DIY Zebra Hide

DIY Zebra Hide

This is a PSA- No adorable baby zebras were harmed in the making of this project! 😉 

So, yesterday we talked about animal prints being a great way to elevate a space through natural texture and pattern!  Recently I felt like a little bit of zebra was exactly what a couple of my spaces needed.  I searched for a smaller hide that I wanted to drape over the back of a chair and use as a table runner.  PS- Don’t think about the fact that a smaller hide means it came from a baby zebra 🙁

Anyway, I couldn’t find a baby zebra hide, so I decided to take matters into my own hands…..African safari- here I come!!!…..Oh my goodness, I’m just joking!  I could never shoot a baby zebra! Instead I decided to visit my local leather supplier.  I always get really inspired when I go there.  So many fun options….

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I ended up taking these selections home with me….

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Next, it was time to do my recreating God’s artistry.  I took the white leather I bought and cut it into a “hide-like” shape.  Then I googled zebra hide and did my best to draw what I saw.

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I wasn’t sure what was going to be the best medium to use on the leather.  First I tried acrylic paint.  It worked ok, but didn’t give me the crisp lines I wanted.  Then, believe it or not I tried a trusty sharpie.  The sharpie worked at first, but soon had trouble keeping up.  Finally, I gave Marks-a-lot a try.  That was the ticket!  It worked and kept working, gave me clean lines, and was really fast!

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Here’s how the piece looked before I filled in all the stripes.  Now is a good time to mention that sometimes you need to have a little perseverance with projects.  At this point I was thinking, “Ugg, this really isn’t looking how I hoped it would.”
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But then I began to fill the stripes in and I started to see things come together….

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So I settled in, turned on my “Country Pop” Pandora station, and thanked God that sometimes my job involves my favorite preschool pastime (coloring that is).

Here’s how the piece looked in the two spaces that called for a little animal print goodness…..

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And the best part……..all the baby zebras are safe and sound! 😉

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‘Til tomorrow!

This article has 1 comments

  1. Jolene

    Love that you just take things into your own hands when you can’t find what you want!

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