Before launching into 2014 proper, here’s a quick catchup on a project I didn’t get around to blogging towards the end of 2013…
Having seen loads of cardboard taxidermy on Pinterest, and in gorgeous-but-pricey boutiques, I thought perhaps we could have a go at crafting our own.
Deer heads – Oliver Bonas
Tuesday is cardboard-recycling-night in our neighbourhood and we have several shops as neighbours, so finding materials was no problem. I found this brilliant template online, and enlarged it a bit (M would argue a bit too much), printed it out and transferred the shapes on to the cardboard. I also free-handed a shield shape, because of course.
Cutting the thick card was a bit of a chore, achieved by a team of three with a range of implements (craft knife, scissors, bread knife etc). Once all the bits were cut out (and we’d checked they all fitted together) we spray painted them all white. TIP: do not use bright purple felt tip to trace your shapes on to cardboard you then intend to paint white – despite multiple layers, Rufus still has hints of purple if you look closely. I then masked off a jagged shape along the base of the antlers and sprayed them Gold. The shield shape I covered in a tartan fabric I had in my stash.
For autumn we hung him between our bookcases with a felt-leaf garland. But in December this became the tree space so he was moved to the dining table area (and given some baubles). I would probably have kept him up all year round but M lobbied to put him away when we took the Christmas decorations down last week and I relented. In fairness I’m looking forward to the excitement of unwrapping him again this autumn.
Siobhan xx
Just Keep Sewing 
Saw one at Urban Outfitters. So cute. How do you keep from bending up the cardboard when you do it? You’re a genius. When we get a big box we will make them into play houses but as soon as I cut the door on it… it bends up.
Hi there,
It was pretty tricky to be fair, and he is a little crooked from certain angles as a result! I found that on the more fiddly areas (e.g. around the antlers), laying the card flat (on a cutting board!) and using a craft knife worked best, but I had to go over the lines a few times before it cut right through!
Hope that helps and thanks for stopping by 🙂
That does help! I will try that. We are always swimming in cardboard since we usually do most of our shopping online.