DIY Canvas and Burlap Stick Hobby Horses w/Video Tutorial

Who doesn’t love Rodeo Day or the festivities at the Kentucky Derby? The Derby is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky and is associated with many traditions. The Mint Julep, an iced drink with bourbon, mint and sugar is a traditional drink of the race. The Burgoo which is a thick stew of beef and vegetables is always served during the race. Don’t forget the lavish outfits which are paired with large ornate and elaborate hats. The bigger the hat, the better.

If lavish attire isn’t your thing, then the ho down, throw down, relaxed festivities of Rodeo Day may just tweak your interest. Also know in some parts of the country as Frontier Days, the festivities around this is a big deal. You can expect barbecues, country music, cowboys and cowgirls in their rodeo best. CCB Crew Member Erin Reed shares with us a glimpse into Rodeo Day and a fun toy horse project for the little ones in our lives.  Many elementary schools hold rodeo days and every parent is challenged with making a stick horse of their very own and in Erin’s case she decided to make two.

Here is Texas rodeo day is a big deal, it comes in the spring (lining up with the big rodeos in Houston, Austin, Dallas and more) and all the kids get to be little cowboys and cowgirls for a day. My son has a rodeo day coming up at school and part of his “homework” for kindergarten is to make a stick hobby horse and dress up as a cowboy for the Rodeo Day festivities!   Now I could make a simple horse with a yardstick and a cutout head from paper, but I wanted something that he could play with for more than just one day!  I kept seeing all these “sock” horses on-line doing my research as to what I could make for him and that sparked the idea of using the burlap stocking I had in my stash for the past 3 years!!  To me burlap and cowboys are a perfect match!!  And if burlap is a match to cowboys, then Canvas Corp materials are a match made in heaven!!

I then gathered and ordered more materials from Canvas Corp and realized the Ticking line is a perfect match for the cowboy look, and since I am at it (and to prevent fights) make one for my daughter too!  So I bought tons of supplies in blue and pink (their favorite colors) and set out to make horses!!

Here is a video tutorial on how to make these super cute little horses, hats, and bandannas!!

My son picked out all his own colors of fringe, rope for the hair and eyes and such, and as it turned out he loved blue and black.

Here is the full list of Canvas Corp Supplies I used to create the blue horse.

My daughter is in love with pink, as probably most little year old girls are too!!  So a pink hose it is!

Here is the full supply list from Canvas Corp for the pink horse.

Now, not all kids are into blue and pink, so great news

Canvas Corp has other colors!!  In the ticking line they have black, orange, green, and red in addition to the blue and pink!!  They also have matching rope colors or complementary colors to pick from.  Canvas Corp has Avocado, Dark Blue, Red, Yellow, Lime Green, Turquoise, Orange, and Chocolate in addition to the Natural, Aqua, Pink, and Black I used.  I think a green horse would look super cute!!

 Supplies Used

• Stockings – Canvas Corp
• Rope/cord – Canvas Corp
• Fringe – Canvas Corp
• Fabric – Canvas Corp
• Flowers – Canvas Corp
• Buttons
• Needle/thread
• Dowel Rod
• Glue – Beacon

My kids played all day with their rodeo duds.  They make the perfect little dress up outfits, costumes, party theme idea, or in my case rodeo day attire!! From my little cowkids (they got a little tired of pose for me, hehe), thanks for stopping by!

Even if you do not have rodeo days at your school or maybe school is at home, so why not make this a project to do with the kids and hold your own neighborhood rodeo days.

We just love this post from Erin. Are you ready to go and make some horses of your own? I know we are…..To see more of Erin’s works visit her blog Scraps-of-Reflections.

Happy Creating!

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