Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away (!!!). In efforts to jazz up my table I came up with some fauxidermy deer head napkin rings. That’s right. Deer Head Napkin Rings. You know those super popular white deer head mounts that are everywhere in interior décor right now? Slap that baby (or should we say fawn), on a homemade napkin ring. Let’s get to it, shall we?

Supplies Needed for Deer Head Napkin Rings

Acorn without cap (You are welcome to leave the cap on, but I feel like those look more like mounted buffalo head napkin rings. Just do what looks best to you.)
2 small twigs
Empty toilet paper roll
Spray paint
Modge Podge or other adhesive
Glitter
Twine
Hot glue gun
Paint brush or foam brush for painting on glue

Most of the acorns have already fallen from the scrub oak outside of my home, so I just ran outside and found some on the ground below and snapped a few twigs off of the trees.  Most everything else I had in my craft closet or bathroom.

Steps to make Deer Head napkin rings

First, glue your twigs onto your acorn with a hot glue gun, so it looks like a deer with antlers. I just plopped a healthy amount onto the back of my acorn and quickly set my twigs where I want them. Here is what it looks like from the front:

You can see the back isn’t nice and tidy and clean by any means. It took a minute to position the twigs exactly how I wanted them.

Grab your toilet paper roll and gently cut off the top 1-1/2 inches with a serrated knife. The width isn’t an exact science. Basically, just cut off whatever width you’d like your napkin ring to be.

In a well ventilated area, spray paint your faux deer mount and cut toilet paper ring in the color of your choice. I chose white. Let dry. Side note: I think these napkin rings would also look super cute with the acorn au naturale, so feel free to skip the paint for the deer mount.  Here is what they look like after a couple of coats:

Dump a bunch of glitter onto a plate. Don’t worry about dumping too much out. Whatever is not used can just be poured back into the container when you’re all done.

With your paintbrush, brush a healthy amount of Modge Podge or other clear adhesive onto your cut toilet paper roll (aka napkin ring).

Roll the napkin ring into the glitter until it is completely covered and let dry.

Grap some twine and wrap it around the napkin ring several times. Just do whatever looks good to you. Glue the ends of the twine on the back of the napkin ring with your hot glue gun. Here is the back of my napkin ring where I have glued the twine ends:

Glue your “deer head” onto the front of the napkin ring on top of the twine with hot glue.  I just shot a bunch of hot glue on the back of my deer mount. Here’s how much I used:

And here is the finished, sparkly product:

Whalah! You have yourself a trendy deer head napkin ring that will jazz up any Thanksgiving spread.

Cost per Napkin Ring

I really wanted to do a cost analysis, but I found that a little tricky to do. I chose to make these because I had most of the materials at home. If you had to buy every single item on the list, that would most definitely not be thrifty. I happened to have most of the items on hand or tree (everything but the glitter), so it cost me at $3.50 for an entire set of napkin rings. By all means, do what’s best or thriftiest for yourself!

These can obviously be easily adapted to different colored spray paint, glitter, twine, etc.. The options are endless! Now fauxidermy away, my friends! And don’t forget to let me know how it goes.