Dollar Tree Deer Makeover

 

My newest Dollar Tree Makeover!

I saw this deer, and just knew he needed that Mackenzie Childs touch!  I could see on his face that he wanted it !!! hahaha

I gotta tell you guys....the artisans at Mackenzie Childs just inspire me so, so much !!! Their details and caliber of workmanship just astound me!  And, while I may never reach that level, I hope that I at least let them know how grateful I am for their inspiration!  If you guys have never visited their website, do yourself a favor and click here:  Mackenzie Childs !  You won't be sorry !!

So, back to our deer!

I found this guy at my local Dollar Tree, and....I just loved him!

I loved him completely gold, but me being me, I can't leave anything alone ! hahaha....so I broke out my trusty Waverly white chalk paint.

I did no prep work on him.  I liked the texture that the glitter gave him, so I just left it and painted over it!

I knew I wanted him edged in the gold, so I began painting about a 1/4" in from the edge. And, I filled him all in!

Next, I grabbed a sharpie and began drawing lines.  I knew that because he was pretty big, he could handle a bigger "grid", so I used my ruler which is a smidge over an inch wide, and starting in the center, I drew a line down each side of the ruler.  Then, I used each line as a marker for the next one, moving my ruler to draw my vertical lines first and then started back in the center to draw my horizontal lines next. 

I did use a fine line pen to draw the inner line of his ear and tail, and I just drew some stripes in to fill those areas.  I wanted them different from the checks.

Next, was to begin painting my checks.  I used FolkArt black and a 3/4" flat brush from Plaid Online to fill them in.  

Then, using Yellow Ochre, Medium Hauser Green and Black Plum (all from DecoArt Americana), I used one color at a time to make my "streaks" in the blocks.  I also did both white streaks in the black checks and black streaks in the white checks.  That probably sounded confusing and you may need to read it again ! haha

Once everything was dry, it was time to embellish!

Always my favorite part!  I took a piece of tartan plaid ribbon from the Dollar Tree, cut off a section and rounded the bottom edges a bit for his saddle blanket.  Then, using wide gold ribbon (also from Dollar Tree), I cut a piece about 5" long, and twisted it where it would rest on each corner and in the center of the blanket to edge it out.  Then, with a thin gold ribbon also from the Dollar Tree, I put 2 bows.

I hot glued all of them in place and then used bits and bobs from around the studio to give him some greenery at the top and a bell around his neck.

To hang him, I did hot glue a pipe cleaner with a craft stick over it to the back!

And, that's it!  He only took a couple of hours, and I just couldn't love him more!  I hope and pray that I make the artists at MC proud! I wanna be them when I grow up !!! lol

Here's my little guy in the Parlor, and I love him so much, I think he might even need some "friends"!! (*wink wink*)

As always, you have blessed me with your presence today! Thank you for spending a piece of your day with me!

If you have questions/comments about this project or any project you see here, please don't hesitate to message below, or come find me on my Facebook page -----> My Artfelt Moments and message me there !

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Until next time, keep sharing your gift with the world!

With my heart,