Western General Store

  I saw a horseshoe frame something like this on the internet and thought I could make it from a mirror that was on a previous blog post Western Style Mirrors . I wanted to dress up the horseshoes with leather cord and beads. I rusted the horseshoes by spraying them with vinegar and setting them in the sun. I sprayed a clear sealer after they had dried. I drilled a 11/64 hole in the bottom of the horseshoe on the drill press. The screws pictured were used to attach the horseshoes to the frame. A 1/8 pilot hole was drilled into the frame first. I used the glue pictured to finish the cording on the horseshoe. Wow! I think it turned out well! I glued brown and white cowhide on the frame. I attached the horseshoes and a rusted Horse Head Drawer Pull  at the top. I drilled 1/8 holes and glued in turquoise rivets. My mother passed away several years ago and western decor wasn't her thing, but I thought of her during this project, as if I was making it for her for Mother's Day. I thi...

  We have several pieces of cherry wood in the shop that was given to us. I thought it would be perfect for this project. The top piece is the main piece, which is 18" wide x 7 14" tall. The other piece I will use to cut 2 spacers which are 8" x 1 1/2". I will use 3 large cast iron horseshoes which are 4 1/2" x 4 1/2", but you can use any kind of horseshoes. I want to place the spacers on the main piece and screw in a horseshoe on each end and one in the middle. I glued the left spacer with Titebond 3, let it dry overnight and put a couple of polyurethane coats overall, including the right spacer. After I spray painted the horseshoes black and let dry, I screwed one horseshoe in the end of the right spacer. Each horseshoe will have 2 one-inch dry wall screws. Pilot holes were drilled beforehand. I glued the right spacer with horseshoe attached and let it dry overnight. I screwed in the other 2 horseshoes on each end. On the back of the piece I measured fro...

When I saw a picture of horseshoes and hooks welded together for a coat rack, the idea came to me that I could screw our Small Coat Hooks into Large Horseshoes to make Horseshoe Hooks. I placed a Small Coat Hook on the bottom of a Large Horseshoe and made marks for drilling the holes. Clamp your horseshoe on the drill press. Use a 9/64" bit and drill holes for the hooks and enlarge two top holes in each horseshoe. I drilled 4 horseshoes. I had a piece of pecan left over from my kitchen bar and even though it's cracked I screwed the horseshoes and hooks into it. Dry wall screws (#6x1") are perfect for this project. I drilled pilot holes and nailed in Small Star Nails . If you want to decorate the horseshoes you can choose from small tacks, nails or conchos that we have on the website. You can paint the horseshoes, hooks and wood in the colors of choice or leave as is. I wanted to go one step further and add a ba...

It's 'time' to make clocks! You can make a clock out of just about anything. It's easy and fun! We have some left over Saltillo tile we used from a house project and I wanted to make something with one of the tiles. I put together a barn wood frame and routed out a place on the front of the frame for the tile. Epoxy was used to hold the tile in place. Since the frame is square (17.5" x 17.5"), I decided to rotate it to make a diamond clock. Holes were drilled for the 2" Square Berry Copper Conchos , 3/4" Copper Clavos and the clock hands. You can get the clocks and hands at the craft store. Concho screw adapters were used for the conchos or you could glue them. This boot was a previous project transformed into a clock. I attached the clock hands and small brown conchos for the numbers. This is also a previous project transformed into a clock, using the Mini Star Nails and Tiny Horseshoes for the numbers. ...

I have always wanted to make a horseshoe wreath, but since I'm not a welder, I created a new way to make it. I used #6 x 3/4" pan head machine screws and nuts. I did enlarge a few holes on the drill press so the screws would fit. These are large cast iron horseshoes. You could use steel horseshoes as well. Getting the right screw is crucial and these fit perfectly. I was so exited, I immediately wrapped red bandanas through the horseshoes. I sprayed the horseshoes silver metallic and wove a pink bandana through the horseshoes, a blue one next to it and tied it in the back. You've got to love this cowboy version! I sprayed one of our  Western Cutouts silver and attached it with wire. I wrapped blue and red bandanas and tied them in the front. Star Horseshoe Wreath with a star burlap ribbon, Mini Star Nails painted red and a painted Star in Circle Cutout hung by wire. Texas Horseshoe Wreath with Texas in Circle C...