sleigh ride.

Published on by Quandie

Last summer my sister Debbie picked up this little oak sleigh on the cheap at a garage sale.  I think she only paid a dollar or so for it.  I didn’t get a ‘before’ snap of it, but it was basically that 80’s pale oak with a shiny poly on top.  Debbie painted it with Miss Mustard Seed’s Tricycle way back then and then it sat up in my carriage house for a few months.

debbies sleigh before

Both Debbie and I were keeping our eye’s peeled for the perfect stencil for it.  We saw a couple that we both liked, but they were either too big or too expensive.  Finally Debbie picked up an inexpensive snowflake stencil at Michaels, and I suggested we try cutting our own stencils for the rest using my Cricut machine.

We started with “Brrr…” on the side.

debbies sleigh side

And then we added “No. 25” on the front …

debbies sleigh close up front

The beauty of cutting our own stencils was that we could size them precisely for this project.

Once the paint was dry, we sanded lightly and then waxed.  We used hot glue to adhere some floral foam inside the bottom of the sleigh.  The we gathered up some things Debbie had been stocking up on to use inside.

debbies sleigh filled

The birch logs were gathered by the roadside when we were up north for our scrapbook retreat.  The single spruce top was free at Home Depot.  They don’t sell them singly, but when Debbie asked the garden center manager if she could buy just one he said “oh, just take this one!”  Some of the other greens are also free ones from Home Depot.  Did you know they keep a big bin of the branches that have been trimmed from the Christmas trees and you can just help yourself?  Jeesh.  Wish I had known that before I bought all the greens for my front window box!  Debbie did purchase the red and white candy decorations and the red twigs, as well as some of the nicer greens.

debbies sleigh close up side

All in, I think Debbie spent under $25 for everything needed to make this darling Christmas decoration.  She’s going to put it on the balcony of her apartment.  Unless she decides it just too darn cute to be outside!

23 thoughts on “sleigh ride.”

  1. Charming transformation ladies – I just love the stencil additions. I think I may need to acquire a Circut machine. I have a vintage sled I put out with greenery at Christmas. I bet you love having your sis and niece there to junk and transform with especially during the holiday season.

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    1. I have been getting a lot of use out of my Cricut machine lately between the plates with words on them, now this. I have a couple of other projects coming up too (if I ever get to them). I do love having my sister and niece here! Last Saturday Debbie and I went to Home Depot, then Goodwill, then Michaels, then back to my house to work on the sled. It was such an awesome day and I even mentioned to her how happy I was that I have her to do these sort of things with now! Next weekend I’m going to her place to bake Christmas cookies (oh, who am I kidding, I’m going to sit around and drink eggnog while she bakes cookies!)

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      1. Sorry there won’t be any eggnog unless you bring it and if you want cookies to bring home you have to help some. It is awesome to be living near my sister and able to do all these things together!

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      2. Duh. I’m totally bringing my own eggnog! And obviously I will be filling the important role of official taste tester, which counts as helping, right?

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      3. My daughter and I used to shop together a couple of times a month before she moved Charleston. Missing that and we always baked around the holidays too. Well I mostly baked and she ate the cookies. Lol!

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  2. This is beautiful. The two of you could open a floral shop! Free greens, that’s great. A few years back my husband had to cut down a really big white pine from our yard we had people stopping asking if they could have some of the branches. My husband said take all you want and people stopped for a couple of days trimming off what they wanted. A neighbor wanted a lot to make some roping for her porch and my husband loaded a bunch on his truck and delivered it to her house. We both laughed as we drove around the neighborhood seeing “our” white pine on all our neighbors porches.

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    1. I have always thought I would love being a florist. Except for the part where they have to get up really early to do all the flowers for a wedding. That part wouldn’t work so well for me. What a great story about your pine! I love that you were able to help all of your neighbors add some festive cheer to their homes!

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  5. Wonderful peoject! Love the stencils picked out and the greenery really “makes” it. Not to mention the backstory…which is the real treasure . I’m so glad you have your sister and niece here in MN!

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