Turning Childhood Toys to Treasured Art

This project was originally posted as a guest post I did on The NY Melrose Family blog.

Do you have a childhood treasure that just doesn't fit in your home's decor?  Something you just can't get rid of but don't want stored in a box forever?  If so, this may be the project for you!

When I was sorting through some boxes that had been stored in my parents basement for mumble mumble years, I came across the gorgeous guy you see below.  You see, like many women, I had been horse-mad when I was a kid.  Of course this meant that I filled my room with galloping horses, just like this one.

Now, since I don't have a horse-mad daughter and am trying not to end up on an episode of Horders, into the donate box he went.  There Black Beauty lived for a few weeks until I remembered Remington and his bronze statues of horses and their riders.  Ideas on how to accomplish something similar began to bubble and percolate in my brain.

Then I had it, I would turn Black Beauty into my own bronze statue and keep him forever!

Step 1:  Gather Materials

• Horse
• Gorilla Glue (not pictured)
• Drill and bit - bit should be the same size as the shank of the screws
• Primer
• Copper Spray Paint
• Hammered bronze spray paint
• 1x4 piece of wood - cut to the size that fits your horse
• 1x6 piece of wood - cut 2 inches larger that the 1x4
• screws - 1" and 1-1/4"
• caulk
• pencil (not pictured)

Step 2: Figure out screw placement and drill holes

• Draw circles around the hooves on the 1x4

• Draw an arrow to mark the centers and then drill the holes

• Drill holes in the bottom of the hooves

Step 3:  Attach your horse to your base (Sorry, I don't have any photos of this.  Since I don't have 3 hands I couldn't take any photos.) and caulk the seam

• Place a bit of glue in the center of each circle
• Using the 1" screws, screw into your pilot holes until the screws just poke out of the top of the piece of wood
• With the base on its side, place the horse so the holes in the hooves settle on top of the screws
• Finish screwing the horse to the base
• Set aside overnight to let the glue harden completely

 

Step 4:  Attaching the secondary base

• Set the horse and base onto the 1x6 and, measuring to make sure that it is centered, mark the edges so you can make sure to drill inside the lines

• Clamp the pieces of wood together and then lean everything over onto a couple of rags so you can screws the pieces of together.

•  Caulk the seam between the two pieces of wood

Step 5: Painting

• Prime and let dry

• Paint with copper spray paint and let dry. It will take a couple of light coats to get complete coverage.

 

• Paint with bronze spray paint and let dry.  It will take a couple of light coats to get complete coverage.
• Display!

 

Here's a close up.  I think it turned out pretty well.  You would never know he was just a molded plastic underneath.

This shot shows how the detail really stands out thanks to using light coats of spray paint.

 

I think Black Beauty now should be called Bronze Beauty!

To see where I am linking up, check out the Places I Party.

Crafting Rebellion, Type A and Better After were kind enough to feature this project on their blogs.