Sunday, November 29, 2015

DIY Twig Reindeer

 

If you have followed my blog for awhile, you are probably aware of the fact that I like nothing better than to create using things I already have, or purchased for very little.

Coming up with Christmas decorations this year was no exception. I set out to “shop” in the coolest “store” ever. I did not have to dodge one other shopper, or squeeze my cart through narrow aisles. There were no long lines to check out, screaming kids, or rude clerks. Best of all, I didn’t spend a cent. My dream “store” surrounds our home and is filled with trees and fresh air. :) I feel really blessed to be surrounded by nature!

I collected twigs of various types of wood…

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I cut bodies, legs, heads and antlers for a reindeer family. I didn’t use a particular measurement, just kinda eye-balled it and glued the twigs together with my hot glue gun.

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He is a little skinny, but cute, don’t you think?

I wanted this to be a family of white deer, so I proceeded to spray paint them, which ended up getting a little out of control.

When you all read my blog posts, don’t for a minute think that things always go perfectly. Believe me, there have been sprained ribs, paint inhalation highs (and NOT on purpose!), metal splinters in the eye, and even blood! A lot of this stuff is my own fault since I don’t follow safety rules like I should. I know I’m getting off subject here, but if you ever drill a piece of metal, always wear safety glasses!

Back to the reindeer… I constructed these deer in my craft room, which is in the upstairs of our house, and when I decided to paint them, I was too lazy to carry them downstairs and outside to be painted on the driveway, like I normally would. I thought these skinny little things won’t need much paint, why not whoosh a few sprays, right there in the craft room?

I shut the door and opened the window for ventilation. I spread newspaper on the floor and proceeded to spray. I had sprayed two and a half reindeer when suddenly no paint came, but the can was still half full. :( This was the only can I had so I needed to somehow get it to work again! I pulled off the little sprayer nozzle and stuck a pin through the hole, incase it was clogged. I then stuck the pin through the opening in the can. It wouldn’t go through, so I pushed harder. It was definitely clogged.

Suddenly the pin pushed through and paint began spurting out. I quickly put the little nozzle thing on, thinking that would stop it, but no, it kept right on coming through that hole! So, I thought instead of freezing and just sitting there, I would at least make use of the paint spraying out and finish painting the half reindeer. That didn’t take long to whiten. I sprayed and re-sprayed the others while desperately thinking how I would get this smelly can of oil-based paint that wouldn’t stop spraying, outside without spraying everything as I went. By this time the room was a cloud of white fog. :(  My “few swooshes” turned into showers of paint!

Needless to say, the paint did diminish and soon I could lay the can on the side and no paint came, only aerosol. Let’s just say for a few days,coming in the basement door you could smell paint. :/ Oh, and the floor in the craft room is a tad sticky. (a good excuse to change the outdated, ugly linoleum?) :)

The really white reindeer family…

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After finally drying, the family found a home on our mantle…

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I hope you enjoyed the evolution of these white reindeer and are perhaps inspired to create, using mother earth’s many products!

You may want to spray paint outside though!

Best wishes,

-Mary

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry but I had to laugh as I read this, first because it sounded like something that would happen to me and second because I could envision it so clearly, lol...you have such a gift with words!
    I love those deer and your mantle is Perfect(ness)!

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  2. The deer family is adorable. Out to the woods I go!

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