Game Mounts Meet Martha Stewart

I had been searching online and sporting good stores for weeks now trying to find a suitable mounting kit for turkey feathers that I would want to put on my wall. I’m kind of picky when it comes to what is worthy of a nail in my house. It took over a year before I put anything on the walls when we moved in haha. All the mounts I found looked like grandfather clocks made from wood off my mom’s oak hutch in the 80’s…gross. I decided I would DIY, and make my own mount. I knew I wanted something a little feminine, since well I am a girl, and it needed to somewhat match the rest of the décor where I planned to hang it in my dining room. I put all my manly hunting accents on the “game fridge”, now named, in the garage haha.
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Eventually, I found most of what I needed at the craft store, where I can be found on a weekly basis. I got two 6” round wood plaques, a 5.5” styrofoam ball and had fabric at home. First, I mounted some hanging hardware to one of the plaques. Then I centered the bone at the base of the fan on the same plaque and screwed it down. Next, I took two small tacks and pinned the two outside end feathers down as far as they would go to spread the fan 180 degrees. Then, I had placed a small piece of wood, I guess like a shim, right under the first screw, centered the other plaque on top, and screwed right through all three wood pieces making sure everything was lined up. I did another screw to make sure nothing would rotate. Then came the sewing experience haha, I cut the foam ball in half and covered it with quilter’s batting (basically a thick piece of loosely woven wool-type material) pinning the ends to the flat backside. Next, covered that with my decorative fabric as tight as I could, again pinning it down on the back. Lastly, I hot glued the flat side of the fabric ball to the front of the plaque.
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After I got it hung where I wanted it, I realized that it was missing an essential piece, THE BEARD! So I got creative and jammed it inside the shot gun shell I saved from the kill and placed that right in the center. Its removable because I’m not sure if I like it there yet haha. I’m into the simple things and I like the look of just the fan and the plaque. We will see if the beard is a permanent ornament or not haha.
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Its definitely not the best craftsmanship that some experienced wood worker would have, BUT it fits my personality and I love it!