Terrarium Dress-Up
When the season gets away from you, the best way to still get in the holiday spirit is to find easy ways to make your existing decor festive. This year I decided to put a reindeer (one of a whole bag full) to good use, and make him a new tropical home (in my terrarium.) And why do I have a bag of plastic reindeers you ask? I honestly have no idea. :) Of course I couldn’t just shove him in the terrarium and call it a day…I had to spray paint him gold. He looks so much more festive this way.

MATERIALS
- Glass terrarium
- Small to Medium sized terrarium rocks
- Soil
- Succulent plant
- Plastic spoon
- Small terrarium rocks
- Plastic reindeer
- Gold spray paint
- Mini bristle brush tree
INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1:
Place some medium-sized terrarium rocks at the bottom of your glass terrarium. This layer is to help the soil drain, and you can use whatever color of rocks you’d like. I used black colored rocks (because that is what I had on hand) but rocks in a different shade help give the terrarium interest.

Step 2:
Then add a little soil. Create a small well in the center and plant your plant, gently pack the soil around the base of the succulent.
Step 3:
Once you have the succulent planted, use a plastic spoon to insert the small terrarium rocks around the base of your plant.
Step 4:
Spray paint your plastic reindeer gold, and let it dry. Once it’s dry place it into your terrarium…along with any other fun objects you would like to add.
Such an easy way to make everyday decor festive!

Frank
Frank is my resident deer.
He greets me everyday as I walk down my stairs. Most people don’t even notice he is there, however I think he likes that.
I didn’t name him Frank, but ironically my Grandfather’s name was Frank…and my Grandfather was quite the huntsman.
The other day I realized that Frank needed some jewelry…so I gave him some. I took some brass ornaments from Ferm Living (that I had bought post-Christmas) and some long ballchain, and repurposed them into dangling adornments, and got on my tippy toes and hung them from his crown. :) I think he likes them!



(Note: This trophy head is an antique, and a gift from a friend. I am not a hunter, nor will I probably ever go hunting in my life. But someone was proud of this fella, and I’m happy to let him live on in my house.)
Taxidermy tote
My recent trip to Portland inspired me to make a craft worth the great city. I picked up this inexpensive natural colored tote at Joann’s, and my first instinct was to “put a bird on it” but that was too obvious. Instead I decided to take a cue from nature (and my current obsession with faux taxidermy) and put a deer on it! Maybe I can start a new trend on Portlandia.
MATERIALS

INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1:
First print out the deer template on the cover weight stock. Either cut with an x-acto knife, or cheat like I did and print it out using your Cameo Silhouette!!
I ran my stencil through my Xyron to give it some tack on the backside. If you don’t have a Xyron, you could spray some light Spray Mount on the backside.

Step 2:
Trim close to the stencil and position your stencil on the bag where you want it.

Step 3:
Choose what color of paint you’d like to use and begin to dab the paint on at a 90 degree angle. This helps the paint not to creep under the edges of the stencil.

Step 4:
Carefully pull off the stencil and fix up any rough edges with paint. Let it dry for a few hours, and then fill it up with your craft goodies and go!

