DIY tutorial for making a New Year's horseshoe

It is difficult to surprise modern newlyweds with a gift. If you want to give something special and with meaning, then a souvenir horseshoe is perfect. It can be either expensive or very cheap - it all depends on the material from which the souvenir is made and on the complexity of its design. Such a gift will be even more valuable if you can find a real horseshoe that the horse wore for some time.

Why a horseshoe is a good wedding gift

1. The horseshoe is a symbol of good luck and happiness.
2. There is a belief that a horseshoe protects the house from all sorts of misfortunes.
3. The price range for horseshoes is very wide; you can choose a souvenir according to your financial capabilities.
4. You can come up with a great congratulations related to a horseshoe. For example, explain in it why a horseshoe is considered a symbol of good luck.

At a time when troops traveled on horseback, the outcome of the battle depended greatly on the strength and health of the horses, the quality of their equipment, including horseshoes. Alexander the Great suffered defeats due to problems with horse hooves. A significant part of Napoleon's army during the war with the Russian Empire was lost due to the lack of horseshoes suitable for winter. It is for this reason that horseshoes began to be endowed with magical properties. It is believed that seeing a horseshoe in a dream is good luck. It symbolizes love, prosperity, abundance, and according to legend, it brings prosperity to the house and protects the hearth from evil forces.

Properties of a horseshoe

This item combines two powerful protective symbols that protect against negative energy and dark forces - metal and horns. In particular, in many cultures horseshoes are endowed with the following properties and meanings:

1. Hanged in the door with its “horns” up, it will symbolize the so-called “bottomless cup” that attracts wealth. Therefore, those who want to improve their well-being should hang it in this way. This belief came to our region from afar - from no less than Ireland itself, where it originally symbolized a cauldron of porridge.
2. Among the eastern peoples, on the contrary, it was customary to point the “horns” downwards. This was explained by the properties of the metal to accumulate negative energy, which flowed down the “horns” into the ground and disappeared forever. They were hung in the doors to prevent evil and disaster from entering the house.
3. To attract marital happiness, it is recommended to hang a horseshoe directly above the marital bed. Those who want to have children should do the same. If you decide to give such a wedding gift to friends or relatives, you should give it to the newlyweds immediately after the end of the wedding celebration, accompanying your surprise with comic poems and jokes.
4. If you want to have assistants in any work, bury a horseshoe under the northern wall of the house. It is also a good way to strengthen friendship and family ties.
5. Unmarried girls should hang a horseshoe over the hearth of their parents' house - this is an old sign, following which you can get married faster.
6. To attract wealth into the house, leave the horseshoe under the light of the moon on a full moon, and then bring it back to the house.
7. Many drivers believe that a horseshoe in a car will protect them from an accident. Therefore, this item, among other things, will be a good present for a car enthusiast. However, despite the horseshoe, you still have to follow the traffic rules!
8. Note to gardeners: you should bury a horseshoe next to poorly growing plants.
9. Those who want to protect themselves from the evil eye need to wear a horseshoe on themselves. Of course, you can’t really wear a real horseshoe, so people use smaller copies of them, hung on chains, for this purpose. In Mexico, such a talisman is considered very important and is not allowed to be touched by strangers - they can “steal” good luck.

Types of souvenir horseshoes

1. Real horseshoes, intended for horses, but “unworn” - that is, the horse has never worn them. They are available with or without finishing.
2. Real horseshoes and “used” ones - that is, those that the horse wore for some time. According to ancient Russian belief, a horseshoe should be given as a gift “trodden” on Russian soil, having absorbed the power of the horse and the mother earth.
3. Precious horseshoes: silver, gold, with precious stones and so on.
4. Horseshoes made from relatively inexpensive materials, souvenirs. These are sold in many souvenir shops and can be made of wood, clay, plastic, glass, porcelain and so on.
5. Handmade horseshoes. You can make such a horseshoe yourself or order it from a craftsman. The latter option is likely to be very expensive. But you can make individual designs with congratulations, wishes, names of the bride and groom, wedding date, and so on.

Along with the horseshoe, give the bride and groom instructions on how to hang it correctly.

Materials and tools

Before doing needlework, prepare everything you need so that in the midst of a creative impulse you will not be distracted by trifles. Tools you will need: scissors, lighter, ruler, toothpick.

To make a New Year's horseshoe with your own hands, prepare:

• thick cardboard;
• brown felt 1 mm thick;
• golden tire;
• a golden star with a diameter of 2 cm (for decoration);
• green foamiran;
• 6 toothpicks;
• gold cord;
• 3 foam balls with a diameter of 3 cm.
• narrow satin ribbon with gold lurex in purple, pink and yellow colors;
• hot glue (gun);
• glue "Moment Crystal".

