This originally appeared on my old blog, Saga's Cottage. 

October's full moon is known as Hunter's Moon, Blood Moon, and the Dying Grass Moon. My craft this month doesn't really have anything at all to do with any of them, lol.   I could have done some kind of spell that included blood, or perhaps another antler craft like I did for the Buck Moon......but I didn't really have time for those. I'm super busy right now and I've really been wanting to make this for my hubs. I was really sweating this craft out, because I ordered it on the 19th and I received it on the 25th. Also, I had NO idea what I was doing.  I am not a metal worker. I don't know how to do it, I'm sure I could learn, but I didn't really have time. The ones with the best instruction were about putting metal on the rim.  I'll put those links for you and if you want to go that direction, you'll have some instruction. I am also not a carver, and there were plenty of explanations for using a dremel or carving tools.  I decided to go the woodburning route with this. I did find a thread that said that it was possible to use your woodburner on horn, so I went for it. I'm really happy with my results, it looks great. It's an easy craft, taking me only a couple of hours. Even better, my hubs loves it. 

First you'll need a cow horn. I found one on E

tsy for a good price with shipping. It had already been cleaned, polished, and I think it was waxed. You can buy them without the cleaning and polishing, but you have to boil and clean and polish. I was really happy with this one. It looked like this when it arrived:

It's a nice size and it was evenly polished, no thin spots or holes. You can repair holes, I've read.  You will need to get a pencil, transfer paper, a pattern that you want to use, and a woodburner. For my pattern I used this book: 

 

I like this book because it is real viking designs found on artifacts and there is no problem with copyright. 

I chose this design for the rim. 

 

This design was found on a chair from the Church of Grund in Iceland. 

I laid the transfer paper along the rim and put the design on top. I pressed kind of hard with my pencil as I went around the design. As you can see, even though I was pressing hard, it made a really light copy of the design. But it was okay, I just went over that with my pencil. I didn't want to have to do this design without the transfer, it would have taken a lot longer to do. 

  I just continued going over the whole design with my pencil when I'm finished transferring. 

When I was finished with my transferring I started with the woodburner. And yes, it smells like burning hair while you do this. You get used to it. You also have to have a really steady hand. Press firm and smooth. I went over it lightly at first, then I went back and pressed a little harder. Since I had no idea what I was doing, I was afraid I would burn through the horn, but I didn't. 

 When I was finished with the rim, I put a little matching design on the tip. 

And then I put Thor's hammer on. Another design from the book. It was a pendant that was found in Gotland, Sweden. 

To make the design stand out you can put a bit of acrylic paint (your choice of color)on it with a dry cloth and push it into the design. I'm going to use black because I think it will look good on this horn.  

With a very wrung out damp cloth wipe it back off. I did this twice, to get a good dark color. Now I'll put some wax back over my new design. Also wax the inside with beeswax really well. 

As I said, I will put the links for you if you would like to try your hand at the copper or silver trim or carving. I'll also put some other links with more detailed instructions for cleaning, polishing, and other things. 

 http://www.goheathen.org/crafts/drinkinghorns.html 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Carved-drinking-horn/

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/48497-help-me-finish-my-drinking-horn-project/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEaPSjhkgkc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8Fonf2jiSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y745ST3-m0&index=3&list=PLTL7m3YA9GESRf9ZoyJP05MLPKidZusc4

https://www.yotube.com/watch?v=kABwL-fSGS4

I hope you enjoyed this craft,

Bright Blessings, Saga