It seems that even those of us that aren't all that artistic seem to become more creative around the Christmas season.
This is where you see the wood working tools being taken out of storage and some really nifty ornaments showing up.
One of the most admired outdoor ornaments is the white Christmas reindeer made from a simple sheet of 4ft.
x8ft.
exterior grade plywood.
No need for a lot of tools either as an electric jig saw will do just fine.
One thing you may want to plan on is that just making one of them doesn't fit the picture.
You need at least two and if you feel really creative go ahead and make as many as you like.
There are many places on the internet that you can find quite a few patterns with some variations to them.
If it's your first woodworking project then stay with a simple basic pattern.
You can get fancier on your next ones.
So to get started.
First, lay your pattern out on the plywood.
If you follow the layout instructions that came with your pattern, you will not have much waste of wood.
You will find that you can make two reindeer out of just this one sheet of plywood.
Now this is the simple way of doing your set but beware because once this set is done you can bet the neighbors and friends are going to being giving some hints on how they would like some.
Therefore, to save yourself some work later on make a wood pattern from your paper pattern.
You will find it's much easier to work with.
Luan material is good for this.
If you feel that, you don't want to ruin your pattern by tracing over it then make a paper pattern using graphite paper.
Then you can tuck the original away and use it again when your temporary one is no good.
Now using your jigsaw and taking some time just follow the lines of the pattern you traced on the wood.
You are going to see an area that has been marked for the slot so be sure you do a perfect cut here so the pieces will interlock properly.
Now once this is done and your project is taking shape give them a quick sand and you are ready to add some life to them.
You may be a little confused with all the parts that you now have before you but just follow the step-by-step instructions for assembling them.
These little guys are going to be outdoors so you want to give them a good coat of high quality outdoor paint.
You may find that its necessary to give them two or three coats but that doesn't take all that long.
After your final coat of white and it's dried well then paint on the features and give it a couple of coats of urethane.
Then out to the yard they go to say merry Christmas to all.