Trying to Cover Trophy Halos

     The previous owner of our home had some hunting trophies mounted and they left "halos."  We're not hunters, so simply replacing them was not an option.

     Actually, why not?  With our favorite characters, that is.  How?  Halloween treat buckets!  The halos still show, but it's not as obvious as when it was bare.  Grabbing them on clearance helped encourage/motivate me to do it.  (Maybe you have a few in your Halloween stash?)

      I cut off the plastic handles and used my Crop-a-dile to make holes in the backs of the buckets.  I looped some fishing line through the holes and hung them each on a hook screwed in the wall.  (I had used adhesive hooks, but the adhesive couldn't stick to the stain and they started popping off after a week or so.  Had hubs grab 4 hooks while he went shopping and a week later, had the time and courage to screw them up.)  I left the middle open for another project I'll work on later.

     If you have a different solution to this issue, I'd love to see or hear about it!

     Thanks for checking this "quick" idea out.  Hope you're well and I'd love it if this helped encourage you to try something you've been thinking of doing for awhile - you might be surprised with the results!


(On with the yammer. . .)

     When we bought our home, we did a walk-thru with the previous owners.  They said that the treatment on the wood in the converted garage would even out if we left it and let the sun "do it's job."  Not sure how long they were thinking. . . almost three years later and if I squint, they seem to be a tad darker than before.  Stripping it down and redoing it was out of the question, so I had to think of something else.
     Pictures?  No - couldn't think of 6 large pictures or posters I'd want up there.  Plus, the spots weren't all the same size and weren't spaced evenly, so it'd be difficult to make it look good or like it was planned.
     I thought about trying stuffed animals or some other type of fake heads to put up, but nothing really fit the spaces.  I saw a few things that might fill a little more of the space, but they were pricey.  I didn't feel like paying over a hundred for each spot - especially if there would still be some of the halo showing!  I went to Pinterest to see if I could DIY something. . . maybe some type of stormtrooper?  There were a few paper mache things, but it takes me quite a while to get enough courage built up enough to try something new.  While trying to think of a solution, I went shopping and saw the Halloween treat buckets.  I decided to wait a little longer to get them on clearance.   There is still a halo showing, but I'm the only one who seems to look at them anyway and it's not too bad for a less than $10 fix.

     All the spots make me think of my grandparents and "Oscar."  Oscar is a 5-point buck that my grandpa shot with a bow and arrow.  He had to track it through the woods to bring it home - tied to the hood of his car.  When he got to the house, I ran out to greet him and then quickly ran back into the house screaming, "Grandpa shot Bambi!"  Flash forward years later and he became a big part of being at Grandma & Grandpa's.  It didn't really feel like I was at grandma & grandpa's until I saw him.  He was a big comfort whenever I'd sleepily wander and wonder where I was.  It wasn't just me either - I remember a few occasions when my mom and aunts started talking about decorating Oscar just to get grandpa going.
     Oscar is also responsible for my most memorable UPS excursion.  When my grandma moved into a smaller place, we paid (a lot more than I thought we would) to ship him to my mom's because I didn't like the idea of him in the trash and thought the "tradition" could continue now that my mom was a grandma.  I'll never forget the reactions we saw in the store.  The sole employee's bewilderment while trying to figure out how to ship the big, odd shaped thing wasn't the only funny reaction.  A customer had decided to bring in her little dog and it could not figure out what was going on.  It froze when it first saw Oscar and would sniff in our direction, bark, and then start sniffing again until they left.
     When he arrived at my mom's, she tried to get us to take it.  She still threatens to decorate him every holiday, especially for Christmas by putting ornaments on his antlers, but never has mainly because grandpa would've hated that.  It's just the threat of it, the reminder of the teasing she and my aunts gave him that help ease our loss and have him continue to live a little in our lives.

     Maybe it's those memories and reminders that have made me want to do something special to the old trophy wall.  I'd like to have some other memories and a type of memorial up there.  We have a few other things we want to put up, but I'm not sure how to do it without damaging the wall or how to make it safe enough for us to be in the room.
     When my oldest was younger, his great-grandpa (hubs' grandpa) bought him a fire truck that we want to mount up on the wall - probably in the middle space I have left empty.  I have a picture of his reaction when he first saw it that I've framed and want to mount underneath the truck.  We also have a rocking chair that my grandpa made - I'd love to find a picture of my mom, either of my aunts, me, or my brother in it to mount under that.  (I don't remember any picture like that - I just remember one of my family's dogs sitting under it and would put that up if it's the only one - and if I can find it again, that is.)
     I'm just not too sure when we'll try mounting them up or if the "heads" will stay when we do.  Too far down on the list to worry about that now.

     Speaking of lists, suppose I should try to cross off one or two items of a list. . .


If you have a similar story, please post it in the comments below.