After my Toy Animal Valentine DIY, I had a few leftover animals and didn't know what to do with them. My friend Jess suggested that I made tiny wall mounted animal heads, so I did! The elephant was simple but the unicorn took a little more work. It was well worth the effort if you ask me because, well, unicorns are awesome.
What you'll need:
- toy animals (found in the dollar section of Target)
- wooden plaques (found at Joann's... the tiny ones are cheap)
- hot glue
- spray paint
- a saw
- sandpaper
- paint pens (if you choose to make a unicorn)
- a pointy wooden dowel (also if you choose to make a unicorn)
The first thing you're going to need to do, and there's no nice way of saying this, is cut their heads off. I know, this photo looks a little gruesome. Sand the cut edges of the heads until they're smooth.
Next, spray paint your wooden plaques whatever color you like. I chose a natural brown color for the elephant and bright purple for the unicorn. I also added tiny silver specks to the purple plaque by spraying metallic paint just next to it and letting the wind carry some of the paint over.
If you're making a unicorn, spray paint the horse head white. Once it's dry, use paint pens to paint the mane like a rainbow. For the horn, I used the pointy wooden dowel that comes inside bags of Poly-Fil. I sawed off the pointy part, spray painted it hot pink, and hot glued it to the horse's head.
Finally, once everything is dry, line the back of the heads with hot glue and attach them to the plaques.
Glue or nail a tiny hook to the back and hang them up!
Are they strong enough to be wall mounted coat hooks? I will pay someone to do this for me.
ReplyDeleteHa! These aren't strong enough but they could be made strong enough. Do it Andrew!
DeleteThis is simply brilliant! I love that you called cutting their heads off "gruesome!" What a great word. I'll be sharing the DIY, for sure!
ReplyDeleteHahaha, Thanks Lauren! It's just that one photo. It looks so weird!
DeleteThese are adorable!! I'm definitely doing this!
ReplyDeletexo
Mel
LOVE THIS!
ReplyDeleteomg this is such a fantastic idea!
ReplyDeletegrace
http://herumbrella.com
Haha these are so funny! I love these! I'll make my boyfriend cut off the heads for me, though. Hehe ;)
ReplyDeletexo Heather
http://ahopelessnotebook.blogspot.com/
I love this DIY so much! I am dreaming of the possibilities!
ReplyDeleteOBSESSED with this! I totally want to make a collection of these now!
ReplyDeletexo Moorea
Thanks Moorea! I definitely want to make more too. I'll be on the lookout for toy animals everywhere I go now!
DeleteThis tutorial is amazing! I want to make a ton of these and put them up in my house <3 Thanks for showing me how!
ReplyDeleteThese are so cute! I love your take on this popular trend, such a fun DIY!
ReplyDeletexo, Megan
gingerly
This are so amazing! I have a friend obsessed with unicorns so this is going on the list for her bday prezzies... Very cool! :)
ReplyDeleteThis is brilliant! I was thinking about crocheting some animal heads for my wall, but this would be easier!
ReplyDeleteGreat!! I wanna do that too!
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I can picture a big collection of these done in black & white...maybe bits of chartreuse & fuschia...set up similarly to what I've seen done with silhouettes. Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteI was needing something to fill space on the bedroom wall collage and I think these would be awesome! Great idea :)
ReplyDeletexo Amber P.
http://theowlsden.blogspot.com
i think i would feel a little sad cutting up the animals, haha, but very cute! definitely want to try some of these! thanks for the tutorial
ReplyDeleteThose are sooo cute! Love this idea!
ReplyDeleteWe absolutely have to try this! We made a animal rack a while ago. Check it out if you like! http://pysselbolaget.se/2012/03/09/689/
ReplyDeleteThat animal rack is awesome! I love that you used both sides of the animal ;)
DeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI just dropped by to say that I hope you don’t mind being featured on my blog’s weekly Top 5 Diy Tuesday with this tutorial of yours. If you don’t want to be included just let me know :) You have such an amazing and inspirational blog!
But here’s the link to my post where this tutorial can be found: http://featherandflock.blogspot.com/2012/05/top-5-diy-tuesday.html
Hi Alisa! I don't mind at all. Thank you for featuring me! :)
DeleteHaha I made many of these, but thankfully I got the boys in the Shop class to cut their heads off so I wouldn't be part of the macabre process ;) Great tutorial!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was definitely a little weird searching through my craft box the other day and finding the headless bodies. Haha!
DeleteAwesome. Just wondering what method you would use so they are strong enough to hang lightweight items. All the tutorials I've found, use screws or dowels but they use solid toys...mine are hollow like the ones you used here. Any input would be great. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHI there! I don't hang anything on these because I doubt that they are strong enough. You could probably get away with hanging necklaces on them though. In order to make them strong enough, I would look into getting solid toys and using screws. Thanks for stopping by the blog!
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