DIY Birch Reindeer

2008/12/02 | Ramsin Khachi and Karen Sealy

Building Wooden Reindeers
These directions are for the basic construction of these reindeers. You can then experiment and be creative in how you decide to construct your Reindeer. Try painting them, wrapping them in tinsel or even with lights.

Materials needed:

Different sized wood logs
3/4” to 2” diameter branches
Some pieces of bark
Hand saw or Mitre saw
Drill with 1” to 1 1/2”spade bits
Outdoor wood glue
1” finishing nails
Stapler
Exacto knife
Hammer

Selecting the pieces:
Select the appropriate diameter log for the body of your Reindeer. Maintain the proportions as you build a bigger or smaller one.
For a medium size one, select one approximately 4” to 5” in diameter and approximately 9” to 11” long.
Now select a log for the head just over one half the diameter of the body – between 2 1/2” to 3” in diameter.
Select four branches for the legs. These should be approximately 1 1/4” in diameter and 12” to 14” long.
Select a branch for the neck approximately 1” in diameter and 8” long.

Building the Body:

Take the body and select the cleanest side to be the top. Turn it over and drill 4 - 1” holes as in Diagram A. Make sure each hole is angled slightly to the sides and to the end. Drill the holes approximately 1 1/2” into the body. Diagram A

Turn the body over and with the four holes flat on the bottom, drill one hole at one end of the body angled towards the front of the Reindeer. Diagram B

Take your four branches for the legs and whittle one end of each slightly until they just fit into the holes. Line each up to the holes on the bottom and hammer them firmly into place. You can use a little glue if they are not snug enough. Diagram C

Take the head of the Reindeer and lay it flay on the work surface. Drill one hole at one end where the neck will be located. Changing the angle of the hole will determine the direction the head will sit, either looking up, straight or down.

Take the branch you cut for the neck and whittle the ends slightly until it just fits into the holes. Hammer one end into the head and then gently tap the head and neck into the hole on top of the body. Diagram D

Finishing Details:

You’ll now have to build ears and a tail for your Reindeer. Take a small piece of bark and roll it up into a cone. Staple this cone shape to the back of the body as a tail. You can do the same for the ears or you staple some small branches as antlers if you like. The third way to make ears is to take a 2” diameter branch and cut little biscuits as in Diagram E.

Make sure to make your cuts at a minimum angle of 60 degrees. The greater the angle, the more elongated the ears. Take two of these biscuits, apply some glue, and nail them to the back of the head as in Diagram F.

You now should have your finished Reindeer as in Diagram G

Click images to enlarge