Another set of reindeer tags/tree ornaments for you today, using the same basic idea as I have posted before, but these use a square toy domino pieces, which don’t seem to crop up in the charity shops quite as often as the regular oblong ones do.
I have to admit that these tags are quite a fiddle fart, taking quite a while to put together with two coats of paint and then the same in varnish on both sides before you can even start the twiddly bits. Doing all 20 in one go seemed to be a bit of a production line, not my usual style of working, but I was determined to use all the square domino pieces I had, rather than have them lingering for longer than they ought.
I started by painting the 6cm square pieces twice on both sides with a brown Wilko tester pot paint to ensure all the pictures were covered.
I made the antlers using craft sticks and after the glue on them had dried painted them twice on both sides with a darker brown paint that I mixed myself.
When everything was suitably painted it was easier to put the tiny screw eye hooks at the top of the “head” before adding the antlers.
After gluing the antlers to the back of the heads (yes, I made a bit of a hash with some of them, but I’ve found ways of covering my errors up), I patched up any missed paint spots/scratches before starting the varnishing.
It was a lot easier and less fiddly to varnish the reindeer heads with the antlers already glued on. I always use Wilko Quick Dry clear glossy varnish, because it really does dry quickly.
In between all the varnishing I made the noses using Fimo oven bake clay. They are a little too dark red in colour for me but that’s my fault as I may have left them in the oven for a little too long, but if I’m honest it’s only me who would notice anyway.
For the collars I tied a smallish, gold jingle bell onto a short length of red saddle stitch gros grain ribbon.
On my original reindeers I just used brown paper to make the fringes, but this time round I remembered that I had an A4 sheet of backed silk paper that I thought would be much more durable and less likely to tear etc. than simply plain paper. I made a tiny fold across the top of the fringe to stick on the top edge of the reindeers head, if that makes sense?
It was finally time to put all the components together. I used a glue gun to stick the collar as I needed an instant but secure fix. I also decided to varnish the noses to lift them a little, I am such a glutton for punishment.
Then decided to go the full hog and add Christmas light embellishments to the antlers, I’d bought several packs from One Below (£1) before Christmas and as I keep on saying, what’s the point having them sat in the drawer just looking pretty.
A few clusters of white dots here and there, using a white nail art pen, also helped to make the reindeer’s faces pop. I wasn’t sure about the heads until the white dots went on, then seeing all twenty completed sat on the table, I was thrilled!
I have another 17 oblong shaped reindeers on the go at the moment, which means, finally, that all my large domino pieces are used up ……. I think I’ll stop there …….. I’m all reindeered out!
