DIY Glittery Deer Silhouette Wall Art

To know me is to know that I fawn over deer.  Bucks, does, fawns.  The majestic antlers, the graceful silhouettes, the little white spots.  Beings that I live in Iowa, I see a lot of these creatures.  And unfortunately, run into the danger of hitting them when driving.  (I hit one in the middle of town!)  Also being an Iowan, I admit to eating them.  Sorry if I offend anyone, but the difference between deer chilli and regular chilli is immense and delicious.  But anyways... mostly I just like to decorate with deer.  Deer figurines, deer art, etc. 

Tonight I found myself needing a study break from the homework that had piled up.  And the Christmas decor on my shelves just seemed to be lacking something...  With no time or motivation to make a HobLobs run, I decided to scrounge around my apartment to round up things I could use.  I ended up with an old piece of art I'd purchased at Good Will with the intent to make it over, a can of leftover turquoise paint, cosmetic glitter, poster board, and clear coat spray paint.  Oh! And when I couldn't find a paint brush or sponge brush, I opted for an old makeup blush brush. 

I started out by covering my coffee table with newspaper.  Then I proceeded to paint the old Good Will find with turquoise paint using my blush brush.  (It painted so smoothly and beautifully!  I might have stumbled upon something...)  I gave the art several coats.  The paint was just basic satin latex wall paint.  

While the paint dried, I cut a piece of poster board down to a size similar to the art plaque.  I used a pencil to sketch up a deer silhouette.  I glanced at a couple examples online and sorta went from there.  It didn't need to be perfectly drawn since I was going to cut it up anyway.  I considered cutting out the deer and leaving a stencil-like deer cutout in the poster board... but ended up just cutting out the deer instead.  

And here's my deer cutout!  Yes, in the third picture I'm saying something along the lines of "Who's the cutest little deer, hmmm?  Who's the most adorable little buck?  Yes, you are!  Yes, you!"  Sorry.  I get weird when I get crafty and coffee'd up on Friday nights alone.  :S

I covered the plaque with a thick, gloppy coat of paint and stuck the deer head onto it.  Then I sprinkled glitter over the entire thing---the thought being that the glitter would stick to the paint just as it would glue... but saving time and a whole 'nother set of steps that would require drying, ModPodge, etc.  I patted the glitter down with my hands and gave the whole thing a spraying of clear coat spray paint.  Then more glitter.  (It sticks to the clear spray paint, too.)  Then a little more patting.  Then I carefully peeled the deer cutout off of the plaque.  I touched up a few spots with the brush.  And lastly, I gave the entire thing a heavy coating of the clear spray paint. 

I knew just where to hang it!  The perfectly-sized open spot over my shelves... and conveniently above my lovely little glittery turquoise deer figurine. 

How pretty?!  I love because it compliments the little holiday theme I have going on: gold, glitter, turquoise, and white.  Plus, when Christmas is over I'll just move it up to my room or something.  I never get tired of deer. :)