Bring the Wild Inside Archives » Page 5 of 5

Posted on March 28, 2012September 15, 2015 by Rita Schimpff — 4 Comments

Ancestral Farm- Herff-Rozelle House

Boerne Farm 150 - Copy — Ancestral Farm House – The Herff-Rozelle farm in Boerne, Texas. Built by Dr. Ferdinand Herff in 1855. Recently undergoing restoration/repair by The Cibolo Nature Center http://www.cibolo.org The patina on the Fallow antlers and scandia finsh on the Legacy panel blend with the mellow old house.

Heritage Game Mounts Fallow — The graceful curves of the Fallow antlers mimic the shape of the missing plaster.

Heritage Game Mounts - The Legacy with Whitetail antlers — Heritage Game Mounts – The Legacy with Whitetail antlers

ancestral farm - the Herff-Rozelle Barn — ancestral farm – the Herff-Rozelle Barn

Herff-Rozelle Farm — Ancestral Farm House, the Herff-Rozelle home

Posted on December 9, 2011September 22, 2015 by Rita Schimpff — 4 Comments

Bring the Wild Inside – Christmas

Whether you share a home with a hunter or are one yourself, this is the perfect time of the year to bring the wild inside. Gather up those items you already have and add a little rustic cabin decor. The following recipes can be altered, but here are a few to start those creative juices flowing:

List of ingredients:

GREENERY- faux & fresh PINE CONES-ACORNS

ANTLERS/SHEDS DECOYS

TARTAN RIBBON OR FABRIC FEATHERS:PHEASANT/TURKEY

Grab candles and some of that faux greenery you save every year – it looks nice & full when mixed in with fresh. This year I found Tartan ribbon out of fleece 1/2 price way before Christmas- all of this, save the greens, can be used next year.

Tip: Christmas Tree lots usually give for the taking all the greens they remove from the base of the trees.

December Part II 040 — Bringing the wild inside.

Free greenery at the Christmas Tree lot, pine cones, feathers & sheds.

TIP: if you like what you did, take a photo and start special notebook for holiday decorating-much easier to recreate the next year.

How about Gramps’ Creel? Ribbon and acorn ornament added.Another creel with a shock of red poinsettia and an old net and reel to brighten a corner. A pot of fresh would be nice, just remember to add a plastic saucer.

December 064 — Another creel with a shock of red poinsettia, an old net and reel. A pot of fresh poinsettia would be nice, just remember to add a plastic saucer.

I like to dress up a cabinet for Christmas with a fishing theme. Garland and free greens at the top plus all our collected fishing ornaments and related decorations. Lean an old bamboo rod nearby. Add some lights to the greenery for more drama.

December 055 — A vintage creel & bait bucket, ice fishing decoys & old Salmon flies for ornaments.

Tip: Store all your items for a certain area in one marked box, so next year you can finish decorating one area completely before moving on.

December Part II 045 — Add a little tartan ribbon to a duck or goose decoy and place on a nest of greens on a table or under the tree.

And don’t forget to pay a tribute to your faithful gun dogs past. I keep the tags and tie on a red ribbon and add a hook for a special ornament collection on our tree. (the kitty cats get on the tree too with their collars & tags)

This is just the start – How do you bring the Wild Inside For Christmas?

Posted on October 20, 2011October 24, 2014 by Rita Schimpff — Leave a comment

Bring the Wild Inside – Fall

Balancing the hunter/non-hunter home.

Part 1- Fall

Hides & Antlers

After reading @writinghuntress* Twitter query looking for wreaths in her area (of which I happily answered even tho I lived states away) – it dawned on me why this is one of my favorite times of the year…sure, the feast of Thanksgiving, Christmas and the onset of the hunting season – but, it is my favorite time to bring the outdoors in, live amongst flora & fauna in our home – the decorating options abound from the hunt. Fall!

Antique Charivari made with tiny sterling acorns, leaves and deer teeth to symbolize a special hunt.

