Brazil Nut Reindeer Ornament

I remember having a few of these little fellows on our Christmas tree growing up. While I was making some Christmas tree ornaments for my sister I happened upon some leftover Brazil nuts I had been saving for making reindeer, so I figured that I'd better get to it!

So, for every Brazil nut you intend to use you will need two eyeballs, a short length of ribbon to use as a hanger, a small pompom for a nose, and half a chenille stem (tan works best, but white would be fine as well.) You will also need a hot glue gun and glue sticks to put it all together.

First cut your chenille stems in half. Each half will be a set of antlers for a reindeer.Fold your section of chenille stem in half, then use that fold to make a"w" shape. Fold the long bits into a zigzag formation, taking care that the two sides match. The "w" will sit on the reindeer's head.

The Brazil nut has three sides to it. The bottom is narrow, and the two sides are wide. The two sides come together at the top in a fairly sharp ridge. This ridge is where your antlers will sit. The back is fairly rounded, while the front is pointed where the three sides join up. The point at the front is where you will glue your pompom nose. You can use black, dark brown, or red for the nose. I used one black and one red. 

Next glue your eyeballs on. One on either side of the head. Make sure that they are symmetrical.

Now you can glue the antlers on. The "w" should sit on the ridge at the top of the nut. 

Just behind the antlers is where you should attach your ribbon hanger. Tie a knot or a bow at the top to close it off. 

Once your glue has set you will have some cute little reindeer eyeballing you from your Christmas tree! I love these little guys. It's a really neat use for your leftover holiday nuts.