Recycled Wood Reindeer, Large Repurposed Christmas Sculptures

I can't take credit for this adorable idea.

I saw something similar in a catalog once where they used spindles as 

reindeer legs and filed that memory in my head for later. 

This year I decided to create reindeer and put my own spin on them.

Recycled Reindeer by Lucy Designs

One idea I came up with was using metal ceiling fan blade

holders as antlers. 

When I first started using the fan blades for dragonfly wings,

I had an overabundance of these metal fan holders. 

I got rid of so many of them but did save a few and was so 

glad I did because they made great antlers!

I drew a pattern and cut the bodies from plywood.

I added a textured pattern using a stencil and my own texture

compound to create the raised pattern. You could also use 

joint compound to create the texture.

In addition to the fan blade holders, I came up with other ideas for antlers too. 

For this recycled reindeer, the antlers are cut from scrolly sections of a

 wooden picture frame. 

He has wooden coaster ears and a jingle bell nose.

I made two sizes, a large and small. This large size reindeer is 

32" tall. I used more ceiling fan blade holders as antlers, painted in

gold along with recycled tin for the ears and a bottle cap nose.

Most of the small size reindeer stand 24-28" tall and they

look adorable in pairs.

The little reindeer has more scrolled pieces from a wooden

frame as antlers, ears cut from old license plates and a metal nut for his nose.

I painted this set in muted gold.

I guess they are all male deer since they all have antlers but

they look so much cuter with the antlers!

This little gold reindeer has decorative pieces from a clock that I 

cut apart for his antlers. His ears are wooden coasters, already in 

the "ear shape" and a jingle bell nose. 

The majority of the spindles I used matched but this one has 

mismatched spindle legs and I think that just adds to the charm of

this hand made reindeer.

All the tails are made using aluminum flashing that I 

cut into a tail shape and painted.

More fan blade holder antlers and license plate ears

on this large reindeer sculpture.

They are all fairly lightweight but stand very sturdily.

What a unique addition to holiday or Winter decor that 

will last for years to come.

Update December 2016

I am no longer creating the reindeer and remaining deer are sold out

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about my reindeer!

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