Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Non-Creepy Animal Heads

Not just for hunting lodges anymore, animal heads and antlers are gracing the pages of our favorite design inspiration sources: Potterybarn, West Elm, Z Gallerie, etc...  But not the furry, taxidermy stuffed animals - think taxidermy with a twist.  So, of course I had to jump on the chance to add an animal head to my mantle.  And of course, I had to make him fit in with the spring decor...

No zebras were harmed in the making of this post.


A few weeks back I dragged Justin into a HomeGoods to do a quick sweep of the store.  And by dragged - I mean he looked like he was in physical pain.  Because this isn't his cup of tea I went into speed shopper mode.

So, it's really fate that brought this guy and I together.  I jogged past the clearance aisle and that's when I spotted it.  A wooden zebra head.  On Sale.  I felt like it was suddenly 1996 and it was the last Tickle Me Elmo two weeks before Christmas.  I almost knocked out an old lady when I threw myself on top of it - and even considered licking it to claim it as mine.  He must have been put there by mistake - I mean how could he not be gone.  As Justin caught up I saw the terror in his eyes when he glanced at what I was gripping.  He was waiting for the "just kidding...why would you think I would ever be into creepy animal heads."  All I had to say was "Oh. My. Gosh.  Can you BELIEVE this is only $10?!" 


For the record, I would've never bought this for $40 - let alone $80.  But for $10 this would be a great project and a fun accent.


Lucky for the Zebra (and Justin) he wouldn't be the only animal head in the house.  His brother has been chillin' out above my headboard in the bedroom for the last year.  Don't worry, I'm not going to overdo the animal thing...  


I planned for the zebra to be an accent color in the dining and living room.  I've kept my furniture and walls neutral so I can change up the decor - and my living and dining room needed a pop of color.   My plan was to paint this guy an accent color.  I even sent a picture to my creepy-animal-loving friend to get her opinion. 

While I was waiting for some animal-head-painting inspiration, I refinished Justin's cocktail table that I wrote about here.  We painted the interior of the table with Valspar Mirage.  I loved it so much that I went a little spray crazy.


I had enough left over from painting the cocktail table that I was able to cover him in two coats.


Okay, maybe I got a little more crazy with the spray paint and a few other things got painted too.  I'll get to that later.

Maybe it's just me, but the turquoise blue makes him less creepy.  It looks like Mr. Zebra slipped into his fancy spring coat. 

I felt maybe he was a little plain with a just a single color, and felt like maybe he needed to sparkle a bit.  So I added a little bit of glue, and glitter. 


Apparently, not all my ideas are good ones.  Now he just looks like he's sporting a bad mohawk.

Unfortunately, I can't easily undo the glitter.

 

Fortunately, I only glittered up one side of his mohawk.  When I face him the opposite direction you can't even tell he got a hack job at the salon.  I realized that I like the single-color look.

I hope he doesn't get a sore neck from always looking to the right.  Maybe for parties we'll let him rock his mohawk.

Lesson #372:  never mix wine and glitter.

Mary

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