Easy Reindeer Crafts

Reindeer are red-hot inspiration for easy craft projects.Reindeer image by John Vaughan from Fotolia.com

While Santa may get top billing on Christmas, he wouldn't get too far without eight brown, antlered friends pulling his weight. Reindeer factor into Christmas tales as a way to help deliver gifts on Christmas Eve, but they can also serve as inspiration for easy crafts and projects. You may only know Rudolph, or you may know all eight; let them guide your crafting sleigh.

Really Red Nose

Guide your own sleigh, car, grocery cart or jogging path when you make a simple Christmas craft of a red Rudolph nose. In honor of the special reindeer who helps Santa make his way around the globe to deliver presents, gather a clown nose (already red), scissors, white school glue, a toothpick and red glitter. If you can't put your hooves on a clown nose, a round ball of foam cut to fit your nose works well, too. Place the ball on a paper towel and coat it with glue (another option is to spray the ball with an aerosol glue; you'd want to do that outside to avoid any possible fume inhalation). Spear the ball with the toothpick and shake the canister of glitter all over the ball to cover it entirely. Hold the ball until it is dry, then gently tap on the paper towel to shake off any extra glitter. Don your nose and light the way.

Celebrate reindeer equality with a pair of easy homemade antlers. Unlike their standard deer relatives, where only males have antlers, both male and female reindeer sport antlers. Your options for creating your own are endless. Wrap a piece of craft foam sheeting around your head to get your size, then cut the foam sheet about halfway width-wise to make your crown. Secure the wrap's ends with a paper clip or snap. Cut two brown foam sheets together to get the size and shape exactly right, then glue them facing in opposite directions to the inside of the crown. For skinnier antlers, twist a couple of pipe cleaners together until you've got your preferred height and look.

Reindeer wouldn't have much to do without a sled on Christmas Eve, and sleds of any size make for an easy holiday craft. Whether you pick up a small, ornament-sized sled at the craft store or drag out your old, red wagon, gather green and red paints, paint brushes and glitter. With your best handwriting, transform the plain sled into a graffiti-style sled, emblazoned with all eight reindeer's names. Use different lettering styles, such as all capitals for Dancer and bubble letters for Prancer. Sprinkle a bit of glitter on the letters to make them really stand out. Add smaller sleds to your mantel or side tables; position a large sled under or near your tree to hold piles of presents.