The moment I spotted these colorfully wrapped reindeer and moose at Anthropologie last December, I knew I had to DIY it for HonestlyWTF this holiday season. Created in the style of vibrant Chindi rugs from Jaipur, India, these wrapped reindeer are incredibly fun to make, are a clever way to repurpose old t-shirts, and make fabulous gifts!
You’ll need:
- paper mache reindeer or any other animal
- 1 yard total of various colors of cotton or wool jersey
- 2 small brown pom poms
- hot glue gun
- lots of glue sticks
- scissors
- jingle bells (optional)
- string (optional)
Start by cutting the fabric, along the width, into 1″ strips. For a medium sized paper mache object, 26-30 strips should suffice. Pull at both ends of each strip of jersey. The ends will curl under, making the fabric easy to twist. Take two strips of contrasting colors and tie the tops together into a tight knot.
Beginning in the middle of the torso will serve as the guideline. Glue the knot to the bottom of the reindeer. Let the glue dry completely. Then twist the fabric by rolling it between the forefinger and thumb, creating a two-toned rope. Glue the rope down, with drops of hot glue, while wrapping it around the body of the reindeer.
Continue twisting, glueing, and wrapping. Be sure place drops of glue into all the curves, spending a few extra seconds to press the rope down into the crevices until the glue sets.
As the rope begins to runs out, tie a knot at the end. Twist, glue the knot down, and trim away any excess fabric. Take another set of colors, tie into a knot, trim the ends, and glue the knot to where the previous color left off.
Keep wrapping and again, follow the contours of the reindeer. The face will be the most difficult so the best method is to first glue two small pom poms to the eye area. Then start wrapping at the tip of the nose, spiraling outwards.
There will be areas where wrapping all the way around won’t be an option. Instead, try coiling or zigzagging the fabric. Remember to reinforce with glue!
Tie on a few jingle bells around the neck and/or feet . . .
And your Chindi reindeer is finished!!
(Chindi Reindeer $198; rest of images by HonestlyWTF)
so cute!
http://www.absurdlypeculiar.blogspot.com
Such an awesome DIY, love the result!
xoxo
http://fashionagony.blogspot.com/
Love this! I have the Anthro one after it got marked down, but I would still make more animals to add to the menagerie. xo
Love this for a DIY, cute and festive!
http://edited-by.blogspot.com
xx
You’re a little bit of a mad genius aren’t you? Very clever with some amazing results.
Such a nice idea!! Super cute
XO Charlotte
http://www.thefashionguitar.com
This is adorable. What a great idea.
Fashionable Collections
I also saw those reindeer last year and begged my husband to let me get one. I love how colourful and bright they are. I will most certainly be trying this tutorial in my own home, hopefully with as amazing results as you’ve achieved here. Great tutorial, lady!
http://www.cositabella.com
I love this idea
http://www.la-greta.com
super cute!
Nice, nice , nice!
kisses from your follower! ♡
http://www.welovefur.com
this is awesomeeeeee
STYLE DECORUM
LOVE this. Definitely my next project!!
They also sell that same string at anthro for $8– you get a pretty good sized spool too!
What a lovely DIY!
I want that deer to pose underneath my Christmas TreE!! So making it!!!!
<3
http://dc2nyconfessions.com
Oh; I love this. So many Project to do. This is definitely top 5. Love
How sweet this is for a DIY.
Good idea
:O wow, you’re good.
This is such a cute Christmas DIY!
Wow, thanks so much for the amazing DIY.
I’m definitely going to try it, and I don’t think I’ll be able to put it away when the holidays are over.
Xo
http://wildthingsrunfaster.blogspot.com/
that looks like so much fun! It’d be cool to do that on a bangle bracelet, too.
http://sleepydarlings.blogspot.com
I love anthropologie, and that is a great DIY!!
Oh my god – I love this!!! Nice job.
What a unique Christmas decoration!
Preciosos…muy buena idea…gracias!!!
Absurdly cool – LOVE LOVE LOVE
axox
What an awesome idea! I’ll definitely have to give it a try – too cute!
xx
thistimeisacharm.blogspot.com
Aww I love it. Super cute and simple.
xoxo
http://www.thewrittenrunway.com
Aww, so cute!
You’ve done it again! I love it!
Nail color, pretty please?
Love this !!! this is too cute
I did a holiday themed DIY as well : a clutch refashioned with gold spray painted pine cones !
http://www.dirtylace.com
Heart you girls keep up the great DIYs
Awesome DIY, I love it & shared 🙂
So cute. It makes a really good perfect, but not only for x-mas, in the rest of the year with diferent animals.
http://www.atitelavoyacontar.blogspot.com
This is such a fun DIY! I might have to do this before Christmas!
oh, so cute
This is amazing! visit my blog if u want 🙂 http://fashiongland.blogspot.com/ xoxo
it’s simple and simply great!
http://svenjataviundco.blogspot.com/
woah that turned out really nice!
HAHA Goes well with my missoni shoes I picked for my post today. We should put them together. Love this!
-Art A La Rue
Wow! Yours actually looks better than the original!! Great job!
WOW!!!!! This is sooo unique!!!!!!! COULD YOU ADAPT THIS TO CLUTCHES OR T SHIRTS OR OTHER CLOTHES???????
Here I am looking through the Serena and Lily website and what catches my eye….the Rajasthani Moose, also known as the Chindi Moose. Honestly, WTF. How much do they want for paper mache wrapped in rags? Your knock off is far superior! Great work!
I found these a couple months ago at Homesense for $8!!! Soo cute!
Im gonna share this is AMAZING!!
AMAZING!
http://ligiabaleeiro.blogspot.com/
hola venden las figuras de papel en latinoamerica??
I usually neer comment on blogs but honestly, I like your version better than Anthropologie’s!
I L-O-V-E it just soooooo much!!!!!!!!!!!
HERMOSO!!!
Cool! Love it 🙂
http://www.etsy.com/shop/Essmibijoux