DIY Mounted Deer Head Ornament

I love decorating my Christmas tree so I jumped at the chance to join an Ornament Exchange Party this year hosted by My Pinterventures. We were matched up with another blogger who has similar tastes and challenged to create an ornament for each other. I'll admit I was short on inspiration and had no idea what I wanted to do until an emergency trip to Hobby Lobby! This monochromatic DIY Mounted Deer Head Ornament follows the fun faux taxidermy trend we've seen lately. I'll take you through how easy it is to make this for your tree!

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Deer Head Ornament Supplies

• Wooden ovals: The pre-strung option is nice. Saved me the step of drilling a hole and adding twine. I like the natural bark edges, especially since we are painting the face of the oval white. For a modern twist here's a plaque style that would be great.
• Deer head ornament: Finding something small enough is a trick!
• Leafy Twine
• White spray paint: I love Rustoleum. I used the exterior version for metal and plastic. But anything with a primer should work well.
• White craft paint: The Martha Stewart line is my favorite but white is a pretty easy color to find.
• Paint brush: use a fine tipped brush for the edges of the wooden oval so you don't have any overlap into the bark.
• Iridescent extra fine glitter
• Glue gun: you can use other adhesives but the quick drying made sure the head didn't shift at all in the process.

Depending on your deer head you may or may not need these:

• Needle nose pliers
• Sanding block or sand paper

Step 1: Prepare Deer Head – Remove Hook

You may not have to complete this step if you find a crafting deer head. If using an ornament like this one the eye-hook will need to be removed. It's very easy to do with a set of needle nose pliers.

Grab the eye-hook firmly then twist and apply sideways pressure. If you're lucky the metal will break off close to the surface so you won't have a large hole to fill. If you do end up with a hole, just dab it with some painters spackle and smooth down when dry.

Step 2: Prepare Deer Head – Smooth Back

This particular ornament posed a problem with the irregular cut of the back. If your deer head is already flat, please proceed to the next step.

A sanding block is a quick and easy way to alter the shape of resin ornaments. You can see how much smoother it is after just a few minutes of sanding.

Don't worry if it's not completely flat, you just need enough surface area for the glue to hold.

Step 3: Paint Deer Head

If you love the look of all the white mounted deer heads floating around Pinterest lately and this is the perfect time to get your spray paint on! I prefer satin over gloss to reduce glare in photos but it's a personal preference.

You can see the glare in this wet paint. Depending on the details of your deer head you may need several coats to fill in the cracks. The dark showing through is actually kind of cool if you're looking for a more rustic feel. Something a little more sophisticated takes a few more coats.

Step 4: Paint Wooden Oval

Using a satin white craft paint and a smaller brush paint up to the edge of the bark being careful to leave the bark untouched. You will likely need two coats.

Step 5: Glitter Antlers (optional)

Now this one is based on preference. The silver glitter paint gives the antlers some definition but it would be equally as lovely to leave them alone. If you like the added shine I'd recommend doing a glue coat and dipping them in iridescent glitter instead as to not darken the color of the antlers.

Step 6: Attach Head to Base

As you can see I got excited and missed a few photo steps! But the gluing is pretty easy. If your deer head has a concave base like this one, use the glue gun to fill in the bowl a bit and let it cool. Then add a little more to the center and focus on getting the edges stuck down tight.

Step 7: Add Twine Collar

You'll want to clear away the excess hot glue before it hardens completely but a little over-gluing is ok since you are adding this lovely collar. I've had my eye on this particular twine for a while and this was the perfect excuse to try it! The twine matches the loop in the wooden oval and ties it all together. The green leaf accents finish the ornament off perfectly. Measure the twine carefully and only cut when you are sure! {I speak from experience!} Then slowly add glue to a small section at a time making sure the twine lays flat and the leaves are visible.

Step 8: Enjoy! 

Hang it on your Christmas tree and enjoy!! The only downside of this fun Deer Head ornament is the weight. It hangs a bit forward and needs to be supported behind by a branch but that isn't a huge deal. It's so cute I'm willing to give it a few accommodations! Next time it might be smarter to LEAVE the original eye-hook and hang it from the head instead of the oval. If you give it a try please let me know how yours turns out. I sure hope Angela of Simply Beautiful by Angela loves it on her tree this year. Happy holiday planning!!

Until next time my friend,