DIY Faux Taxidermy Brooch

Hey guys! I was working on a project the other day and thought it’d be a fun DIY to share with you. First, gather your supplies.

 

The next part is creating the baseboard for your animal head to mount on. I rolled out my clay using a wooden knitting needle, and it’s important to do it on top of wax paper or else the clay will stick to fucking everything. Trust me. Also I freehanded the mount after a quick google search.

Okay so don’t actually do that last step. I did, though, after an irritatingly cocky moment of being a know-it-all when it comes to baking fimo clay. It was pretty bad, guys, and I almost didn’t redo the project. However, once you have properly baked the fimo clay, here’s what’s next.

 

It felt so dark and wrong, but it was also kind of fun. I’ve been waiting to behead a plastic animal for a long time now. Also, I’d recommend cutting at an angle similar to the one pictured, to make sure the animal sits right. You need to be careful that if antlers are involved, they won’t be smooshed into the mounting piece.

I didn’t take a picture of the next part, but when it dries, go ahead and paint your fellow. I painted him with two coats of white because I’ve been drooling over white faux taxidermied animal heads on Etsy. Especially this one. To cover the antlers in glitter I let the white paint dry, carefully covered the antlers in rubber cement and dumped a ton of Martha Stewart glitter on them. I tapped off the excess and used a dry paintbrush to de-glitter the non-glued parts. Then I covered the antlers in a coat of clear nail polish so the glitter won’t contaminate everything I pin my brooch to.

For the brooch part:

 

 

I opted to pin him to my suspenders and wear him to work. Where I received a half-hearted, confused compliment from one of my photography sessions.