Beaded Horseshoes Unveiled!

I've finally finished a few horseshoes, and would like to be critiqued, please! I'd also like to know what you think a fair asking price is. The beads themselves amount to very little money, but there is quite a bit of time involved prepping the shoes- I remove the nails, boil them, and scrub to remove debris, even using a dental pick to get the really stuck-on bits off, and then buff with a coat of olive oil.

The first couple I made in the car on the way to town last week. (Don't worry, Hubs was driving! 25 miles of twisty-turny country road before hitting the blessedly straight freeway!) They are the ones hung with copper wire, which I believe is a structural defect- I have some romex scraps and could strip the plastic off and use large diameter copper wire to hang 'em. Or just go with the barbed wire. The one with the turquoise bear got dropped and is missing the top bead on the left which I'll fix when I rewire it for hanging.

So, without further ado, here they are...

The group as a whole, laid flat not hung:

#1

#2

#3

#4


Etsy, here I come! (Hopefully...)

Thanks for looking, everybody.

I like the aesthetic of the barbed wire, but I'm missing the beads on the hanger from the ones with the copper wire. Is there a way to incorporate some beads onto the barb wire without it looking weird?

wow i love love love these! the barbed wire gives them a nice touch!
I want one to put in my house!

Nice! I love number 2 and 3!

Very nice... I voted for #2, but they are all very good.

I prefer the copper ones, because the barbed wire looks a bit weighty up top -- HOWEVER, as evidenced by a couple of posters above me, others prefer the barbed wire. I think you should do both, and possibly add jute as a hanger option as well.

You may be able to thread the beading wire through the barbed wire to add beading to it, if you like, and you could do the same with jute.

As far as price... I don't know, really. How much do the horseshoes cost? Add a little for the other materials. Add $10 or more for your labor.

PulpFaction":2ycakvkw said:

I like the aesthetic of the barbed wire, but I'm missing the beads on the hanger from the ones with the copper wire. Is there a way to incorporate some beads onto the barb wire without it looking weird?

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I was thinking I could make a central pendant of wire that drops down into the "U" of the shoe, or alternatively wrapping the strand of b-wire with the copper and incorporating some beads on the hanging loop itself- maybe both... I hope to incorporate many different options so each piece will be unique.

LilFish_JWQueen(:":2ycakvkw said:

wow i love love love these! the barbed wire gives them a nice touch!
I want one to put in my house!

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Thanks! I hope everyone will want one... or think it will make a great gift for someone else!

Miss M":2ycakvkw said:

Very nice... I voted for #2, but they are all very good.

I prefer the copper ones, because the barbed wire looks a bit weighty up top -- HOWEVER, as evidenced by a couple of posters above me, others prefer the barbed wire. I think you should do both, and possibly add jute as a hanger option as well.

You may be able to thread the beading wire through the barbed wire to add beading to it, if you like, and you could do the same with jute.

As far as price... I don't know, really. How much do the horseshoes cost? Add a little for the other materials. Add $10 or more for your labor.

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I like the delicacy of the copper wire for an indoor piece, but it needs to be a heavier gauge to support the weight of the shoe. Jute would be nice also, but only for an indoor application, otherwise it will eventually disintegrate. When you actually heft the horseshoe in your hand, the barbed-wire adds a nice balance to it- the small gauge copper wire seems very fragile, whereas the barbed-wire gives it resilience and strength. Threading the barbed wire with bead-studded copper wire will offer a pleasing contrast.

My farrier, who is also a good friend, gave me a 5 gallon bucket of shoes for free, but if this venture pays off I'd want to pay him for them. Share the wealth, ya know! So with that factored in, (with no charge on copper wire or barbed wire), plus a 50% markup on materials, and with a $10 labor charge, actual retail cost for these shoes would be:

#1 $16.50
#2 $15.15
#3 $16.52
#4 $13.73

Plus shipping, which shouldn't be much, and I would include it in the (adjusted) purchase price.

