So, I am a TAD bit excited about this project! It is definitely one of my new favorites. I am going to show you how to make a Christmas reindeer with a few branches from a tree. It's quick, easy and seriously adorable. We chose to make a Rudolph, complete with a red nose, but that is optional. We hope to add one or more a year so that we eventually have Santa's entire reindeer crew.
Before you check out the full tutorial, I wanted to let you know that I have some gorgeous Christmas printables in my super affordable printable art shop that I think you will love! You can check them out below:
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read my full disclosure policy.
How to Make a Christmas Reindeer Tutorial
Materials Needed:
- 1 large log, approximately 4 inches in diameter, for the body.
- 1 medium log, approximately 3 inches in diameter, for the head.
- 5 small branches, approximately 1 inch in diameter, for the legs and neck.
- 2 multi-point branches, for the antlers.
- 1 pinecone, for the tail.
- 1 small, red Christmas ornament, for the nose.
- Clear caulk
- Wood glue
- Reciprocating saw {this is the one we use:Makita Cordless Reciprocating Saw
} or a chainsaw. - Drill {this is the drill we have–we love it! Makita Cordless Hammer Driver-Drill Kit with One Battery}
- Paddle drill bits
- A sharp pocket knife
} or a chainsaw.
}How to Make a Christmas Reindeer–the steps:
1. Cut your body to length first. Be sure to remove any smaller branches from the body. We did not abide by any dimensions. We just used our eyes to judge what scale was appropriate.
2. Cut your legs to length and remove any smaller branches from them.
3. Use a paddle drill bit as close in size to the diameter of your legs as possible to drill 4 holes for the legs on the bottom of your deer body and 1 hole on the top of the deer body for the neck.
4. If necessary, use your pocket knife to shave off the bark from the top of your legs/neck on the portion that will slide into the holes that you have drilled.
5. Assemble all of your pieces so that you can determine how large your head should be. Again, just eyeball it to decide what will look good. There is no right or wrong as long as it looks good to you!
6. Cut your head to length. It should be flat on the back end and angled where the deers “face” is. Next, drill a hole in the bottom of the head where it will sit atop the neck.
7. Now you are ready to attach your nose. We used a small Christmas ornament for the nose. We drilled a small hole for it to sit in and secured it with some clear caulk.
8. Drill small holes for your antlers and pop them into place.
9. Finally, attach your pine cone tail with some wood glue.
We accessorized ours with a red scarf and he is proudly displayed by our driveway. Check out the result.
We can't wait to add to the reindeer family next year! What do you think? Are you tempted to find some logs and branches to make your own?
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out some of my other Christmas posts!
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Ralph says
December 5, 2016 at 9:21 pmI also make the log reindeer, but I also put ears on my deers
Tasha says
December 6, 2016 at 4:34 pmCute Ralph! Thanks for the idea!
Jack says
July 5, 2016 at 8:35 amnice post
Rose | RoseBakes.com says
December 16, 2015 at 2:51 pmThanks so much for the feature! Merry Christmas!
Tasha A. says
December 17, 2015 at 8:23 pmMerry Christmas, Rose!
Lyn @MidMichiganMom says
November 21, 2015 at 12:32 amI want to do this so badly in my own yard! It’s so rustic and festive. I love this so much it’s my Feature pick for Turn It Up Tuesday! Thank you for sharing!
Jenessa Mullen says
November 15, 2015 at 8:18 pmI love these! I love anything country or rustic and this is perfect! Thanks for the idea – I may have to pass it over to my husband and see what he comes up with. ;) Thanks for linking up! #turnituptuesday
Celeste says
November 15, 2015 at 1:17 pmOh this is too adorable! I just love the little pine cone tail! So rustic and perfect for Christmas!
Tasha A. says
November 15, 2015 at 5:12 pmThanks so much Celeste!
Akaleistar says
November 14, 2015 at 10:14 amThat reindeer is adorable!
Tasha A. says
November 15, 2015 at 5:15 pmThanks so much Akaleistar!
[email protected] says
November 11, 2015 at 9:36 amOh he is darling!Great tutorial too, thanks!
~Liz
Tasha A. says
November 11, 2015 at 2:56 pmThanks so much, Liz!
Cathy says
November 11, 2015 at 7:34 amTOO MANY ADS!!!!!! Couldn’t get the page to load without repeatedly stopping (busy) to load ads. Too bad, looked like an interesting tutorial. (took 1 minute to write this comment even) :(
Tasha A. says
November 11, 2015 at 2:57 pmSorry to hear that, Cathy! Most people do not have issues with the load time, but there could have been an issue on my server when you were on. Take care!
[email protected] Sew Can Do says
November 9, 2015 at 11:46 amThis is really clever. I’d love to feature this, but can’t see if you have a party page or party links anywhere. If you do or could link back somewhere I’d be happy to share it next week. Thanks for linking up to the Craftastic Monday Link Party at Sew Can Do!
Tasha A. says
November 9, 2015 at 7:53 pmThank you, Cheryl! Here is my link parties page: https://designertrapped.com/link-parties/ It’s on my top menu bar. Thanks in advance for the feature!
Linda says
October 27, 2015 at 5:49 pmJust wondering the finished reindeer size for length. It’s adorable & I want to make one with my hubby.
Tasha A. says
November 7, 2015 at 3:25 pmHi Linda! I don’t know the exact finished length, but you can make it any size you want. Just make sure all of the pieces are proportional to each other. We didn’t measure anything–just eyeballed it all! Thanks for reading my blog!
Amber says
December 29, 2014 at 3:50 pmLOVE this! So cute! Excited to see you on the Real Simple website too!
[email protected] says
December 22, 2014 at 3:36 pmOH my gosh, I totally love him! This is definitely hitting my to-do list for next year. Pinning!
Amanda @ Dwelling in Happiness says
December 22, 2014 at 1:45 pmOH my gosh, this is TOO CUTE!!!! I so so wish we had all these tools (and a wood-handy hubby!) to make this!!! So sharing this adorable little guy. :) Merry Christmas, Tasha!
Kathryn says
December 21, 2014 at 10:33 pmTasha, the reindeer is adorable!! Great job.
Kristi says
December 21, 2014 at 10:02 amOh my goodness! He’s SO, SO sweet Tasha!