Bronze Animal Hooks

Even though Rust-Oleum Week is technically over, I still have loads of other cute projects to share.  By the way, our big project for a reader-turned-friend is complete and we wrapped it all up the day after I was due!  It was the best feeling to know that loose end was tied up with a sweet bow and now I can focus on other things…like packing a hospital bag!

So here’s the thing….today I have another little project for you….and I have a decision for you to make.  After today I can go back to “regular” blogging…I did finish the boy’s room and I can totally start sharing that fun journey with you (ya know with intermixed tidbits of our life!) or I can share more of these little crafty projects.  I am gonna let you decide!  At the end of this post, you get to vote….boy’s room or crafty projects.  Either way you will see both at some point…I just want to know what you want first  Ponder that.  It’s the most important decision you will ever make.

Now for the most epic bronze animal hooks that I have ever made.  First you need a 1×4 and a drill with a 2 1/2″ hole cutter.  Cut a few of those.

Then comes the gruesome part.  I do not support animal cruelty by the way….but I am going to tell you to chop saw some animals in half.  Just wanted to warn you in case you are reading out of context.

So I found these little plastic animals at my local Kroger.  There is a giant bin of them and they are a buck each…even the does are a buck (sorry had to).  I have also seen some similar ones at Michaels (not a dollar) and at the Dollar Tree.  Basically you want to hold the animal up and pretend like it is a hook on a wall (I found that they work best if you hold the animal head higher than it’s rump) and then mark your line where it is vertical on it’s torso and chop saw at that angle.

Using a 3/4″ drill bit, drill a hole in the center of each wood circle….sand all that really well.  Then cut a length off of a dowel rod.  I used a 5/8″ dowel and cut them each a little longer than I needed because I tweaked them later.

Now fit the dowel into the animal cavity.  Jam it all the way down in there.  Then push the other end in the wood hole.  The animal should not meet the wood circle because you cut it long right?!  Well, the amount that it is sticking out is the amount you need to trim off the dowel.  Trim that with your miter saw and then label the end.  Each dowel might be slightly different.

I attached the dowel to the wood circle first by using a little wood glue and letting those dry before I stained them Rust-Oleum’s Weathered Gray.  Love that stain color.

The animal heads got spray painted with Rust-Oluem’s Oil Rubbed Bronze….then I squeezed a bunch of E6000 onto the end of the dowel before putting the animal on the dowel.

I attached them to the wall with 3M velcro but eventually when I redo the boy’s bathroom, I will attach these directly to the wall using screws.

Super cute right?!  And they look like an expensive hook that you would find at West Elm!

Okay….are you ready for your life-changing question….here is the head-to-head choice….