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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

DiY Stick Horses

Here are some stick horses that I made last month!
I had this grand idea of handing them out as party favors for my daughter's birthday party (I'm not sure what I was thinking?) and after searching endlessly online for inexpensive ones, I finally just decided to make my own. To see the rest of the party, click here.

So here's a quick tutorial of how I made them.

I would NOT suggest trying to crank out 16 before a party (again, what was I thinking?), but making 1 is super easy & super cheap! By my 3rd one, I was able to complete one, start to finish in 20 minutes. The most time consuming part is getting happy with your pattern. It's all down hill from there.

Step 1: Draw a head pattern out of a paper bag and cut out your material.
Fold yarn into the seam of the mane and sew everything together, inside out.

Step 2: Flip the head right-side out and trim up any yarn pieces.

Step 3: Cut pointy ears out of felt and glue together with a glue gun, pinching the bottom until the glue has dried.

Step 4: Hand-stitch the ears on, but then cheat and use fabric glue for the eyes and bridle.

Step 5: Stuff the heads.
Step 6: Push the dow rod (covered with Gorilla glue or hot glue) all the way into the horse's head. And then finish stuffing the neck of the horse.

Step 7: Use fabric glue and fold-in the material at the bottom. Try to keep the glue on the inside. I used clips to hold it shut for a few hours until the glue was completely dry.

And there you go. Your very own stick horse!
Your kids will love it!

Good luck!!
If you need more clarification, dimensions, etc, just let me know!!

Updated: 
I've received a lot of emails asking if I make and sell these horses in different fabrics. As much as I would like to, I just don't have enough time to be taking orders right now.

I will however, cut out a pattern for the horse's head & ears for $12 for you. If you'd like me to do that, you can email me at benandtiffany@gmail.com

Thanks!


30 comments:

  1. These are just adorable!!! My neice would love one of these!!! We would love for you to link this up at Fancy This Fridays this week!! http://trulylovelywiththelaneysisters.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh these are really fantastic! I can see how fun they would be for littles at a party! You really did 16 pronto like that? Seriously mom of the year! Good stuff and thanks for showing how you made them!

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  3. Amazing.. just amazing.. :) Thanks for showing how you made them

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  4. How cute!! Thanks for linking @Creative Itch's "Sew Cute Tuesday"!

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  5. So cute I love it. What a wonderful idea. I know my two little one need one. Thank you.
    http://www.couturiermommy.com/

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  6. Those are so fun! I can't believe you made 16! I would've been exhausted after the first 2.

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  7. I love it! My horse-loving friend is visiting in March with her 5 month old and I'm going to make her one!! Thanks! Debbie @ inspiredhoneybee.blogspot

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  8. Cute. I make a crochet one, which I have given to each of my grandchildren. The latest one got it for Christmas this year, so I plan to get a post about it soon.

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  9. awwe. These are so cute! I can't believe you made so many! Best party ever! ;)

    Great job!

    Roeshel

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  10. Awesome!!! I'm doing a farm themed party for my son's first birthday and I'm most likely going to make some of these! Love it!

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  11. Found your blog while searching for ideas for a Derby themed birthday party we are throwing for our two year old. These are fabulous! Do you mind if I ask where you got the dowels and how much they were? Also, did you have to paint them white. I'm going to be making 25 ( I know, crazy) and I need to see if it's in the party budget. I'm surprised that covering the end of the stick in glue and putting it into the stuffing holds the horse head stiff? thank you in advance for any help you can offer.
    Thanks,
    Sara
    Sarabethfloyd@yahoo.com

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  12. I love these!! I was asked to make some stick horses for our elementary school chorus presentation "Go West"
    I just googled ideas. These are the best/cutest I have seen. What do you think cost per horse would be?
    I have a budget from the PTA. Thanks!!
    Annie

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  13. How did you do the yarn mane? I'm making 9 of these this week for my daughter's birthday party on Saturday!

    Thanks!!!!

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  14. I'm so sorry I missed these questions!! I feel terrible. Here are the answers if you haven't already finished your horses, or for any of you who had the same questions..
    I got the dowel rods from Lowes for about $2 each. Hobby Lobby also sells them, so if you have a coupon that may be a better bet. The pictures may be deceiving, but the rods are not white, just a very natural honey wood. To prevent the horse's head from bobbling around on the rod, stuff the horse full from his nose to the mane. Then put a TON of hot glue on the last 4 inches of the rod & quickly push it all the way into the head. Stuff more stuffing around the rod so that the neck is very full & stiff. With a foot of the rod being IN the horse's head, it shouldn't flop around too much.
    Each horse cost me about $3 to make, with most of that cost going towards the rods. I had some stuffing and buttons on hand, so that helped. Instead of trying to find matching brown buttons, just spray paint all of them brown. The fabric is from Hobby Lobby & about every other week they have it marked half off. Or print off a 40% coupon from their website before you go.
    The yarn mane is a great question. I should have explained that better. I did NOT cut 40 (or how every many) individual strips of yarn & then try to sew them all in. Instead I wrapped 1 long piece of yarn around my hand 40-50 times before cutting it. I then slid all 40 continuous loops off of my hand and positioned them from the top of the head and down his neck so that half of each loop was in-between the fabrics and the other half sticking out of the fabric. So in Step 1 you see only half of each loop. After sewing your seem and turning the head right side out, take scissors and cute each loop in half so that it makes 2 strips of mane.
    I hope that helps!! Please let me know if I can clarify anything else. Good luck!

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  15. I think I might have just found the next theme for my daughter's 4th birthday! Thank you for sharing! :)

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  16. These are adorable! You don't make these to sell do you? I am not a sewer and would love to have some for my daughters cowgirl birthday party in January!

    Thanks,
    Laura

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  17. Woohoo! So cute! This is definitely what we will do for our daughter's 3rd birthday! Everything is great! Way to go! Mom of the Year for sure ;)

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  18. Amazing!! I was looking for a stick horse for my daughter's party and only found the sock head kind. Yours are SOOOO much cuter! Would you be willing to share the pattern for the horse head? thank you so much for the inspiration!

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  19. How did you make the bridle?

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  20. I LOVE this horses! I think I'm going to be ambitious and make some for my sons 1st birthday. What were the dimensions you used for the the horse's head? Would you happen to have a pattern? Thanks!

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  21. Yes what are the dimensions. How much fabric did it take to make each horse?

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  22. We have kindergarten rodeo coming up and I can't wait to make one! I would love to know, too, about the bridle and also how much fabric (dimensions).

    Thanks so much!! Yours are beautiful!!!

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  23. This is so great! I have been looking for an inexpensive stick horse for my wedding. I am planning on have a "herd" of them for all the kids to play with at the wedding! I am going to use this pattern! Thanks for sharing. I will link back to you from my blog.

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  24. were throwing my son a cowboy party this summer and i also wanted to hand these out as gifts to all the kids. i think i might try this since it cost way too much to buy them.. thanks for the post..

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  25. What are the dimensions of these horses? THANKS!

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  26. How many yards of fabric did you use per horse?

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  27. I like very much your ideas about a christening with carousel - horse theme!!!!

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