Have you ever walked into someone’s home and seen a horseshoe hanging above their door? Even though the horseshoe is associated with cowboy culture, the iron u-shaped shoe has been an Irish symbol of good luck for hundreds of years. It became a more well-known symbol through Hollywood’s fascination with old folklore and fairy tales. Today, you can find the symbol just about everywhere. Jewelry, artwork, and even store decor have all utilized the horseshoe as a symbol of luck.
Why are horseshoes lucky?
It’s not officially known where the symbol of the lucky horseshoe began. The tradition could have begun in 969 A.D. when the Catholic Saint Dunstan tricked the Devil or as far back as 400 B.C. with the Celtic tribes warding off evil fairies with iron. Either way, it is widely known throughout many cultures that the u-shaped shoe represents good luck and the turning away of evil.
Have you ever been to a casino or watched a movie about gambling? If you have, then you’ll notice that the number seven is known as the lucky number to bid on. This comes from the study of numerology- the branch of Paganism that deals with the significance of numbers, The number seven is considered to be the luckiest number. What does this have to do with horses and their iron shoes? The next time you have a chance to take a closer look at your horse’s shoe, you’ll notice that it has seven nail holes.
How do you hang a horseshoe for good luck?
There are many stories revolving around the proper way to hang a horseshoe for maximum good luck. The most popular way to hang one is with the edges pointing up. It is said that hanging a horseshoe this way will collect the luck and spread it to every corner of your house. Another way to hang a horseshoe is with the edges pointing down. If you hang it in this fashion, then the luck will pour out and onto anyone who walks through your door. The other side of this story is if you hang a lucky horseshoe upside down you’ll pour all of the luck out and render it ineffective.
Whichever way you chose to hang your lucky horseshoe this St. Patrick’s Day, make sure it’s hung alongside a colorful dose of fun. If you like a little extra flair with your decor, try painting your lucky shoe in a fun color or making a beautiful painting with them.
Check out these fun crafts to do this St. Patrick’s Day!
Hang your own Horseshoe
There are a few different variations on how to make a lucky horseshoe. Get creative, and have fun with this St. Patrick’s Day craft.
Materials:
- New Horseshoe (any size works), if you get a new one you won’t have to worry about rust or other pasture gunk
Horseshoe 3 EZ Front
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- Wire brush
- Acrylic paints (whatever color goes best with your decor)
- Paintbrush
- A piece of cardboard, newspaper, or paper plate (to pour your paint on/paint your horseshoe)
- 14 or 16 gauge wire
Gallagher, 14-Gauge Aluminum Fence Wire 1/4-Mile
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- Pliers
Master Mechanic Long-Nose Pliers, Mini, 5-In.
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- Beads
- String or leather
- Sharpie
Instructions:
- Start by taking your wire brush to your horseshoe. This gets all of the flakey bits off so that you won’t have trouble painting.
- Rinse your horseshoe in warm water so that all of the little particles are gone, and let it completely dry.
- Pour your paint out on the cardboard, paper plate, or whatever you have that will be getting messy.
- Take your paintbrush and brush on a layer of the paint. Let it dry. Paint a couple more layers, making sure to cover the sides of the horseshoe as well. You won’t need to cover the back because it’ll be against the wall and could leave color streaks if it’s hung in a spot that moves a lot. If you bought more than one color of paint, feel free to get creative and do designs.
- Take your heavy gauge wire and push it through the top hole on one side of the horseshoe. Wrap it up around the remaining top part of the one side of the horseshoe.
- (Optional) If you want to get fancy you can take your sharpie and wrap the wire around it, make sure to leave some extra at the end so that you can push it through the top hole on the other side. 3 loops around will be good.
- Push the wire through the top hole on the other side of the horseshoe.
- Cut six inches of string or leather and string it through the loops, feel free to add your beads at this point, and tie the ends together.
- Now, find the perfect spot and hang it. Happy St. Patrick’s day!
Horseshoe Painting
Try this one if you want a more simple, but no less beautiful, craft to do this St. Paddy’s Day.
Materials:
- Horseshoe/li>
- Green and gold acrylic paint/li>
- Paintbrush/li>
- 8”x10” canvas (You could also find an already painted canvas from a store or Goodwill and add to it)
- Newspaper or cardboard, something to keep your mess contained
Instructions:
- Get your small canvas out and put it on whatever you have laid down to keep your mess at bay.
- Paint your canvas with a base layer of green and let dry. Depending on how much time, and patience, it would be a good idea to add an extra layer of green so that there is no white space showing through on your canvas.
- Put a thick layer of gold paint on the front of your horseshoe.
- Gently press the horseshoe down onto the canvas, repeat as many times as you want.
- Let it dry.
- If the holes don’t show up very well, take a little bit of green paint on a small tipped paintbrush.
- Lay your horseshoe with the unpainted side facing down over the top of your horseshoe print.
- Take the paintbrush with the green on the end and push it down into the holes. This should give you an accurate spacing if you want to paint the holes that the nails go into in the horseshoe.
Don’t have time to do either of these crafts? Check out your local Wilco Farm Store for all your lucky charms this St. Patrick’s Day!
We would love to see your horse photos, use #mywilcolife on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and tag Wilco Stores.
