Happy Labor day! Hey, do you need a one day project for today? How about something really cool and statement making to hang on your wall? Well, keep reading and you’ll get the tutorial for one!
I’d been noticing a trend lately: Deer heads. Not real ones, mind you, but little fake ones you can buy online.
I wanted one, but because of our budget (read more about How to Live on $25,000) I was constrained to getting one for free. So, I set out to make one and the following is the result. It was a goal of mine to be more original last month, and I think I’ve achieved it with this project. I’ve never before seen a chicken wire deer head to hang on your wall.
Tools and materials (some affiliate links below):
Glancing at the materials list, it goes without saying that this is a CHEAP-O project and can be done in about 3 hours.
So, basically, if you can make a cone shape out of chicken wire, you can make this deer. All it really is, is a bunch of wire cones put together. It helped that I used to draw deer all the time so I knew the shape and proportions of their heads, so if you are nervous about making it work, try studying and drawing a few before.
The first cone you want to make is the neck, so make it big. About a 6-7 inch diameter for the top and 12-14 inch diameter for the bottom. Fold the wire around and then snip it away from the roll. Chicken wire is impossible to mark, so you just have to cut as you work.
Then, fix the cone in place by twisting the loose ends onto the side. Don’t do this without gloves or you’ll have painful little scratches all over and everyone will ask if you got attacked by a cat…speaking from experience.
At this point, I held the “neck” up to the wall and it looked like a cone, not a deer neck. To give your stag a strong deep chested look, crimp together the underside towards the head. Use the picture for a guide.
Above is the “before” and below is after I did some adjustments.
Awesome! Now for the head. Make a cone that’s about ¾ of the size of the neck. It will need to be small at the “nose end” and quite large towards the back.
Shaping and attaching the head was a challenge and I didn’t take any pictures, but basically you want the forehead to slope down towards the nose.
Also, to attach it to the neck, you will need to cut a half circle out of the underneath side of the back of the throat. It helps to hold the “head” form up to the “neck” form and decide on an angle and eyeball the cut.
Getting the head on was the hardest part. It’s easy sailing from here…sort of.
Next make a couple of cone ears. They attach farther on the side than you think. Use a picture for reference.
Now for the crown glory of our lovely buck. Make one looooong cone shape (like 14″) and give it a twist to create this shape.
Then make a short cone to rest closer to the head and two medium length cones to be the larger tines. The great thing about deer antlers is that, in nature, none of them are perfect anyway. They are charming because of their imperfections (hence the use of one in my logo!).
Fix those onto the rest of the head and you did it!!!! This deer is incredibly easy to hang because it’s so light, but really makes a statement on your wall. Since its chicken wire, your creativity is limitless for what you do with it from here on out. I envision Christmas lights strung around him, fall leaves, ribbons….oh and flowers!
He is so regal and lovely and incredibly hard to take pictures of! It’s impossible to appreciate his true beauty unless if in person, but alas, I can’t have all of you over to my house.
Sometimes we want things that we can’t afford and it’s so hard to wait while saving money. In my impatience, I usually come up with ways to make the things I want for our home, and in this case, that came in the shape of a trophy deer head.
Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t make something out of the random things you find in your house. Your creativity is only as limited as you make it. Do something original today!
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