Happy Wednesday, Friends!
Welcome back to my blog, and if it’s your first time visiting, thanks for stopping by. Man oh man… last week was absolutely crazy. My big girl job had a “Christmas in August” event, and to top it off I was able to share our product at Hyvee on Saturday. I’m loving it! Bryce and I have been going “to town” decorating our apartment. I’m happy to say we are finally at the point where it just feels like Our Home. Whenever we moved in, I believed I had every little thing that we could possibly need (the google document of lists I made said so), but I was so wrong. I had no idea how much actually goes into furnishing and decorating an apartment… until now. My head is still spinning!
Decorating on a dime causes you to get a little crafty and repurpose things you have without compromising on style. Do you remember my old bullhead that I had over my bed in my college apartment? It was painted white, with metallic gold horns, and it had a large coral paper flower glued to it. If you didn’t happen to read My College Room Tour post, take a peek at it. Our guest bedroom (aka my closet or office) has a modern, bohemian vibe and the steer just didn’t go with the room flow.
Not wanting to put the bull out to pasture and needing it to represent the style of who I am becoming made me take a hard look at some new possibilities for my wall decor. I needed it to be simple and have clean lines. To freshen it up, my Mom actually found inspiration from a floral shop on Instagram. The photo was of a modern looking skull with rigid lines decorated with succulents. My Mom and I both fell in love with the design and knew we could recreate it. Here’s how we did it!
1. Original Bullhead purchased and still available at Hobby Lobby.
2. Spray paint entire bull with Krylon paint. I used an antique white but you may prefer a cool turquoise or metallic gold. Let your creativity soar.
3. Using painter’s tape (the blue stuff), tape off the horns if you want them a different color. I picked tan spray paint. Why you might ask? or How boring you might be thinking? LOL Tan is what I had and Girl… I was not buying more paint for 2 small horns. It was a good neutral.
4. Next stop, Hobby Lobby for some fake succulents. They are near all the wedding stuff at my Hobby Lobby, and when I purchased them, they were half off that week so watch the ads.
Pro tip: if you are ever at Hobby Lobby, make sure to search on your phone “Hobby Lobby Coupon” and it will always pull up a 40% off regular price coupon. Never pay the full price.
First, choose a large flower like succulent to give weight to the grouping. Then add medium sized succulents. Finish the bouquet with small sized plants to balance the design. I scored finding a succulent that was long and trailing. I loved it because when you hang the bullhead it would look like it was actually growing out of the bull’s skull (not to be graphic). Explore heights, sizes, colors, and dimensions of the succulents you like in the store. Bundle them like you might place them on your skull so you don’t buy too many or not enough.
5. The next step is making the arrangement. I am a very visual person, so I literally held the succulents onto the bull (which I had hung on the wall) this helped me decide where and how I wanted them to go. When you are working with a piece of wall art, hanging it and working from the nail it is on will make your design exactly what you had in mind. You will never be looking directly down on it so don’t create it on a table.
6. After positioning where the succulents go, I wired the stems of them together so I could keep them in a nice and tight bundle.
7. My skull came with a hole towards the top of the ceramic which gave me a perfect place to hide all the stems on my succulents.
8. For a finishing touch, I hot glued some of the succulent leaves on the bull so nothing would later shift.
Looking at the design, I could see this particular bull with air plants in it. They need little care and live plants are always better than fakes. My mom’s friend, Michelle, said she could see the bullhead out on a deck or patio. How cool would that be? Who knew my rustic, 50% off ceramic bull would have so many design options. Hope you had fun reading my creative journey! No Bull about it — such a simple DIY for your decor. Send me pictures if you make your own! I love seeing all your talent!
by Twofold Media 
