Good Luck Horseshoe

Update: Huge shout out to Knock Off Decor for featuring my horseshoe!

Shocking news. I subscribe to a few magazines.

While I love all things digital, I still savor turning the pages of an actual magazine or book. It’s a feeling that can’t be replaced.

A couple of weeks ago I was flipping through the September 2015 issue of Better Homes and Gardens when I saw this:

Gold horseshoe. COME TO MAMA!

I can’t really tell if it’s mounted on that book or if it’s just Photoshopped to be the same color. No matter. I was stuck on the gold horseshoe.

I just needed a horseshoe.

Small hitch in the giddy-up. If I haven’t mentioned it, I live in suburbia.

So, I did what any daughter would do. I called home and begged for the Junk Whisperer to send me a horseshoe. Yes, it was an emergency. (A craft emergency.) Yes, it had to be sent right away. (Drop everything, scavenge through a barn or shed and please send it now.) 

I really wasn’t sure if she’d do it. (I hear A LOT about the cost of postage these days.) But, I must have moved up on the “favorite child list” because a few days later I was the crazy lady dancing around the post office because this arrived…

I actually liked the horseshoe just the way it was, but I was on a mission to recreate what I saw in that magazine.

I gathered some supplies. Speaking of which, did you know that you can test the spray paint color at Home Depot before you buy it? That’s what those little pads of paper are for that hang on the shelves in the spray paint section. So, if your can of spray paint doesn’t go as far as you think it should, it’s probably because I was there testing them all out! Oops.

I used the steel wool to buff some of that rust off of the horseshoe. I don’t know if it was completely necessary, but I thought it would be a good idea to try and give the paint the best possible surface area to adhere to.

You’re going to have to wash your hands after this step. Or not. I won’t judge.

I couldn’t etch my “good luck” letters into the horseshoe like the inspiration picture, but I could make RAISED letters. I was searched for small metal letters to no avail, but instead I found obnoxious foam letters at Michael’s in the kids’ craft aisle. I think they were less than $2 for a big bag of them after my coupon.

They have a sticky back, but that’s not going to be enough. You’re going to want to adhere the letters to the horseshoe with some sort of glue or Mod Podge.

I laid the letters out on the horseshoe to get a good idea of spacing and decided two things:
1. I needed to use the BACK of the horseshoe in order for my letters to fit. The front of the horseshoe has a groove on it that gets in the way – I’ll show you that in a minute.
2. That cutesy font was going to be the death of me, so I took a craft knife and sliced off some of those rounded ends on each letter.

After that, it was time to spray paint! It definitely took 3 or 4 coats to get the coverage I wanted.

It was worth the wait though!

I’m smitten with this gold horseshoe!

SMITTEN!

Over the moon!

I wonder if the Junk Whisperer will send me another horseshoe???

Now, if you want to do this craft, you don’t have to go through all of the trouble with the raised letters.

I did a hand-written version on the other side – the true front of the horseshoe.

All it took was an ultra-fine black Sharpie marker to write on the horseshoe. I did have to go over it a couple of times. A paint pen would work too.

And now you can see that the groove on the horseshoe is quite long, so that’s why I used the other side for my raised letters.

I know it’s over-kill, but let’s look one more time at my favorite new piece of decor!

Thank you for indulging me!

I have no idea where the gold horseshoe in the Better Homes and Gardens magazine came from, but I’m pretty sure I was able to make a knock-off for much less! You have no idea how happy that makes me! Now I have a fun and quirky little piece of decor for my living room. Craft on!

P.S. Here are some other knock-offs we’ve done:
Knock-Off Pottery Barn Farmhouse Bed
Knock-Off Pottery Barn Twin Trundle Bed 
Knock-Off Pottery Barn Picture Ledges