I love dressing up old vintage pieces and mixing them into my decor. Today I am decorating vintage horse bits and showing you how it’s done. They add beauty and texture to my home and I am sure they will for yours too!
Horse bits make very interesting decor pieces. I have a few scattered around my home and I love them all. Because of their height and width, they are great for hanging on a small section of wall or mixed in with other wall items. The way I use them is hanging on the wall but you can display yours however you’d like.
In the video below I am decorating vintage horse bits because vintage is what I love. But you can adapt this project to suit any style or color scheme! More about that late. For now, grab your glue gun and let’s get crafting!
Decorating Vintage Horse Bits
The reason I use different ribbons and laces is to give the piece texture. Having different shades and ribbon styles add depth to your design and really makes them pop!
But you don’t have to use the same things that I did! I love vintage and I love texture. So I used laces and ribbons that give the vintage look. But you could use any ribbon combos that you love! All new ribbons from the craft store, or all new unstained muslin. Any color combos that you like!
I am just here to inspire you with an idea. What you use just depends on your style and the look you are going for!
How to Stain Seam Binding
I used stained seam binding to decorate my horse bits. In fact, I use it for lots of different projects! It is really easy to stain a batch and have it on hand for crafting.
All you need is a pot with a bit of water, 2 family sized tea bags, and your seam binding. Heat the water in your pot and then add the tea bags to steep. Pull off a big wad of the binding and scrunch it up into a ball that will fit in your pot.
Place your wad of binding into the tea water and make sure it all gets soaked. You can leave it to soak for a bit or pull it right out. Leaving it longer will give you a darker color.
When you’re happy with the soak of your binding, pull it out of the tea and wring it out. Then plop it right in the microwave. Set the microwave for 3 minutes at half power and let it go.
After the 3 minutes, fluff it all out and then wad it up again. Put it back in for another 3 minutes at half power. Continue this process until the seam binding mostly dry and wrinkling (about 3 rounds). Then fluff it out and leave it to finish drying. This won’t take long at all.
Decorating Vintage Horse Bits Supply List
- Vintage horse bit
- Stained seam binding
- Muslin shreds
- Lace (vintage if you have it!)
- Other fun embellishments (I cut up a part of an old doily and tape measure to add to mine!)
- Scissors
- Glue gun
- Small vintage pieces like metal tags, keys, bits of jewelry chain, etc.
Decorating Vintage Horse Bits Instructions
- Start by cutting pieces of your stained seam binding to the length that you want it. Then start tying it on to the horse bit. I make the knot at the center point of the binding. And I only tie it once, no need to double knot.
- Continue this process until you have a good base on the bit. How much you use will depend on the size bit you have.
- Next, start filling in with different laces and ribbons. Once you have a good coverage, trim your ends to even them.
- I used a section of a measuring tape on my horse bit. It needed a little hot glue to keep it in place because it didn’t look right tied. So if you have something that isn’t staying or behaving like you want it too, just give it a dab of hot glue.
- Now add in your small vintage pieces. I used a metal tag to over where my ribbon ties were. And I added in sections of vintage necklaces in too.
The Wrap Up
And that’s all about decorating vintage horse bits! A fun way to display some of your favorite vintage laces and small bits of pretty vintage items. I mention it in the video but I’ll mention it here too. Don’t spend more than $20 on one of these bits. A savvy/lucky shopper can get them for $10 and $20 is getting too high.
Also, if you can’t find truly vintage horse bits at your antique markets, or don’t want to wait to find one. One of my followers mentioned that you can find decorative ones on Amazon. So that’s an option too!
I would love to see how you use them in your own home. So if you post any pictures of your decorated horse bits on social media, tag me so I can check them out! As always, I hope you love this project as much as I do. Happy crafting, friends!
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