DIY Concrete Equestrian Statuette

How to turn a toy horse figurine into a designer-inspired concrete equestrian statuette using just paint, wood craft, and glue. 

Don’t tell my daughter, but I might be stealing her toys for craft projects from now on.

Okay, okay… I’m totally kidding.  But after today’s thrifty DIY, you might be convinced to rummage around in a toy box for home decor accents too.

See this little plastic horse?  He was was too cute to live at the thrift store.  Mostly because I got a designer knock-off idea that I just had to try.

I’ve seen equestrian decor before in Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware and Ballard Designs catalogs, and while I thought they were beautiful, I wasn’t about to shell out over $100 on some concrete statuette to stick on a tabletop.

So this idea came along just in time for this month’s Trash to Treasure Transformation Tuesday.  You can see all of my previous T2T thrift makeovers here and more transformation ideas from my blogger gal pals at the end of this post.

I used to take English horseback riding lessons in middle school and LOVED it!  Equestrian decor has always had a little soft spot in my heart.  And since I’d already tried out concrete-look paint on thrifted figurines before to make them look high-end, I figured this was the perfect chance to do it again.

DIY Concrete Equestrian Statuette

Supplies Used: (Some affiliate links are provided below.)

• Toy horse (similar to these – mine was $1, but they’re around $6-8 new online)
• Concrete-look paint
• 2 medium sized craft brushes
• Wooden plaque (These are cheaper at Michael’s or Joann, if you buy them individually.)
• Super glue (This one works better than the formula I used.)

1. I just followed the directions on the concrete paint package by painting the horse all over with two coats of the lighter gray paint in a dabbing motion.  I did the same to the wooden plaque.

2. Before the second coat of the light gray paint was dry, I applied the dark gray paint in random places in a dabbing motion and blended it with the lighter gray.

3. Once all of the paint was completely dry, I applied a little super glue to the horse’s hooves and pressed it in place onto the wooden plaque for about a minute until dry.

And that’s it!  The whole thing cost around $15 but looks quite a bit like this $120 one or this $103 one?  I bet you could mimic the wooden look like those have, but I was digging the concrete for mine.

Maybe I should name him… how about Stoney?  That’s a good horse name, don’t ya think?  Even though he’s actually made of plastic, no one else has to know that.

For now, he’s just hanging out in our foyer to greet our friends at the front door.  This is seriously the most I’m doing in the foyer for fall this year.  Sticking pumpkins in every nook and cranny of our house is tempting, but I’m loving the simple, no-fuss approach right now.

Just give me some non-seasonal-specific greenery, a stack of books, a picture frame, and a pretty lamp, and I’m a happy girl.

You can see the rest of this month’s Trash to Treasure Transformations by clicking the other bloggers’ afters below:

Clockwise from top left:

Prodigal Pieces | Artsy Chicks Rule | Confessions of a Serial DIYer | Girl in the Garage

This whole turning toys into home decor idea has Robert’s wheels turning too.  I’ve been tasked with keeping an eye out for a toy airplane for his office next.  Wouldn’t that be cool?!  I might never look at the toy aisle the same way again.

I promise I’ll be a nice mom and let Olivia keep her own toys for actually playing with though.

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