If you have time, then make a horseshoe from salt dough, also a wonderful gift and home decoration. And for the New Year, you can sew a house-amulet, make a snowflake from chenille wire, or make a paper Christmas tree toy-card based on other MKs on our website “Women’s Hobbies”.

How to hang a horseshoe correctly

• The first and most important rule is that horseshoes are hung upside down. So it becomes similar to a month, which means it personifies the Moon and its flowing light. In addition, in this position, the horseshoe looks like horns, which symbolize strength and power and provide protection. The third interpretation is the resemblance to a bowl; accordingly, the house will become a full bowl.
• A horseshoe is usually hung above the front door, but this is not the only suitable place. Another thing is the headboard. In general, you can hang it wherever you like. It is believed that in any case it will stabilize the energy of the house.
• The horseshoe should be hung on only one nail and make sure that there are no other driven nails nearby.

How to properly fasten a horseshoe

It would be more correct to say how to do this carefully; there is no clear way, since this is done differently in different countries. Some people believe that a nail should be driven into every hole, this way you will keep good spirits in the house, others, on the contrary, are of the opinion that the fewer nails, the better, and if you can get by with just one, good luck will always accompany the owner.

Before hanging the talisman, be sure to hold it in your hands to saturate it with your energy, and so that the amulet knows who should bring good luck to the house.

The horseshoe should be placed above the door. Secure with nails or screws; modern decorative horseshoes may have other methods of fastening, there are even suction cups.

You can also purchase an accessory with a horseshoe and place it anywhere, not only near the door, but also on your desktop or shelf.

How to activate the horseshoe?

In addition to a certain position, the horseshoe also needs to be activated. What should be done:

1. Before hanging a horseshoe in the house , you need to give it to all household members in turn and let everyone hold the amulet for a while. Then the mistress of the house or the head of the family must take the artifact in her right hand and walk around the house three times, moving in a clockwise direction. During this, it is recommended to ask him for help and well-being. Then the amulet needs to be kept in direct sunlight for a day so that it is filled with energy.
2. Our ancestors believed that the waxing moon on the protective qualities of the amulet . On the waxing moon, place the horseshoe by the window overnight in the same way you plan to hang it, and leave it so that the moon charges the amulet.

Manufacturing and decoration techniques

First of all, print or redraw the horseshoe template. You can use ours or any other that is suitable in size and shape as a basis. Cut it out.

Transfer the image onto thick cardboard. Using “Moment” glue, glue the cardboard horseshoe to the brown felt on one side and cut it out. Then cover the other side.

Cut the gold tire into strips and scorch the edges with a lighter to remove thread lint. It took about six of these strips.

Hot glue the strips along the contour of the entire horseshoe. For more sparkle and decoration, attach a star on one side. If you don’t have a ready-made one, you can cut it out of golden-colored glitter foamiran.

To make your own New Year's branches, ordinary green Chinese foamiran 1 mm thick is suitable. Using a ruler and a toothpick, draw the stripes, then cut pieces about 17-20 cm long and 1.5 cm wide. Finely chop each strip, not all the way to the end, to make a fringe. This is convenient to do with nail scissors.

Apply a bead of hot glue to one end of the green fringe and begin twisting it down onto the toothpick. The bottom edge of the foamiran should always be lubricated with glue.

In total, prepare 6 branches of different lengths. Trim the ends of the toothpick.

Hot glue them in pairs on one side of the New Year's horseshoe. Fir branches are also suitable for other New Year's crafts, remember this method.

Add a few loops. Cut the gold cord into different lengths from 10 to 7 cm. Glue them between the branches.

The Christmas horseshoe is decorated with New Year's balls, made with your own hands from polystyrene foam. You can take other suitable blanks or roll balls from newspaper. For decoration, satin ribbon of different colors with lurex was used.

Wrap the balls in a circle. Attach the tape at the top and bottom with transparent glue. To ensure that the ribbon takes the shape of a circle and lies evenly over the ball, run a lighter along the edges. You can also take ready-made Christmas tree decorations from plastic or make pom-poms.

Glue Christmas balls into the center of the Christmas tree branches at a slight angle. Additionally, for the New Year, you can decorate the horseshoe with decorative snow or glue small beads onto the branches.

Attach a magnet to the back if you want to decorate your refrigerator. Or glue a loop of string. This New Year's decor will be appropriate not only at home, but also in the office.

If you want to give a lot of Christmas gifts to your friends, add a little originality to each craft.

Experiment with colors and sparkles. For example, instead of gold, you can take silver lurex.

A master class on making a New Year's horseshoe with your own hands was prepared by Svetlana Sorokina, photo by the author.