With two hunters in the house, there’s more than one antler trophy gracing the walls of our home. However, the hunters get a little wild-eyed, if I mention dressing them up just a bit. My daughter hung a few Christmas ornaments from my husband’s elk antler mount one year. It bothered him, a lot. But he reluctantly let us have our fun. This year I’m dressing up my own antler for Spring.
No, I’m not a hunter. I acquired this antler from a friend of mine. She gave me an elk antler shed she found on her ranch in Colorado. It’s wonderfully bleached from being outdoors for a long time and it’s the perfect size for the mantel.
The weather was so beautiful here this past weekend. Our apple tree has bloomed with pretty white blossoms. The apple tree was the inspiration for this project.
I headed to the dollar store and picked up a package of moss and a few flower stems. When I got home I plugged in my glue gun and got to work while the vision was still fresh in my mind. Do you ever do that? Have an idea, get the supplies, then totally forget what your inspiration was because you let the project sit for too long? Happens to me frequently.
I put a drop of hot glue here and there and attached some moss. Then a few flowers. A little messy, but easy.
I couldn’t believe I was finished in just a few minutes.
I was liking it, really, I was. Then I sat down and stared at it for a while. Then I started thinking that maybe it was too simple. Maybe it needed more. . . moss. So I added more. . . a lot more.
It was definitely more green. I may have gone overboard with the moss. What do you think? More or less on the moss?
It was too beautiful outside to stay indoors, so I stepped outside to think about it. I soon got distracted by more signs of spring. This flowering bush made me wonder if pink flowers might look better on that antler . . .
The Hostas has started to pop up. I also noticed the flower beds are in need of some clean up. I turned to grab my son, who was playing catch in the yard, for a little help. ‘Was’ being the operative word. It was already too late. He was in the wind. Probably saw me eyeing that garden, then rolling up my sleeves. Teenagers have a keen sense of yard work projects about to commence.
I’ll wait a few more days to decide if the antler needs weeding. I’d love your opinion.
Thank you!
A backyard compost bin is the single best investment a vegetable gardener can make. It diverts a third of household waste from landfill, gives you free soil improver, and saves $40+ a year on potting mix. The right bin i
Galvanised steel raised beds have shifted from rural-feed-trough territory to mainstream urban garden gear in the last few years. They last 20+ years (versus 10–15 for cedar), don’t rot, and the corrugated profile give
Indoor plant pots without drainage are a polite way to kill a plant. The decorative ceramic with no hole at the bottom traps water against the roots, and even the hardiest pothos eventually rots. The real trick is findin
Once you start propagating seriously — cuttings, divisions, perennial seedlings — you need nursery pots in volume. Tip-out pots, square pots, deep pots for legumes — each has a job. Buying these in bulk packs is dr
A trailing hanging basket cascading off the verandah is one of the simplest displays in the garden — and one of the most-disappointing if the basket itself is wrong. Wire baskets dry out by lunchtime in summer; coco-li
Potatoes in grow bags are the most reliable easy-win we’ve ever planted. No digging, no scab problems from heavy soil, and harvest is just lifting the bag. The right bag breathes (so roots don’t circle), drains, and last