So... do you think you might buy a $20 dollar horseshoe for a horsey obsessed or luck-deprived friend? Or am I going to have a really unique Christmas tree this year?!?

I want some bigger beads- Michael's had mostly tiny chips and I think the larger stones make more impact from a distance, plus I need more large pieces for the central focus. Maybe it's just my aging eyes.

It's times like this that I would like to live a little closer than 50 miles from town and could shop the bead stores,thrift shops, and garage sales. Hurrah for Ebay and its ilk!

+1 on the bigger beads or maybe MORE beads...but then I like beads...especially natural stone...

They look lovely! They would fit perfectly in a small USPS Flat Rate Priority Mail box too.

OneAcreFarm":10968v4a said:

+1 on the bigger beads or maybe MORE beads...but then I like beads...especially natural stone...

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Ditto to this comment. The one I have has all natural stone, and several more, in different sizes. I like it very much.

MamaSheepdog":38wowb6a said:

So... do you think you might buy a $20 dollar horseshoe for a horsey obsessed or luck-deprived friend? Or am I going to have a really unique Christmas tree this year?!?

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I might, if I had one. But the mere fact that I'd consider it means that you could probably do pretty well selling them, since I tend to rarely buy purely decorative items. That is just me. Lots of people do, though!

An updated version of the Turquoise bear horseshoe:

I've been surfing bead shops on ebay, looking for bigger stones.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE them! They're awesome! I voted for #4 but definitely like the updated turquoise bear one. These are really cool, right up my alley too

Wow! Great idea! Maybe try incorporating leather strips, or some such material. And if you can get your hands on some shoes from miniature horses and draft horses, that would add some more size variety. I have a small one hanging with hemp string, and a mirror in the background.

You may be able to find beads for sale in the kijiji.com site, hobbies section.

Thanks for the kijiji tip, Jessykah. I'll check that out. I hadn't thought of using leather on them... duh. I'm thinking conchos, feathers, horsehair. I have some Draft shoes, but no mini's so far.

Beautiful!! I love #4 as well - the barbed wire is perfectly balanced (doesn't that sound crazy? But my eye likes it!) and I love the rugged western look to it - I agree with the previous comment that the natural stones are a perfect choice.

Let us know when you get em up on Etsy!

DumansArk":j8wlbwqf said:

Beautiful!! I love #4 as well - the barbed wire is perfectly balanced (doesn't that sound crazy? But my eye likes it!) and I love the rugged western look to it - I agree with the previous comment that the natural stones are a perfect choice.

Let us know when you get em up on Etsy!

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Balanced barbed wire- yup. I'm all about symmetry. Kind of to the point of being obsessive. I'm also crazy about stones in general- I sculpted stone years ago, but haven't done anything but piddle around with it in the last 10 years or so.

I like that updated turquoise one. The heftier copper balances the horseshoe much better than the thin wire.

MamaSheepdog":1sn67lmp said:

An updated version of the Turquoise bear horseshoe:
View attachment 2
I've been surfing bead shops on ebay, looking for bigger stones.

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Love this! My only suggestion would be to make the copper wire somehow more decorative...instead of straight lines try curling it around a little...that being said...I love it!

Look at these...

$40


$24

Thanks One Acre- I'm working on something similar right now- the twisted wire looks really neat, but it is a struggle for me to break away from being perfectly symmetrical! I'm trying though! The second one is too busy for my eye, but I want to incorporate more copper wire as part of the design in some of them, instead of having it hidden by the beads.

I'd like to give a big Thank you to everyone for their input! You guys are the Best!

MamaSheepdog":33iq7sa7 said:

it is a struggle for me to break away from being perfectly symmetrical!

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I am the same way, and struggle with this too! I'm very much black and white, there's no such thing as gray area. :lol:

I do really like the updated version as well.

The horse shoes are... Evolving! GASP!







I'd like to think they are improving.