Dog Collars

     My dad wanted to go to Michaels, so I just had to tag along. You never know what things you will need from Michaels! When we got there I was looking at the ribbon when I saw the shelf for miniature animals!  Let's just say, I now have a Jack Russell and Golden Retriever puppy in my collection. What should I name them?

Being the tack maker that I am I made them dog collars! This should have been an easy task, but today my skiving really struggled. I probably cut through a foot of leather lace. 😂

Here is the end result. It's nice knowing that I made something for a dog and not just horses!

Hunter Set For Sale

 Hello! I am pleased to announce that I have finished my tack set! Here is a picture:

This is definitely my best set so far! I added more padding to the saddle seat and knee rolls. I re-did the girth and it came out wonderful! The bridle is skived so it sits better on the horse and the saddle pad is so much more neater! If you want to take a look at my set on easy click here.

Ps: I'm thinking of making christmas themed tack, ( So stay on the lookout!)

Unicorn Paper Model

I love horses but I also LOVE their magical cousins, unicorns! My dad bought me this paper model kit and I was so exited! Looking at the cover, it looks impossible but after learning how to do it, it got easier.

So basically the kit comes with sheets of paper with cutouts. Each cutout is numbered so you know which tab needs to be glued to which. For this, tacky glue came in handy. 

So far, this is all I have done. It was surprisingly really fun and time passes by so quickly! Next thing I knew it was my bedtime!

 

Saddle in Progress

Today I worked on a new jumping saddle. I didn't like my old pattern so I tweaked it a little bit by adding a shorter and rounder seat and longer girth.

For the girth I wanted to try and make it look more detailed so I followed the tutorial by Jennifer from Braymare Custom Saddlery. If you don't already, I really recommend taking a look at her blog, she's such a talented tackmaker and I want to be just like her when I grow up!

Here's how it came out. I think that I'm going to make another one with neater edges and stitches.

 I know I'm going off topic but I carved a pumpkin for Halloween! I did it a few days after Halloween because we went camping.

Carving the pumpkin was harder then expected but my X- acto knife skills came in handy! 

Here is the final result. This was my first jack-o-lantern and it surprised my mom and me how well it came out! Right now as I'm typing I can hear my mom cutting the pumpkin for pumpkin stew.

 

Tip: How to Reduce Glue Residue

Today I am going to share a quick tip! Whenever I make a saddle or bridle I always get a little glue on my fingers. You usually can't tell, until it's too late, you got glue on the leather!  Below is a picture of my very first leather saddle. As you can see there is glue ALL over it.

Over the past few months I've been using this trick to get rid of that extra glue. First I use a scrap of T- shirt to wipe my fingers off. At first I used paper towels but paper tends to stick to glue really easily and rip. 

Second tip, I always have a damp towel. If I ever do get some glue on the leather I can just wipe it off!

See! All gone! ( Just make sure that the towel isn't too wet or else it could turn into a big sloppy mess.)

Well that's my quick tip for the day! See you tomorrow!

 

Lacing, Lacing, Everywhere!

Yesterday I neared the end for my newest tack set. All that I had to do was start lacing the reins. So I packed up a needle, the reins, and some thread in a small container.

For the next few hours I would sit down, do a few stitches and then go do something else. There was lacing on the couch... during lunch... and everywhere else you can imagine. 

There might have been some lacing during science class.... Oh the joys of online learning!

Well in the end my hard work paid off and I finished this beautiful set.

Glamping on Halloween

 Hello! Sorry for the week of silence. I went to a cabin for Halloween and I was really busy yesterday. I'd like to say that I went camping but it was really " glamping"( a mix between camping and glamor). My family and I went to Shenandoah which is two hours away. This was Max and I eating ice cream on the drive there. 

My best friend, Nora's, family came with us too. The picture below is a waterfall that we hiked up to. 

The views in Shenandoah was great! This was a pond in the middle of the resort we stayed at.

There was a little guy inching along a rock.

Lastly on the drive home we saw a truck full of cows! I couldn't get a good picture of it because the car was going really fast, but I was fascinated how the cows looked perfectly calm in a moving trailer!