Draw two 1-inch circles for the noses on the cardboard and cut them out.
Make paper mache glue. Place 1/2 cup white flour, 2 cups water in a sauce pan. Stir the mixture until it is smooth. Bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat while stirring constantly. Once it comes to a boil, remove from heat and pour into a plastic container. Let it sit for 30 minutes to cool. Remove the skin that forms on the surface with a spoon.
Cut 1-inch wide strips of newspaper. Dip the newspaper strips into the paper mache glue, then wrap the strips around the sand filled juice boxes, the paws, nose and head of the animals. Let them sit overnight to dry.
Glue the flat end of the paws to the bottom of the juice boxes. Glue a nose onto each head. Wait 30 minutes for the glue to dry.
Glue the heads to the front of the juice boxes, facing the same way as the paws. Wait 30 minutes for the glue to dry.
Sand down the surface of the animal bookends. Cover the bookends with an even layer of white gesso primer paint. Give the bookends two coats of the gesso primer paint. Wait overnight for it to dry.
Paint the bookends in the desired colors. Let the bookends sit overnight to air dry.