Hooray! Christmas is just about here!
I’ve been promising my kids for 4 years that we would start decorating the front yard of our house at Christmas time, and each November / December I end up saying – “Next year kids!”.
Well I finally decided, this year! (For a little bit of the yard anyway.)
So to start with, I made a couple of these Reindeer’s out of plywood. I couldn’t find any good templates that I liked so I made my own, mainly based off of a screenshot of Rudolph from the classic stop-motion Christmas movie.
To make two Reindeer’s you will need:
- This Reindeer Template PDF file
- 1200mm x 1200mm sheet of plywood (1200 by 600 for just one)
- A Jigsaw (A router with a copy pattern bit makes making subsequent Reindeers easier)
- Primer , Coloured Paint, Brushes (Quality Foam brushes are great I’ve just learnt.)
- Some screws to fix it to a fence or stakes to drive into the ground.
- Also print out this image. Then when it is time to transfer the lines of the legs, ears, eye, etc, it is easy enough to reference against this smaller print out.
And instead of having lengthy step by step directions, I thought I’d try my hand at making a YouTube how-to instead. Check it out and let me know what you think!
Next week I’m making a stack of Christmas Baubles that the children will decorate with me. Then it’s a couple more Reindeer’s and if I can get the time, good ol’ St Nick in a Sleigh!
I would like to wish you and your family a Merry Xmas and a Happy new Year from Wales in the UK.
The two reindeer I made are up on the front of my home and the the children in the close think they are brilliant.
Thanks to you.
All the very best Bob
Why thanks Bob, much appreciated!
I hope you and your family had a great Christmas – and send through a photo or two of those Reindeer if you have time as well!
im glad i found your video…im very excited too try! longbeach,ca
🙂 Thanks Erika, send a photo through when you finish it!
Just wanted to say thanks for posting the video and the template. I was lazy and didn’t use the spray glue to affix the template to the plywood. Instead, i just taped it in a few spots. It all worked out, but I had to hold the template in place. The kids had fun helping with the painting. Do you have any more holiday designs?
Thanks!
Oh cool, send a photo through of the finished product if you get a chance, would love to see it! I’ve made a dozen Christmas baubles and a couple of candy canes, but a template wasn’t required as they were pretty basic shapes. I’ve been trying to put a Santa design together for a while, but I can’t decide if I want him in a sleigh or not. I *should* have a day free over the weekend, fingers crossed I can get to work on one then. Glad your kids had fun, that’s the point!
Mario
Bought some gloss paint today in a local store at a cost of £10 pounds UK.
but the colour seem’s different to the one you used in the video.
Can you recall the name / colour of the paint or the Ral Number supplied.
Many thanks Bob..
Sorry Bob, i wouldn’t have a clue what the colour was. I tend to just buy any mis-tint paint cans i see, so I’ve made over a dozen reindeer now, all with slightly different shades of brown for the fur. They all look good though!
What type of paint did you use?
Hi Karen, I don’t recall the brand but it was a water based exterior paint, one that is expected to last 10-15 years in the weather without fading. The varnish spray over the top to help protect it is also water based and is a non-yellowing kind. I generally just ask the person at the paint store for their advice on what I should use as I’m not a paint nor finish expert. Cheers, Mario (Let me know if you make some decorations of your own!)
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Where do you think I can get some patterns of the reindeer that you did on the YouTube video
Just above 🙂
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