Just got home from revealing to dad the antler wreath that I made for his retirement community apartment door. I made the wreath out of the antlers that he collected over his lifetime as an avid hunter and outdoorsman. When I originally went to Michigan to move him from his 60 acre country hunting property to a 600 sq. foot apartment we took as much as possible of his hunting décor and memorabilia to make his new apartment as close to feeling like home as possible. However, downsizing from 60 acres to 600 sq. foot came with its challenges. See the blog post on how I styled dad’s log cabin styled apartment HERE. Some game mounts and antlers in his ‘garage lodge” were left behind after the initial move. I decided to make a second trip to Michigan and couldn’t leave the antlers behind again. Just too many of dad’s memories in them to be forgotten. Therefore, I came up with the idea to take all the antlers and make them into a wreath that he can hang on his apartment door. Researching how to clean, cut and DIY antlers I saw on Etsy other real antler wreaths were selling for over $400! I knew I was onto something! Although I would never consider selling these memories, the ability to DIY the mementos in a meaningful way (his door was awfully bare!) is so much more valuable!
Dad had a lifetime collection of antlers displayed in his “garage lodge” in Michigan. When we moved him from his 60 acre country hunting property home to a 600 sq. foot retirement community apartment, most of the antlers did not make the initial move.
When I went back to Michigan after dad’s move I knew I was going to take the antlers this time. I decided the antlers could not be left behind or sold with the house. They hold too many memories to be abandoned. Since I left them the 1st time I had time to think about how I could make them work for dad’s new apartment and with my DIY skills I had a great idea! Make them into a wreath for his door! So I removed them all from the walls and packed them up! Two huge boxes worth!
After I got them home the first thing I did was give them a bath. Since antlers are bone (different than a horn – horns are made from keratin like in your nails and hair). Antlers are bone and the proper way to wash them is let them soak for 5-10 min in a warm bath of blue Dawn dish soap and peroxide.
After soaking the antlers I wiped them dry with a clean cloth.
The next step was to cut the antlers off the skull caps. My dad had the antlers screwed into the walls through their skulls (I know kind of an icky visual). Well, this step caused me a little frustration as the key to any DIY project is to have the right tools! Unfortunately, I did not have the tools on hand to cut bone (the only time I ever wished DEXTER was my neighbor – haha). I tried to use my rip saw, hand saw and bow saw. No luck. So a trip to Home Depot was necessary. I did enjoy the weird look I got from the employee when I asked him what tool I needed to cut through bone. LOL! After giving him by most mischievous smile I finally let him in on my DIY project and he directed me to the blades for a sawzall (which I had but not the correct blade). I also ordered a vice from Amazon as holding the antlers with my foot was not working nor very safe since I really like my toes.
The cut antlers are almost ready for the next step of my antler wreath DIY!
I purchased a 14″ grapevine wreath from Michael’s HERE. This was used as the foundation for the antlers. It worked great to have something to attached the antlers to.
Many of the antlers I cut had their license tags still attached (when you hunt you must have a legal permit or license to shoot game/wildlife legally). I left all of the tags as another neat memento and reminder of my dad’s hunting days. Check out this tag. The buck that belonged to these antlers was shot with a bow & arrow in 1992!
The antler wreath DIY for dad turned out so much better than I expected. Here it is on my front door. It looks so good against the navy blue.
Here it is in it’s final resting place. Dad’s apartment door at his retirement community. He has already gotten a lot of attention for how his apartment is styled (see the blog post on his log cabin styled apartment HERE). Everyone knows he is the resident “hunter”! Now he has another memento to share with his new community along with the cherished memories of “the good ole days” and all the fun times he had with his hunting buddies (Jerry, Mike, Jay, Gary, Ronny & Happy). I’m so glad I decided to not leave these behind and came up with this great DIY for dad.
What’s even better…I have several antlers left over so I may be making one for my own front door soon! I already took one set of antlers and snuck it into my home decor!
Wow, what a great job and great daughter! Good job Tammy!