Last month, I was browsing around Pinterest, when I stumbled upon a sleigh decoration made out of popsicle sticks. I thought they would make great place “cards”, but I was disappointed when I realized that it was just the picture that had been pinned, and I couldn’t locate the directions for how to make them. So, I decided it couldn’t be that hard, and set off to make them my own way!

Here’s what you need:

  • popsicle sticks (regular sized & mini)
  • tape (okay, you don’t really need the tape, but it makes things WAY easier)
  • hot glue gun
  • paint
  • permanent marker
  • twine or ribbon (something to make the sleigh pull out of)

(Note: The original popsicle stick sleigh I saw was made out of normal sized popsicle sticks, but I found mini craft sticks at the craft store and decided the smaller sticks would be a better size for the table. If you want to make these sleighs out of regular sized popsicle sticks, you’ll need to play around with how to make the sleigh tracks look right.)

Here’s how you make them:

  1. Take 4 of the mini popsicle sticks and place them side by side. To make the sleigh shape, the 2 center sticks should be about 1/2inch offset from the edge sticks. After you have a sleigh shape made, I highly suggest using a piece of tape to hold the shape together (see the image of step 1). I tried the next step without tape a few times and had a really hard time keeping the shape in tact.
  2. Cut one of the mini popsicle sticks in half. Flip the taped sticks over so that the tape is face down. Carefully put hot glue onto one of the mini popsicle stick halves and lay it across the “top” of the other sticks.
  3. Put hot glue on the other half of the mini popsicle stick you cut, and lay it across the “bottom” of the other sticks. Once the glue dries, make sure to take the tape off of the other side of the sticks.
  4. Put two big dots of hot glue (one on each mini popsicle stick half), and place the skinny edge of the
    egular sized popsicle stick into the glue. You may have to hold the popsicle stick in place for a few seconds while the glue hardens so you don’t end up with lopsided sleigh tracks.
  5. Repeat the same process for attaching the other sleigh track.
  6. After all of the glue has dried, then it’s time to paint! I used “Santa Red” acrylic paint to cover the entire sleigh, including the bottom of the sleigh and sleigh tracks. I wasn’t trying to get fancy (AKA, I’m really bad at painting), but it wouldn’t be hard to paint the sleigh tracks a different color.
  7. When the paint dries, you can put the final touches on the sleigh. For the sleigh pull, I just cut a short piece of twine and glued each end to the underside of one of the two edge sticks. The names on mine were just written in black sharpie (again, I’m not the best with a paint brush).

Here’s how I set up the table:

Snowy Sleigh Tablescape (table linens: Basic Polyester tablecloth in White; Basic Polyester table runner in Holiday Red; Basic Polyester napkins in Holiday Red)

I used a table runner and napkins that matched the color of the paint I used on the sleighs so that the table looked coordinated. But, what are sleighs without some snow? I added sparkly foam snowflake shapes I picked up at the craft store on top of the table runner for an extra pop! Each place setting had a sleigh place “card” that the guests could take home and use as an ornament.

I’d say my popsicle stick sleigh endeavor was a success! What do you think?!