Wedding Horseshoe; DIY!

Last month one of my best friends got married and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid. We have been friends since we were 7 and she was one of the girls I first started horse riding with. I decorated a horseshoe for her to give her on her wedding day. My Mum got a horseshoe from the farrier for me while I was away. It was a tiny one from his daughter's pony which made it look very cute!

I bought the things to decorate it with from eBay. The ribbon was a similar colour to the dresses we wore and so were the flowers. The flowers had wire coming out of them which I could wind around the horseshoe to keep them in place. I also got some blue beads that looked like pearls and some elastic.

The farrier had cleaned the horseshoe for me so I started by spray painting it silver. Once both sides had dried I put the elastic and the ribbon through the top whole on each side. I had the ribbon so that it was in a loop at the top and I tied the elastic and ribbon in a knot at the back.

I then started putting beads onto the elastic. I put enough to cover the distance from one while in the horseshoe to the next. I then put a flower through each whole and wound the wire around the horseshoe and the flower itself to keep it in place. I carried on doing this all the way around. Sometimes I used new pieces of elastic so if one part broke it wouldn't all fall off.

 I then got my Dad (he is neater than me) to paint on their names and the date at the bottom. I think this made it look much better and really personalised it.

I think it is a great idea to do for a wedding. It was a bit fiddly but not too hard to make. There are lots of ideas on-line as well. I like the ones that have the ribbon winding right through and have it in a bow at the bottom but this horseshoe was a bit small for this. It also would have meant I couldn't have the date on it. I might get one of Trooper's I can decorate for my room!

Love Laura
xxxx