There are certain things that tend to be left over and we will often tuck them out of the way in little nooks and crannies or perhaps what most of us call the ‘junk drawer’. It may seem as if we are doing so for the best reason but unfortunately, they just continue to accumulate over time. A good example of this is wine corks and we may have quite a few of them in storage. If you do have some collected from over the years, then you are in luck.
Many people enjoy doing crafts during the holiday season. It just seems to get them in a festive mood and helps with the decorating. This little DIY project uses three leftover corks, a few pipe cleaners, some sewing pins and glue. If you have that available, you can make these adorable reindeer and have them ready for the end of December. It is a simple project and there may be a number of variations, but this tends to be the easiest one I have found.
Are you ready to make some yourself? This is a list of the materials that you will need and the instructions for putting things together. There may be a few more complicated steps so it helps if you take your time.
Materials Needed (for three reindeer)
9 wine corks (3 per reindeer)
6 black sewing pins
Red ribbon — approx. 12 inches total
3 small red pom-poms
2 dark-brown pipe cleaners
1 tan/light brown pipe cleaner
Glue gun
Knife
Craft instructions
Step 1: Cut the legs
Cut wine cork No. 1 equally in half, like you’re sawing a log.
Flip each piece and cut perpendicular to the original cut. Now the cork should be in four equal pieces. Set aside.
Step 2: Cut the head and neck
Take cork No. 2 and cut horizontally (like a log) but make one piece 2/3 and the other 1/3 in size. This will make the head and neck.
Step 3: Glue legs, neck and head to the body
Now go back to the four pieces of cork No. 1. Glue these four pieces to the bottom of cork No. 3 (the whole one), like table legs. This will make the deer’s legs.
On one end of the body of the deer, glue on the neck and the head.
Step 4: Add the details
Take two sewing pins (cut to a shorter length so they don’t poke through the cork) and stick them in the head as eyes.
Cut four dark brown pieces of pipe cleaner. Twist them around each other to make an antler. Do this with the other two pieces to make the second antler. Glue both antlers to the back of the reindeer’s head.
Cut two small pieces of light brown pipe cleaner. Glue to next to the antlers to make the ears.
Cut another small piece of light brown pipe cleaner and glue to the back of reindeer to make the tail.
Glue one red pom pom to its face to make the nose
Make a bow out of ribbon and glue to the front of the reindeer (optional).
These can be used in many ways during the holiday season. They can be a standalone craft decoration or used for food place cards or to mark seating.