DIY Faux Taxidermy Elephant Head

"The bond between a baby elephant and its mother can be correctly described as the closest of any animal on earth. If it is a female baby, she will typically remain with her mother right into her own adulthood and will likely never once be separate from her until the mother dies of old age." ~ ConserveNature.org

Her nursery needed a whimsical statement piece

I pin things on Pinterest all the time that I never get around to cooking, making, baking or buying. But for some reason, seeing a white faux taxidermy head on the wall of a nursery stuck with me and I just had to have one. Everything else in her nursery is pretty...normal and typical. This elephant head would add just the right amount of playful whimsy. Or so I tried to convince my husband, who insisted it didn't match anything, and was skeptical.

They are pretty expensive at ZGALLERIE, about $250 plus tax, shipping, and an oversize charge of $19.95. Other places have them for around $100. 

But you can find resin ones of all different kinds of animals over at Amazon for around $50. I chose this one. My brother had just asked me what I wanted for my birthday. At first, I gave the usual "I'm not sure..." response and then "Oh wait - a resin elephant head!" My brother is becoming skilled at getting me gifts that my husband isn't on board with, like the DNA test kit for my dog that he gave me last Christmas. 

I was so excited when it arrived! I unpacked the box, and this is what I found staring back at me:

It was a bit larger than I expected: 19.5 x 16 x 11 inches and almost 8 pounds! Excited to get started, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought some flat white spray paint, metallic gold paint and a cheap sponge brush, under $10 for all three.

Here it is after one coat. There's a lot of nooks and crannies, so you'll want to give it several. The paint dried in 10 minutes, so I just kept spraying until the can ran out.

You can tell it still needs several more coats.

Once she was completely white, I painted the gold tusks. This was the best part! Make sure you get a metallic paint, so it shines and stands out from the flat white.

I could not be happier with the results. It was only after I had it hung up that my sister-in-law Rebecca's Mom told us how elephants mothers bond with their children for life. I didn't know this when I picked an elephant, but it makes the choice that much more relevant.