When I saw these BASTIS Dog Butt Hooks at IKEA, I knew a BASTIS IKEA hack was in store for them. I thought it would be cute to create some DIY Dog Butt Art by having a dog butt buried in a piece of artificial grass, in a frame on the wall. So, I also picked up two different size RIBBA frames at IKEA, a 9″x9″ and a 5″x7″.
Now that I had the dog butts and frames, I just needed a little artificial grass. I sat at the window eying the artificial grass in our backyard, but I didn’t think my husband would be too happy if he came home to find a 9″×9″ section cut out of it. So I began a search online.
Artificial Grass
I found grass samples that could be purchased for $4 at Lowes, but they were only 6″×6″. Any other samples I found online were even smaller. So I thought, maybe landscape companies have scraps they throw out and they would give me a 9″×9″ piece. So I began contacting local companies via email, asking for a 9″×9″ scrap. I received not one but two emails from a company called The Synthetic Grass Store. One employee told me to stop in and ask for a large sample and another said to ask for a pet pad.
A pet pad sounded interesting. Our dachshund will NOT go to the bathroom in the rain, so do you know what that means? Yep you guessed it, he does his business in the house during storms. The good news is, he always goes in the same exact place so we have been able to put a potty pad there for him. But I still prefer a poop free house, so putting a piece of artificial grass outside on our covered patio sounded like a great idea. Sorry, I got side tracked there, now back to dog butts… wait…. technically I was talking about dog butts, sooo… back to rubber dog butts I guess that is.
I stopped by The Synthetic Grass Store and a very friendly lady took me back to the pet pads and gave me a piece of grass about 2×3 feet in size, for FREE! I can’t believe how friendly everyone from that company was. The next time my husband and I move, I will definitely be calling them to install artificial grass in our new backyard!
So I proceeded to cut two small sections from the piece, one for each frame. Napoleon (our dachshund) uses the large remaining piece on our patio during storms, and he loves it!
Assembly Instructions
Now, it’s time to assemble! Regardless of which frame you choose to use, remove the glass and the mat board, you will not need either for this project. Next, you need to decide what frame you want to use. I used both frames, but preferred the look of the larger 9×9 frame in the end.
The 9×9 frame has an insert which allows your grass to sit at the back of the frame, whereas the 5×7 does not, but you can work around that by displaying the frame backwards. Because that’s a little unusual I will start with instructions for the 5×7 frame first.
To start, I used pliers to remove the swing arm thingy on the back of the frame that allows it to sit upright on a tabletop. I prefer the frame to sit flat against the wall and it only does that if that part is removed. It’s your decision on whether you want to remove that. If you would rather have it stand on a shelf/table, then you definitely don’t want to remove it.
Next, you need to drill a hole in the back panel to mount the dog butt. While you will want to center the hole from left to right, you don’t want to simply drill a hole centered from top to bottom, otherwise the butt will end up sitting too low. This is due to the type of bracket they used on the butt which slides down onto the screw.
Place your dog butt on the back panel, center the entire thing from left to right and top to bottom. Then make a mark at the top of the butt. The screw will need to be placed 9/16 of an inch down from the top of the butt. Mark your hole, making sure to keep it centered from left to right.
Find a screw that fits into the back of the dog butt. I used a 7/8″ machine screw with a nut. Using your mark, drill a hole large enough so that your screw will fit through the hole. Then, place the panel into the frame and press down the clips to hold it in. Next, using a utility knife, cut a piece of grass, 5.25″x7.25″ in size.
Press the grass down into the frame. Next you are going to flip the frame over and drill through the same hole that you previously drilled through, so that you create a hole in the grass that is perfectly aligned with the hole in the panel. You will need to put a small board underneath the grass, to hold it firm against the back panel so that when you press down with the drill you don’t end up pushing the entire grass sheet down, rather than drilling through it. Once you have drilled a hole through the grass, place your screw through the hole and then attach the nut on the back.
Lastly, attach your dog butt to the screw. Now here is the downside to using the 5×7 frame. Because it’s being used backwards, these little corner connectors are exposed. I don’t really think it’s a big deal, especially since the frame was cheap, but if you don’t like the look you’ll want to use the 9×9 frame instead.
Assembly of the 9×9 frame is very similar. Remove the glass and mat board, you won’t need them. The 9×9 frame comes with a removable insert which allows your “picture”, in this case the grass, to sit at the back of the frame. After you remove the glass, put this insert back into the frame. Next, drill your hole in the back panel following the same instructions above for the 5×7 frame. Then cut a piece of grass 8.75″ square. Because the grass sheet is much bigger for this one, I glued it to the panel using a glue gun, but something like E-600 should also work. The grass should be about 1/8″ shorter than the panel all the way around, to allow room for the insert. Once the glue is dry, turn your grass/panel over and drill through the same hole you previously drilled, to create a matching hole in the grass. Place your screw through the hole, add the nut in the back and slide the dog butt onto the screw. Finally, place the panel into the frame, and bend the clips over to secure it.
And there you have it, your very own DIY dog butt art!
Author: Nicole Bolin
If you’re a fan of Ikea hacks, check out our Ikea Bar Cart Hack.