Re-do a Deer

This post could have had many titles, some of which include:

1.  My husband must truly love me.

2.  The most disturbing, bizarre diy project ever.

3.  No deer were harmed during this project (at least by us, anyway).

No, but really.  I have no idea why I wanted to find deer antlers, spray paint them, and mount them on wood.  And then hang them in my living room.  I had seen antlers in magazines, on blogs, and on pinterest, not to mention real deer heads in horribly decorated log cabins.  I had an idea in my head of what I wanted my antlers to look like.  I didn't want ones made from resin, not that there is nothing wrong with those.  I just wanted them to be real, probably because I live with boys.  I owed it to them!  Plus, this would be a lot less expensive.   My husband thought it was a little strange at first.  Being the wonderful partner that he is is however, he jumped on board and was the one who did most of the work.  Why?  Probably because I could have been found gagging somewhere from the grossness of this project.  Let me start from the beginning.

I found these antlers in a consignment store early in the summer while shopping with my sister.  I didn't buy them, but I wanted them.  We searched other places for antlers, but they can tend to be pretty expensive.  The ones I first found were the cheapest I had found.  I couldn't stop thinking about them.  So we went back, and we bought them for ten dollars each.

Yes, they had hair on them.  And they grossed me out.  But I still loved them.  So what exactly were my plans for these fine specimens?  I wanted the hair gone.  And I wanted them painted.  That's where Jason came in.  He was going to burn that hair off for me.  I actually remember him being intrigued about the whole process.  I, on the other hand, was not.  Have you ever smelled burnt hair?  The closest I have ever come to that is leaving my hair straightener on a section of my hair a little bit too long.  The smell is not one that you want to have on you all day long.

Obviously, the hair burning process did not go well.  It took forever.  So Jason switched to cutting the hair off.  And then he burned it some more.  What was I doing you ask, since this was my brilliant idea?  I was covering my nose with my shirt sleeve while taking pictures.

We resorted to a bonfire.  I know.  I told you this was the most bizarre project ever.  No marshmallows were roasted in this fire.  Because that would be gross.  Let me tell you that this process took forever.  Jason was burning hair for a long time.  Disgusting.

After the hair was burned off (Thank you Jason.  You win the husband of the year award for life!), I bleached them.  I actually bleached them a couple of times.  After they were dry, I spray painted them.  To mount them, I found some wooden plaques at Michaels.

I primed them with a spray paint primer,

sanded them because they were a little rough, and painted them.

I used the same gray Dark Cavern Behr paint I used on the dining room chairs. 

In order to mount the antlers onto the plaques, Jason used drywall screws.  He laid the antlers on the plaque to see where they should go and then traced around the base of the antlers.  He removed the antlers and then pre-drilled three holes into the wood inside of the tracing.  After putting the antlers back on the plaque, he drilled through the wood and into the antlers using a cement bit.  He used three drywall screws to secure the antlers to the wood and picture hangers to secure the whole thing to the wall.

Here is a close-up of the screw so that you could see how he screwed into the antlers.  You'll have to look closely to see it!

Just like that, the most disgusting diy project was over.  They're done!

Jason hung them up for me above our TV.

I couldn't let this post end without giving props to the man of the hour, who apparently grew his own set of antlers for this picture.  Thank you, Jason!  I owe you.

The picture below shows you just how badly I need to finish painting the woodwork in the hallway.  We'll see if that gets done this fall.  That's the goal.

What do you think?  Do you think we're crazy like our neighbors most likely do since they saw us putting antlers into a fire?  Are you into antlers or do you hate them?  Spill those beans.

  Are we crazy for going through all of that just for some antler art?  Maybe.  I'll let you decide.

Happy Wednesday!

I'm linking up to these lovely blogs:

Young House Love

Bower Power

A Beach Cottage