Rustic Country Farm Animals Decor

Check out this video with some great techniques using supplies from Milton’s Daughter! And bonus video content: teacher gifts!

Here’s what I used:

Milton’s Daughter: Iron Orchid Designs Village Market moulds and Air Dry Clay Be sure to use code: LIZZYERIN10 at checkout for 10% off qualifying items.

Thrifted: Photo frame (originally from Pier One) for $1.99, green chicken wire (maybe Hobby Lobby)

Dollar Tree: sanding sponge

Home Depot or Lowes: craft sticks

Cornstarch

Debi’s Design Diary Farm Fresh paint, Dark and Decrepit liquid patina.

Let’s get crafty, y’all!

I found this chicken wire ribbon at a thrift store. This one has a green tint and it’s wired. It will be part of the background for our farm animals.

And this frame, y’all! It’s a thrifted frame that was originally from Pier One Imports. It was only $1.99!

Milton’s Daughter has a great supply of moulds from these Village Market farm animals to typography and classic elements. They are flexible and easy to use! Here’s how:

I put some cornstarch in the moulds to keep the clay from sticking.

This Air Dry Clay is from Iron Orchid Designs, and available here at Milton’s Daughter.

It’s simple to use, just knead, fill the mould, scrape the excess from the surface (the surface will be the back so you want it smooth) and let dry!

TIP: Let it dry overnight for best results, especially if you want to paint it.

Now that the cow, sheep and pig are cast, I’m going to paint the frame.

I used Debi’s Design Diary Farm Fresh paint to cover the front, insides and sides of the frame. I added a light coat over the first, then I used a sanding sponge to bring out some of the wood detail.

Let’s talk about craft sticks, y’all! The one on the left is from Dollar Tree. It’s what I call a “small” craft stick. The one on the right is the kind you will find at Home Depot or Lowes in the area with paint stirrers. This size is “medium”. We will be using the mediums for this project.

Just measure the opening and mark one craft stick, then mark the others the same. Cut the ends off to make straight edges (I use tin snips). These will be our surfaces.

Place the craft sticks inside the openings and secure each set with a craft stick cut in half, and placed near the edges (see image). Hot glue will hold them as long as your project is for indoors.

Once I created the three craft sticks surfaces, I took them out of the frames and painted them with Debi’s Design Diary Dark and Decrepit liquid patina.

You can set them aside to dry or use a heat tool for faster result.

Next, I added the chicken wire ribbon.

I cut three lengths of the chicken wire ribbon with my tin snips. They are just a bit longer than the craft stick surfaces so I can wrap them around the back of each one.

Here, you can see how the surfaces fit inside the frames. Note the chicken wire wrapped around the edges and ends. I did have to give a little trimmy-trim to the ends of some of the craft sticks since the finished surface was a bit snug.

Just hot glue for extra security!