Western General Store

Here's another idea for July 4th. Paint the cast iron Horse Head 3 Hook red, white and blue and attach bling stars with hot glue. Fun for kids too!

You can use our Cross Brackets to make this simple bench. The top piece is 11 x 36 x 1 1/2 and the legs are 11 x 16 x 1 1/2 pine. Four Cross Brackets were screwed into the top piece and leg pieces. I removed the hanger from each of the small crosses which I wanted to attach to each leg. Then found a longer screw that would fit it and drilled a hole in the leg piece. Use a counter sink bit if necessary. Screw the cross to the leg piece from the inside. After the dark brown Briwax  finish was applied I noticed my sanding marks which gave it a distressed look. There are several other types of braces on the website that you could use such as Star Braces, Cobb Webb Braces, and Horse Braces. The items used in this project are: Cross Bracket Small Cross D58-078

I've always wanted to make a Hall Tree Coat Rack. Here's our version of it. The post is 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and the total height to the top of the star is 5' 8 1/2". I attached Large Coat Hooks and drilled a hole in the top and inserted a Mini Star Nail . For the base, John came up with the idea of attaching the Star Braces for stability. I love this! The wood pieces are glued and screwed into the post. You could paint the hooks and star to match the braces or paint it all the color of your choice. Stain or paint the wood or leave natural.

Here's a way to use our Tiny Horseshoes . I drew this cross by hand as you can tell it's not perfect and cut it out of red oak wood on the scroll saw. It is 13" tall x 10" wide x 5/8" thick. After tons of sanding I varnished it. I laid out my horseshoes and screwed them into the wood, then added a Small Star Nail in the center. You could paint the wood or the horseshoes any color and use any wood you desire. This cross would make a nice gift.

Transform your cast iron by painting it. At the craft store there are many different types of paint. I use acrylic or spray paint. Leave it as is and spray on clear sealer. Here are several examples to give you some ideas. Have fun!

I thought it would be fun to fancy up a cast iron longhorn . I spray painted it gold and glued bling from the craft store on the horns. A purple star was added to the forehead.  I tied shiny gold ribbon through the mounting holes to hang. This could be a fun project for kids.

This project took quite a while from planning to finish. I placed the cast iron items and rope from the craft store on a board in different ways until I was satisfied. I took several pictures and played with the colors for the wood in Photoshop. I knew I wanted to crackle the paint so I did it in sections, then glued the rope on and frayed the ends. I tied and glued on leather cord to keep it from unraveling. I spray painted the cast iron metallic silver and drilled holes to mount them. The longhorns could hold jewelry, caps, hats, belts, or coats. Items for the project from Western General Store Longhorn Skull Drawer Pulls Large Horseshoes Star Nails