My kids and I are with my family in Seattle for the holidays and we’re busy preparing everything for Christmas (my boys insisted that my parents wait for them to decorate the Christmas tree)! While going through all the old ornaments, we discovered these darling clothespin reindeer ornaments that my siblings and I made when we were little. I think they’re so cute — both on the tree (you just clip them onto a tree branch), and also as a present-topper to add a little bit of festive cheer to gifts.

We decided to make a new ‘generation’ of clothespin reindeer, and it turned out to be a pretty easy project once we got all the necessary craft pieces.  (Can I just say that American craft stores are so impressive. I was like a kid in a candy shop in our local Michaels!)

Here’s what you need to make your own reindeer:

-Non-roll clothespins (2 for each reindeer)
-Paint (brown and white)
-Paintbrush
-super glue
-googly eyes (small)
-red pom-poms (small)
-thin green ribbon
-little bells (optional)

Paint the bottom clothespin brown (for the body) and paint the top clothespin half brown for the face and half white for the antlers (see photo). Glue the clothespins together as shown in photo above.  Glue the googly eyes and red pom-pom onto the reindeer’s face.

Loop a green ribbon into a little bell and tie a bow. Glue the bow to the clothespin, just below the reindeer’s chin.

Stick onto your Christmas tree!

-Courtney