Painted Bison Skulls

My husband raises bison and recently he wanted to paint a few old bull skulls. Luckily I had products on hand to help him with this project. Two old skulls were pressure washed and let dry before their makeover.

The horns had dried out and looked brittle so I thought why not try Dixie Belle Howdy Do Hemp Oil and it worked like MAGIC!

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Just look at the before and after photos.

A bullet hole required filling so it was filled with white Dixie Belle mud and when dry it was sanded smooth with a Dixie Belle sanding sponge then a line was carved thru it to match up with the existing skull fracture.

To give the skull a fresh new European mount look the skulls were painted Dixie Belle silk mineral paint in salt water.

The horns on this one were removed and made for easy painting.

To securely hang them wire was fed thru the backside of the skull in a double loop then twisted closed.

He had 2 other "professionally done" at a taxidermist but I thought they were plain. I picked up this jute rope at Michaels that I thought would look great around the horn ends.

My husband cut the lengths to go around each, I sewed them on each end with embroidery thread to prevent them unravelling then ran the glue gun as he firmly pressed them in place around each horn base. We did this on this one and the 2 pro done ones as well.

A fellow painter: Diane from My Vintage Flair gifted me some pallet boards that worked perfectly for the backdrop to showcase this one head in our garage. Above we are laying them out to come up with a pattern and size.

Here is my husband screwing the boards into place.

Then measuring the placement of where to hang it as well as finding and marking a wall stud to be sure it will hold this heavy head.

I assisted from below to hold in place while he screwed the backdrop to the garage wall.

Once level the other side was screwed in place and it was ready for the skull.

A heavy spiral nail was pounded into the stud in the marked spot

Then I passed him the skull to hang on said nail

and it was now securely in place in our garage for all to see. My husband has 2 more for sale if you are looking for a unique piece for your home.

The second one we opted not to put the rope on seeing it would be hanging outside near our hot tub in the elements of mother nature. We may add in the future but only time will tell.

Tatonka also sported a Flames flag during the hockey play off season :)

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