The hunt for great faux taxidermy

OCTOBER 2013 - If someone had told me that one day I would spend a lot of time looking for the perfect animal head to be hung on my walls I probably wouldn't believe it (or I'd be pretty freaked out by the fact that I would be looking for heads... to decorate my home...).

Well this is actually what I did for the past few weeks - I was looking for animals heads! I don't know if it's because Halloween is coming but it just happened. I might need to specify something: I am talking about FAUX taxidermy people! Stop making this weird face "eeeeew is she seriously looking for dead animals to hang their heads in her home?..".

Do you really believe I could do that? The neighbors' dog is pretty annoying and barks for no reasons - I have to be honest, it might have crossed my mind for 2 seconds - but I rather have a deer head made of paper mache than having to deal with my neighbors' sorrow for the rest of time.

Anyway, back to faux taxidermy. There are actually a lot of options - you can either buy or DIY. My lazy alter-ego (she's been acting up lately. Damn you, lazy me!) convinced me to choose the buying option. For someone who's constantly praising the Gods & Goddesses of DIY, buying is really - REALLY - the lazy option (but sometimes it just feels right). Finding the perfect animal head was pretty tough - took me some time searching on and offline - so really, you have to give me some credits here.

Before I show you what we decided to buy - let's just review the DIY options (Lazy me wouldn't even review these options... I know you will consider them! I have faith in you):

- Paper mache animal heads: 
If you can pull this one off, you'll be impressed by the result. Paper mache is a pretty cool process and when nicely done it gives really great results. One of the best methods is to use newspapers and masking tape to build the basic shape of the head and then go with paper towel and glue (you can buy a special glue in craft stores or just go crazy and make your own with flour and water! No, you won't end up with bread, only a paste with pretty strong gluing powers). I haven't tried this yet (booooo) but I've found 2 nice tutorials for you to enjoy, my little DIY-ers. I like them because they are pretty simple AND you'll learn how to create a zebra head and a unicorn head (A UNICORN!!!).

         

They both look pretty cool - my 12-years old self wants me to make the unicorn head! I will, I have to! 

- Paper deer head:
I found another DIY option - which doesn't involve glue (for the clean freaks among us). You'll only need: some cardstocks, a printer and scissors. You'll have a deer head following a few steps: print, cut and assemble everything to create your deer head.

It's a very different look - love it too! Besides, it seems fairly simple to create.

I had no excuses, I know... I should have done one of these great DIY heards... But I totally fell in love with the animal heads from Bend (the heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of...).

Here is the beast (we went with the long-horn):

Just loved the fact it's in metal - it's different from the (fake) trophy heads we've seen this past few years (a lot of them are in resin). The industrial look make it more modern.

However we were actually torn between this one and the "common" deer head (you can find really nice one in resin here).


Bottom line, you don't have to hunt for a long time to find the perfect trophy head to spice up your home! Paper mache, cardboard, metal or resin - buying or DIY-ing - the options are numerous! Just need to pick your animal (the unicorn!... I am so going to make this one!).


M.