DIY: Horse Head Wreath

For a few years, I’ve seen those adorable horse head wreaths all over Pinterest. Every year I think “I could totally do that!” but time gets away from me and I put it off until next year. Well, this year we were in town for Thanksgiving weekend and I had a few hours free so I decided to just go for it! I figured there were probably other equestrians out there who wanted to make one of these, so I decided to take photos along the way and share this DIY with everyone!

To start, you’ll need the following:

• 3-4 strands of garland with inner wire
• ribbon (for halter)
• a large button (for halter)
• a big bow
• optional: embellishments for the bow and/or mane area
• wire cutters
• scissors
• needle-nose pliers
• hot glue gun w/glue sticks
• fishing line
• hemp cord
• thick wire or coat hangers

Once you have those items gathered, you’ll need to start by shaping your wire or wire coat hangers into the shape of a horse head. (Or you can buy one already made here) If you’ve ever drawn a horse, you’ll have a bit of a head start on this, but if you haven’t you can look at a photo to get the outline and dimensions. But it really doesn’t have to be 100% perfect here. The nature of the garland is to be a bit messy, so I just went for recognizable instead of anatomically correct. I used my needle nose pliers to bend the wire (and my husband’s muscles to bend the twisted hanger areas for me).

Once you have the shape, you can start adding the hemp cord. The idea is to wrap the cord and go across, then come back down, to create a netting that the garland will attach to. I used my trusty hot glue gun to attach the points of contact between wire & hemp. It just took a second to dry and has held up great. Be sure to keep the strands tight in order to keep the garland straight inside the shape.

Next, unwrap a strand of garland and lay it around the edge of the wire to get the shape of the horse head. Once you have the outline, you can start attaching the garland to the outer wire using fishing line. I cut pieces around 4-5 inches long and tied double knots before cutting off the excess strands of fishing line. Some people use thin wire for this, but I chose fishing line because it’s clear and easier to manipulate. But you can do whatever your heart tells you. I made sure to attach the garland to the outer wire about every few inches to keep the shape of the horse head intact and also to give me a clear guideline for the other strands.

I continued to spiral in with the garland, going around the inside of the horse head and attaching to the hemp “netting” every few inches, especially on areas with curves. I kept going until I got to the center of the horse’s neck and then trimmed the excess garland. I won’t lie to you, about midway through this process (aka 1.5hrs), I began to question my sanity. Why had I chosen to do this? What was I thinking? Would I ever finish tying nearly invisible strands of fishing line onto the silly garland? But I prevailed and I’m so glad that I did! If you make it to this point, I suggest a celebratory beverage before continuing. My weapon of choice is coffee. [I like it so strong, you can chew it…according to my dad!]

After my near meltdown and triumphant finish, I realized it was nearly done and became inspired to create a “mane” for my green gelding. I’ve seen other wreaths without manes and some with flowers or berries as the mane. This part is up to you and your creative inspiration. I chose to use the extra garland to create a mane by trimming 6″ segments and tightly bending the 1/2″ on one end over the outer wire on the horse’s neck. I didn’t need any glue or fishing line to keep them in place.

Next, I measured the three segments of ribbon for the halter, leaving an extra inch or two on the muzzle piece and the piece behind the ears/throat so I could hot glue each end to the back of the wreath. I then added a dot of hot glue to the cheek piece and glued it underneath the other two pieces. Then, I hot glued a large button onto the muzzle piece to look like hardware on a halter. The final touch was adding a bow to the neck area and embellishing it with a bunch of berries and pine cones that I found at a craft store. I found a bunch that was all attached to a single “branch” which made it easy to trim and then push through the garland. I secured it to the back of the wreath with a few dots of hot glue.

And voila! Here he is, proudly displayed on our barn door!

If you attempt to make one of these, be sure to post a pic and let me know about your experience! Happy Holidays!