Make a Straw Hat Reindeer Wreath for Holiday Decorating

Lead Santa to your front door this Christmas with a whimsical straw hat reindeer wreath. I have plenty of straw hats in my crafting supplies and decided Rudolph was the perfect addition to our rural home. There are plenty of real deer roaming our property, so if the wreath doesn't entice Santa to come for a visit, maybe it will entice Rudolph's distant cousins.

The straw hat becomes the head and face of Rudolph and can be completed in a couple of hours. It can be completed quicker if you eliminate painting the antlers. I used branches from my lilac bush and thought they needed a deeper color.

Adult-size straw craft hat
Blush and cotton ball
Ruler
Burgundy felt scrap
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Doll lashes
3/4-inch wiggly eyes
Brown or dark tan felt scrap
Brown yarn
Branches
Brown spray paint
Knife
Craft wire
Wire cutters
Wired artificial pine garland
2 1/2-inch wide wired Christmas ribbon
1-inch jingle bell
Artificial pip berries
Jute
Stapler

Step 1
Rub 2-inch circle cheeks on the crown of an adult-size straw hat using blush and a cotton ball.

Step 2
Cut a 1 1/2-inch square from burgundy felt or heavyweight fabric. Round the corners. This is the nose. Use hot glue to attach the nose between the cheeks and slightly below the center of the crown.

Step 3
Cut two 1/2-inch sections of doll lashes. Glue the base of each lash to the back of two 3/4-inch wiggly eyes. Hot glue the eyes a 1/2 inch above the nose and 1/8 inch apart.

Step 5
Cut a 3 1/2-inch wide by 7-inch long rectangle from brown or dark tan felt. Round the corners to form an oval. Fold the oval in half, matching the short ends. Cut the oval in half along the fold. The two halves are the reindeer ears. Apply hot glue to the straight cut edge of an ear. Fold the outer corners of the edge to the center of the edge. Repeat with the other ear.

Step 6
Place the ears with the folded sides down. Space the straight edges 2 inches apart on the top of the head. Hot glue the straight edges to the hat.

Step 7
Make the bangs. Cut a 6-inch long piece of a brown colored yarn of your choice and set aside. Spread your fingers apart on one hand. Wrap more yarn around the span of your fingers 20 times. Cut the yarn end. Slip the yarn off of your fingers. Pinch the center of the wound yarn and tie the 6-inch length around the center. Hot glue the bangs between the ears.

Step 8
Paint a branch with several smaller branches using brown spray paint. Cut two 12-inch sections of the branches for the antlers. Cut two slits in the hat behind the ears and spaced 4 inches apart using a sharp knife. Insert the ends of the antlers into the slits. Cut two 6-inch lengths of craft wire. Fold each wire in half. Place a wire over the antlers, halfway to the top. Poke the ends through the hat brim and twist them together on the back to secure.

Step 9
Cut a 12-inch length from a wired artificial pine garland. Hot glue the garland to the hat brim, below the head. Cut a 2-yard length of 2 1/2-inch wide wired Christmas ribbon. Tie the ribbon into a bow and glue to the center of the garland. Glue a 1-inch jingle bell to the center of the bow and small clusters of pip berries into the greenery.

Step 10
Cut a 6-inch length of jute. Tie the ends together in a knot to create a hanging loop. Center the loop on the back of the brim at the top of the head. Attach using a stapler.