Merry Antlers - Oh, Deer!

Oh, Deer!  My antlers are now sporting a merry garland for the season.

I decided last month to go with pink and soft green for my Christmas crafty things this year.  I have now added silver and black to the mix.

After bleaching and dying nearly 200 bottle brush trees, I was ready for something totally different.

I have seen what you creative people out there in Blogland have done with deer mounts.  I wanted to try one.

This is the result. 

I picked this mount up at a thrift shop last week.

It was sturdy and in good condition.  

Just right for painting and decorating.

I used Rust-Oleum Heirloom White.  I painted over the whole thing - fur and all.

I liked the way the fur appears silvery so I left it that way.

Find yourself some super-cheapo garland.  I buy mine after Christmas when the thrift stores are trying to get rid of it.  Untwist and cut the wires holding the "branches".  The top branch is what you get. Great for twist ties on gift bags and decorations around the house.

I twisted three of them together for my garland and sprayed with a soft pink.

I let just a peek or two of the green show through the pink.

 Twist the garland around the tips of the antlers.

I did not secure these with glue so that the garland can be changed out for the seasons.

Thanks for this tip from Danni Baird at Silo Hill Farm who designs her projects to be reused as the seasons change.  See one project she plans to change here.

Grab some key tags and paint with Bay Laurel Folk Art craft paint.  I painted both sides in a distressed sort of way, not solid color.










 
I stamped the key tags with the proper letters to spell "MERRY" with StazOn black ink.

Yes, there are several sets here.  I will show what I did with the others in an upcoming post.

 Next some of my torn cotton ribbons in a pink calico are used to attach the key tags to the garland.

Another item completed for my Christmas display at the antiques mall.  I need to paint a white table to hold the other things I have completed.  Plus there is that stack of feather pillows still waiting to be cleaned.  So I am running off to complete as much as possible today.  Check back to see the other Christmas-y things.

As I read over this post, I found it rather dry.  Sorry, I promise to be more entertaining when I am not exhausted! My inner writing voice is hoarse this morning.

See y'all!










  .