Many hunter/anglers share a home with a non-hunter and many times our ‘spoils of the hunt’ are just not appreciated as we wished, often relegated to the man cave – or worse The Garage, when in fact they can be handsomely and may I say Elegantly incorporated into every room in the house. You may say, ‘oh fun for you-with a 30+year career in the interior design field!’ Well, I also have a 30+ year (I’m not quite as old as dirt) background in the oat field as well. It doesn’t hurt that my German heritage predicates that we use, save, and re – purpose everything. Which I in turn draw upon from time to time to position hunting finds around the house. Hunt it, shoot it, eat it & hang it! Makes perfect sense to me. Most of the ‘stuff’ the hunter finds in the field is haute (hot) in the décor market. Why would I go pay money for something that I have hanging around? I hope to help you or your significant other realize it is EASY to bring the outdoors in.

Think about some of the things you might have access to: Gramp’s old fishing net, creels, rods, acorns and pine cones, shed antlers, taxidermy mounts (fin, feather & fur), hides, skulls, decoys, and barb wire. How about shell boxes and found (empty) turtle shells!

I was inspired to create my company www.HeritageGameMounts.com from my grandfather’s antique mounts and a piece of German jewelry, called a Charivari that was passed down in my husband’s family to honor the hunt.

HIDES:

Many years ago when ‘never done that’& ‘not enough time’ were never uttered, I had a white tail hide tanned into the softest golden leather and I sewed a vest for my husband’s Christmas present. Guess what? They last…he still wears it. Over the years I have had them tanned with and without the hair and used in a variety of ways. I have a beautiful axis skin that came from a very special friend’s family ranch- I have threatened for years to upholster something with it, but keep finding uses for it as a throw. Drape one over a chair, coffee table or hang on the wall or the back of a display cabinet – if you actually upholster with it, make it the accent- perhaps just on the back of the chair and cover the rest of the chair in rich brown, black or red leather and big brass nail heads! How about making the leather into a unique gun or rifle case? Go visit Trophy Hides in MN to see how they painstakingly produce wonderful products from your skins or theirs www.trophyhidesleather.com

HORNS & ANTLERS:

Grapevine wreath with old white shed, feathers, acorns and leaves from a hobby store.

Singles, sheds and full mounts…I always scout around the hunting grounds, you can find all kinds of wonderful left-overs: sheds, fox skulls, turkey feathers. Use all of these in centerpieces, wreaths, and a still life. For your wreath use some discarded old rusted & coiled up barbed wire-just make sure and cushion the back with a piece of felt or packing peanut to protect your door.

Create a still life using a shed as a focal point in a grouping of objects on a coffee table, countertop or bookshelf.

Many non-hunter homes can’t find a spot for the mounted antlers and trophies or just don’t think they fit in – well that is one reason I designed the Heritage Game Mount, it takes up less space than a shoulder mount, is less expensive and elegantly enhances the domestic deer or exotic trophy.

A Heritage Game Mount with your trophy installed looks great in any room in the house, and pair’s nicely over paintings, with shoulder mounts or all alone!

Add a touch of the Old World that adorned the royal hunting lodges of Europe and surround your antlers with oak leaves and acorns. And another good reason to hunt and save all these items? In the off season they make fabulous ‘show n tell’ for the kids to take to school, inspiration for school papers etc. So many kids today have no idea about the joys and responsibility of of our wildlife heritage – much less seen it or felt it – so let your kids share it!

*visit the writinghuntress on www.huntlikeyourehungry.blogspot.com, a proud member of a 2 hunter homestead!

Create a still life using a shed as a focal point in a grouping of objects on a coffee table, countertop or bookshelf. Here a shed is painted red then topped with gold leaf found at hobby stores and put with a scented candle.

Posted on August 17, 2011September 15, 2015 by Rita Schimpff — Leave a comment

Fresh Water Fish grace Vintage Door

I recently finished painting a 1920’s door with fresh water fish for our 81 year old neighbor at Medina Lake. He had seen our 1920’s door I painted for my husband for Father’s Day and wanted one too. Our families both built little fishing cabins at the lake around 1926.

Father’s Day door I painted – note the bullet hole in upper right!

Our door is complete with a bullet hole in the upper right hand corner that I thought should be left! The shooting took place well before 1950. In the early 30’s my husband’s grandmother shot a deer through the window!