Wine Cork Reindeer
These wine cork reindeer are truly adorable! This simple Christmas craft looks so sweet as a table or mantle decoration, but you can also turn them into DIY Christmas ornaments!
Cork reindeer are a classic Christmas craft, and they’re SO EASY to make! All you need are few simple craft supplies to create this super cute and festive Rudolph craft.
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How to Make Wine Cork Reindeer
Materials:
Equipment:
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
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Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Cut the wine corks
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Place a cork on a cutting mat or wooden cutting board.Cut the cork in half, crosswise.
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Cut each of these halves in 1/2 again vertically. In other words, with the round part of the cork on the top and bottom, cut down.
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Cut 1/3 off another cork crosswise. We’ll be using the 2/3 piece for the reindeer’s head.
Step 3: Cut and bend the pipe cleaners
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Cut 3 pieces of light brown pipe cleaner each about 1 inch long.
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Fold each of the pieces of pipe cleaner in half. 1 piece will be the tail, while the other 2 will be the reindeer’s ears.
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Bend a dark brown pipe cleaner in half.
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Cut the pipe cleaner in half at the fold. Keep the two halves together. We’ll be bending the two antlers at the same time so they match, then we’ll separate them.
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Bend the pipe cleaners about 1 inch from the ends. Fold the pipe cleaner back down on itself, creating a 1/2 inch antler tine.
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Fold the pipe cleaner straight again so only the antler tine is sticking up.
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Fold back down after another 1/2 inch, creating a second tine.
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Repeat, creating a third antler point.
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Separate the two pieces of pipe cleaner. Wrap the straight bottom parts of the pipe cleaner around each other, securing the antler together.Repeat for the second antler.
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Trim the bottom of the antlers so that each of them is just over 1-1/2 inches tall.
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Now gather all the pieces of the wine cork reindeer.Besides the corks and the pipe cleaners, you’ll also need a piece of ribbon, 2 small black beads, and a small red pom pom.
Step 4: Put the wine cork reindeer together
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Add hot glue to the full cork, just off center and close to one of the ends.
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Place one of the 1/4 cork pieces into the glue, with the rounded part facing outwards.Hold this piece in place until it stays by itself. This is one of the reindeer’s legs.
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Add more glue and add a second leg beside the first. Again, make sure the rounded part of the cork faces outward.
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Repeat, adding the other 2 legs toward the other end of the cork.
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Flip the corks over so that the legs are on the bottom, and add hot glue to the top of the cork, near one of the ends.
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Place the 2/3 size cork into the glue so that about 1/3 of it sticks out past the body. Make sure the uncut side of the cork is facing forward.This is the reindeer’s head.
Step 5: Add the pipe cleaners and face
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Add two dots of glue to the back of the head, close to the top on either side.
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Press the 2 ears (light brown pipe cleaner pieces) into the glue, with the folded edge up.
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Add glue to the back of the full cork body and attach the tail so that it sticks out about 1/2 way above the body.Bend the top of the tail back so that it sticks out at a bit of an angle.
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Add more glue behind the ears and attach the antlers. The bottom of the antlers should just about touch the body, so that they stick out nicely just above the ears.
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Attach a pom pom nose to the top edge of the head. Then glue on the 2 black beads as the eyes.The eyes should be placed closer to the ears than the nose, about 2/3 of the way back.
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Tie a ribbon around the reindeer’s neck in a double knot and then make it into a bow at the front.
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Trim any extra ribbon, if needed.
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Your wine cork reindeer is complete!
Helpful Tip:
- Use the reindeer’s antlers to hold a small piece of paper and turn these cork reindeer into place card holders for the Christmas dinner table!
- If you don’t want all your reindeer to look like Rudolph, use a black or brown pom pom for the nose instead of red.
How can I make my wine cork reindeer into cork reindeer ornaments?
To keep it simple, you can tie a longer piece of ribbon or twine around the reindeer’s neck before adding the bow. But you can also attach an ornament hook or piece of wire into the cork body.
Simply poke a hole (or 2 holes) with a knife tip or small screwdriver. Add glue to the hole and then push in the wire. You can also do the same thing with a ribbon hanger. Then allow to dry.
Do I have to make my wine cork reindeer using hot glue?
Hot glue is the best glue for making wine cork reindeer, since you don’t have to wait for it to dry. We love our glue gun that has a low temperature setting. It works well for most projects, and it lowers the risk of burning yourself.
But if you don’t want to use hot glue, or don’t have a glue gun, you can also use tacky glue. It works really well on cork — you’ll just have to hold the pieces together until they stay in place.
Where can I get corks to make cork reindeer?
It’s fun to upcycle old corks from empty wine bottles, if you happen to be a wine drinker. Simply boil the corks and allow them to dry before crafting with them to ensure they’re clean.
You can also check with friends to see if they have any corks lying around. Or sometimes wine stores will sell used corks for a really low price, or even give them away.
But you can also buy a pack of wine corks from craft stores or online. Some of the packages sold are new corks, and others are recycled used corks. Either option will work well for this craft.
Decorate your house with these adorable wine cork reindeer, or give them as a hostess gift or a stocking stuffer.
These reindeer cork ornaments are super cute, and they’re also really quick to make! Reindeer are such a fun and classic symbol of Christmas, making this reindeer craft the perfect winter decoration.
Here’s even more Christmas craft ideas:
Our book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
