Dinosaur Bookend!

Paint the whole board. I painted one side only, using “Citrus Green” acrylic paint from FolkArt. It looked pretty good after two coats.

Cut out the parts with the Shapeoko. I used a 1/8" bit with a feed rate of 80 in/min. (I ran into the clamp when cutting one of the legs, but there was just enough room for a spare.)

Sand down any rough edges after breaking the tabs.

Apply masking tape to keep the dino’s hands, feet, and face clean. Then carefully paint white to add claws to the arm and leg pieces and to add teeth to the head piece. Use pink or red to add a tongue to the head on the body piece. (I used white and neon pink fingernail polish.)

I should have printed a composited outline, because getting the pieces to line up properly was trickier than I expected. The bottoms of the feet must be level with each other and with the lowest point of the tail. Also, the toes, knees, fingertips, and snout should line up vertically.

Just glue one piece at a time, holding it down for a minute to let the glue dry. (A printed outline also would have made it easier to see where to apply the glue. Live and learn.)

Attach one leg and one arm each to the front and back of the body. Glue the head piece with the teeth onto the head of the body piece. Don’t forget the googly eye!