DIY Frame & Barbed Wire Inspiration Station: Repurposed Ranch Stuff

I love DIY projects.  I’m a crafter, big time.  And lately I have an incredible desire to do it with old ranch stuff to make some new home decor.  I mean, we are ranch people- why not decorate with a little bit of it too!

I’ve had a big old frame sitting in the house for a long time.  I’ve been trying to figure out just what to do with it.  And last week it hit me- make a little inspiration station to go in The Ranch Princess’s room (her one wall looked like it needed a little something).

The Rancher has been spending a lot of time in the shop lately doing some organized and fixing stuff.  I really don’t get into the shop stuff- if I’m going to clean it should be the house and I know nothing about mechanics.  But I go to the shop with him because he has a plethera of tools and old ranch stuff that I can use for projects!  And it is awesome that the mess doesn’t happen in my house (yay!).

So back to this little inspiration station.  I just wanted something that we could put up pictures or kid art but I still wanted it to have a little flare to it.  So I grabbed the frame and got to work on it.

I started with repainting the frame.  It needed a face lift.  Its amazing what a few coats of spray paint can do!

Once it dried, I did something a little crazy.  I found some old barbed wire (because if I would have used some new or currently being used stuff I would have been in trouble…) to string across it.  Originally I had planned to used chicken wire, but I saw some barbed wire laying around and totally changed my mind.  I figured it would be awesome to slip on to but it also gave it little out-on-the-ranch feel.

Using the old barbed wire was a good choice to use because it had already been stretched once, making the job of straightening it out a LOT easier.

Unless you are going for a bit of randomness (which it totally cool) quick measure where you want your barbed wire to be.

I found a staple gun in the depths of shop and used that to attach the barbed wire.  I took a hammer to them just to make doubly sure that it was secure.  The last thing I need in this house is to have some barbed wire fall off and the kids find it.  It spells disaster upside and backwards!  If I didn’t have a staple gun I would totally give a hot glue gun a try.  Seriously, I feel like I can do ANYTHING with a hot glue gun!

After getting the barbed wire attached I took it in the house to add a little fluff (you won’t find any flowers or rafia in the shop…)  I had grabbed a horse shoe from the barn (and I patted the calves!) that would be a perfect flare.  Then to give it a bit of a girly touch I glued some flowers and rafia on it.

And done!  Seriously so cute, so fast and so easy!

In case you want to make it, here is my little “recipe”.

DIY Frame & Barbed Wire Inspiration Station

Supplies:
Frame (obviously)
Paint
Barbed wire (and grab yourself some gloves to work with the barbed wire, you don’t need to get poked!)
Wire cutters
Staple gun and staples (or a hot glue gun)
Fluff to decorate!

Hang it on your wall, set it on shelf or a dresser.  Even hang it in your kitchen to put notes or messages on.  Ooo, you could put recipes on it!  The options are endless!  Leave a comment with how you used your barbed wire inspiration station!