Introduction: Miniature Wooden Reindeer and Sleigh

About: I am a writer by trade, but l love to draw and create, taking things apart and making other things out of them.

After searching the Internet in hope of finding any sort of miniature reindeer I discovered that there was none to be found.

So, of course, I had to make some myself.

These reindeer make a wonderful toy or they could be used for a display. I gave them as a gift and they were liked very much indeed.

Step 1: What You Need

Tools:

Wood glue (optional)

Hot glue gun

Sandpaper

Scissors

Ruler

Paintbrush

Pocket knife (optional)

Saw

Materials:

Suede or leather lacing

Red, brown, and gold paint

1/2 inch thick branch. To have enough for this project you will need one at least 24 inches long.

Twigs for neck, legs and antlers

Bells

Metal clothing snaps

Craft sticks

Step 2: Cut Heads and Bodies

Mark off eight 1 inch sections on the branch. These are the heads.

Mark off eight 2 inch sections on the branch. These are the bodies.

Saw at the marked sections. Although there are 16 sections to saw on the branch, it is not thick and it will not take extremely long

You should saw them as smoothly and evenly as you can.

After you are done sawing, sand both ends until they are smooth to the touch.

Step 3: Antlers, Necks, and Legs

The antlers, necks, and legs are very simple to make.

The legs are 1 1/2 inch long and should be straight.

Break the twigs to the right length and sand down any rough edges.

You must make sure the legs are all the same length before gluing them onto the reindeer.

The antlers are the same length as the legs but they don't have to be straight. The antlers have three points that are about half the length of the main antler. They don't have to be straight either.

The necks are just short (about 1/4 inch) pieces of a twig.

Step 4: Assembling the Reindeer

Now it is time to put the reindeer together!

I recommend using hot glue for this step in case you place a leg wrong and the reindeer doesn’t stand up correctly then you can pull it off and glue it again.

Glue the legs evenly spaced and see if it stands up correctly.

Glue the points to the antlers.

Glue antlers to head.

Now glue the neck to the body and the head to the neck.

Repeat steps 2-4 until you have eight (or nine) reindeer.

Step 5: The Harness

The harness for the deer is made of three pieces of lacing. Two pieces are 2 1/4 inch long and the other is about a 1/4 inch long.

You also need two metal clothing snaps per harness. They are not essential but enable you to remove the reindeer from the harness.

First hot glue one side of a snap to the end of one of the longer pieces. Flip it over and glue the other side to the other end of the lacing.

Snap it around your reindeer.

Then glue the other piece of the same length to the harness (see photo).

Glue one side of the other snap perpendicular to the piece you just glued (see photo). Glue the other side to the other end of the piece (again see photo if it's a bit confusing!) and snap it to the other snap on the harness.

Then glue the smallest piece vertically on the side of the first piece so it forms a loop and you can thread the long part of the harness thorough.

Repeat until you have eight harnesses.

The last and longest part of the harness is 45 inches long and can threaded through the small loop in the harness (see photo).

Glue on the bells at regular intervals on the harness. I did eight bells per side which is sixteen bells in all.

Step 6: Sleigh

This sleigh is a simple box-like sleigh.

The floor of the sleigh is made of eight craft sticks glued together. You can use wood glue or hot glue for this.

The sides of the sleigh and the sleigh runners are three craft sticks. You'll need to make four.

For the front and back of the sleigh I broke 1 inch off the 4 1/4 inch stick. The stick will not break cleanly so sand the sticks down.

Glue on the sides.Then glue the sleigh runners under the sides.

Glue the back piece on snugly.

Glue the front piece so there is a small space to tie the harness on (see photo).

Paint the sleigh body red, the sleigh runners brown, and add some decorative gold swirls.

The sleigh is now done!

Step 7: Done at Last

This step is to inform you that you are done, done, and nothing but done.

I think these little reindeer would be a great gift/toy for a fan of reindeer.

Please comment on what you think or if you have any questions.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

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