Metallic Twig Reindeer for a Modern Christmas Mantle
7 Materials
$10
2 Hours
Easy
I love twig reindeer! They're easy to make and super cute on the mantle. I'd made plain twig reindeer before but they've always been pretty rustic. Then I pinned these super cute metallic twig reindeer from Pottery Barn. SO cute! I had to make mine a little more glitzy this year.
I decided to jazz up my DIY twig reindeer by painting them shiny metallic gold. I had the gold paint already, but I think silver, copper, or rose gold would also look amazing. You can also leave them unpainted and dress them up with a bit of rustic twine, or go all out and cover them in glitter. It's all good!
Here's how I made my own DIY metallic twig reindeer! More details are available in the original post.
Collect your twig reindeer supplies
BEFORE: Collect your supplies. Get a bunch of straight twigs to create the reindeer body, plus some branched twigs to create the antlers. Try to pick twigs that are the same thickness. You'll need about a yard of straight-ish twigs and one branched twig (less than a foot long) for each reindeer.
Cut the twigs to size
Cut your twigs. You'll need one 8" straight-ish twig with a branch coming off it for the "head piece". Also cut seven 4" twigs for the body and legs, plus one crazy branched antler twig.
Glue the twigs together
Glue the twigs together using the glue gun. Start by gluing four of the 4" pieces together to create the body. Then attach three more of the 4" pieces as legs. The head piece can then be glued on to create the fourth leg. Finish up by adding the antlers. More detail on this is available in the original post (linked at the bottom of this article).
Paint the reindeer
Use acrylic craft paint or metallic spray paint to paint the reindeer gold, silver, copper, or rose gold. I found they looked better with 2 coats of paint (but maybe that is just with my lacking painting skills!). The shiny paint hides the hot glue and makes the reindeer look more cohesive. It also hides the parts of the twig where branches have been snipped.
While the paint dries, lay some twinkle lights along your mantle. The reindeer look lovely standing on twinkle lights!
AFTER - Here's my nine twig reindeer on the mantle! They match the gold sunbursts on the fireplace (and the gold glittery acorns on the mini birch Christmas tree). Where will you put your twig reindeer!?
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Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 comments
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These are so precious!! I'm totally obsessed with them!
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