3D Wooden Reindeer Puzzle DIY
3D Wooden Reindeer Puzzle DIY
Over the years I’ve created 5 posts with 75 homemade gift ideas for everyone on your shopping list. Between the 5 posts you’ll find a total of 375 handmade gifts to keep or to give . If you love giving the gift of homemade these lists are for you.
On last year’s list you would have found this cute little reindeer puzzle from Mindi at My ♥ 2 Create. I loved him so much I had to create a couple for my own grandkids.
I started out with this 16×30 ,1 inch piece of scrap plywood. It was large enough to make 2 reindeer.
If you go to Mindi’s website you will find the pattern for the deer. You will need to cut out only 6 pieces to make the reindeer. The antlers, head, neck, body, front legs, and back legs. The neck is not shown above. Most of the pattern pieces you can print out to fit on one standard size sheet of copy paper. Trace around the pattern onto your wood.
Use a scroll saw or jigsaw to cut out your reindeer pattern pieces. I used my tabletop scroll saw for all the pieces, it’s easy to operate and can get into those small puzzle piece crevices.
Depending on how thick your wood is will determine how wide your notches will be. It has to be at least as wide as your wood thickness, but barely. You don’t want too much wiggle room.
To paint my reindeer I used this buffalo plaid stencil that I had previously used on this old metal typing desk.
Decide on your basecoat, red and green, paint both sides, then stencil away. Use a stencil brush to gently dab the black plaid lines. You may want to use an extra sheet of paper to offload some of your paint before dabbing.
The edges are painted with black chalk paint. Sand off all the edges to make it safe for little hands then use antique wax to age and have a nice smooth finish.
Paint on the wax with a paintbrush, rub off the excess with a paper towel, then use fine steel wool to buff when dry.
The kids can make these reindeer puzzles over and over again and when they’re finished, take him apart and he barely takes up any room in storage.
Until next time, stay inspired.
Plaid Christmas Tree
Along the same vein as the reindeer puzzle, here is a scrap wood 3D Christmas tree from last year which also lays flat for storage.
With Christmas only 2 short months away , here are the other 4 DIY gift idea roundups. You can also find all of these projects on my pinterest page , look for the board DIY Gift Ideas.
If you’re like me, once I’m onto my next project I’ve already forgotten what project I was looking at that I was so sure I wanted to make. Pin as you go!
75 Gift Ideas
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Joan,
Those deer are so cute in the checks! I sure don’t remember seeing those last year??
Those deer remind me of your 3DWhale, I WISH you would do an adult deer in that 3D.