DIY Faux Cowhide Rug

Amy is on a roll with her guest posts lately! She's taking on another big trend that I'm obsessed with, the cowskin rug. Everyone give a big welcome back to Amy Krist!  

So what is an animal lover to do when she is also itching for a cowhide rug to grace her floor? She makes one out of vinyl! No animals harmed in the process.

This is one of the easiest projects I've done to date and it took all of 15 minutes from start to finish. Love that.

I used an ostrich print vinyl that I already had on hand from my bar stool project [that is yet to be finished by the way]. Being the collector of animal shaped rugs, I used my other faux cowhide rug as a guide. However this could also be used a guide for those of you non-collectors.

I didn't have a ton of vinyl leftover so my cowhide rug was a smaller version than a standard size. My rug is apx 36" wide at the widest point [the "back legs"] versus the 96" range.

Next fold the vinyl in half length-wise.

Now begin sketching one half of your cow, which will yield a perfectly proportioned bovine.

I used a regular old pencil and drew all the curves of my little guy eventually ending at the tail section. Once the shape resembled my other rug, I cut it out using my sharp scissors. This ensures that I get a crisp cut.

Now unfold your little guy and be amazed!

I was so pleased and amazed that I had a faux cowhide rug with an animal-friendly vibe in about 15 minutes! It still has a few folds and wrinkles from when it was shipped, but they will relax over time. Another benefit is the more foot traffic the better as it will "age" the rug and make it look more authentic.

I chose to leave my guy au-naturale as I already have enough brown and black going on in our home. I'm sure albino cows exist somewhere, right? If you prefer an authentic spotted cowhide, I would probably use black and brown Sharpie markers and allow it to dry a good 3 days before walking on it.

I can hear all the cows in the world breathing a collective sigh of relief.

 

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