Folk Art Outside Santa Displays from Family Christmas Online^TM

In an age where you can buy an inflatable Santa for $40, set him out, and plug him in within ten minutes, there are still many brave souls who put their own "spin" on Santa (and usually his reindeer).

The term "folk art" implies that people who aren't otherwise great sculptors or painters have taken it upon themselves to make something creative that other people will enjoy looking at. In some cases, folks have started with preprinted plans, but they all add their own spin, and to me they all deserve credit for providing something fun to view that you probably won't see in any other front yards this year.

The examples on this page are just a beginning. Over the years I've seen many examples, but I didn't think to take many photos until last year. So consider this the start of a gallery that I expect to grow every year. In the meantime, your contributions are VERY much appreciated.

Plywood Reindeer and Sled

Our first example used to sit in a very deep yard along a major road in the North Dayton area. I am afraid I didn't have a chance to photograph this at night, but he took this down right after I took these photos and didn't put it up at all the following year. But, as unromatic as this may look in the daylight closeups, with the help of the floodlights that you can also see in the long shot, it all looked VERY nice from the road at night.

Up close, it's apparent that the sled and reindeer are all cut from plywood, and that the reindeer are designed to break down for storage. Each pair is fastened together with 1-by boards, and the pairs are "harnessed" together with 2x4s for additional stability. Their "reins" are strands of Christmas lights, which add to the appearance after dark. If he sets it up again this year, I will get a photo, I promise.

The sleigh is noteable for a nice graceful runner design. There are about sixty screws holding it together, so I would hesitate to guess whether the owner broke it down for storage or not. Regarding the Coca Cola(r) Santa cutout, I'm afraid that the photograph doesn't do him justice. He looked nice from the road, too at the time. And, as you can tell from the long shot, standing him behind the sleigh "worked."

If you know where this homeowner got this pattern and can provide a link to it, please let us know. On the other hand, it probably wouldn't be TOO difficult to make your own based on these photographs. You could even start off with just the sled and two reindeer this year, and add more reindeer next year. That said, if you own the copyright to this pattern, ignore that last two sentences. Or get in touch and we'll give you credit.

Landscaping Timber Reindeer Display

The photo to the right shows the reindeer in more detail. You can see that building these would probably entail using a deep hole saw and some chiseling (or a very large drill bit and a drill that could turn it). A lathe to turn down the ends of the 2x2s wouldn't hurt either.

New for 2010 - More thoughts on this subject are in the Reader Response area at the end of this article.

I have seen individual reindeer made like this using real logs instead of landscaping timbers, and the effect was remarkable, but I've never seen a whole 4, 6, or 8-reindeer display done with logs - that would be a lot of work.

The sleigh is a simpler design that may be better suited to the simpler look of the reindeer. It is lit, not only by spotlight, but also by rope lighting. Like the display above, this sits well back from the road in a deep front yard, and it has a nice overall effect at night.

Santa Hanging by His Fingernails

Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation Plywood Santas

In late 2008, I also captured many great yard decoration photos at a Christmas display set up each year by Finlay, Ohio's Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation organization, a museum that runs real scaled-down steam trains. The volunteers there have created dozens of painted plywood displays of Santa, elves, reindeer, nutcrackers, and many other Christmas-themed figures. Here are two of interest, a pair of reindeer, and a Santa standing in front of a North Pole structure.

The day I took these photos, I was coming back from a trip to Michigan - I had brought my Dad down to Springfield (and Cincinnati) for Christmas. The volunteers were just getting ready to open the museum, and the building in the photo to the right had been blown down by a bad windstorm the night before. So I helped a little, asked a lot of questions, and took a lot of photos for my various web pages. If any of the NORP volunteers see these photos, I just have to say "keep up the great work!' And if you live anywhere near Finlay, Ohio, consider stopping by anytime between April and January 1 to ride the trains and see the indoor displays. Check their web site for more information.

We have more material for this section (and several others), but sorting it all out is slow going. Please check back every so often, though. And contact us with any questions or suggestions you have in the meantime.

Paul and Shelia Race

www.familychristmasonline.com

Reader Response

Please give us directions for making the "log" reindeer . . . . Thank you so very, very much from one grateful would-be crafter who loves holidays.

Unfortunately, I didn't make these, but I can report on what I see. You can click on the photo to the right for a closer look.

As far as I can determine from the photos, each reindeer body is about 30" long, cut from one of those 4"x6" landscaping "timbers." This homeowner has cut off one of the rounded edges to provide a flat "bottom" for the reindeer 's belly. Presumably this helped him drill more consistent holes for the legs. This kind of "ripping" usually involves a good table saw and a good blade - this wood is a pain to cut lengthwise.

The heads are the same material, about a foot long.

The legs are 2"x2"s, whittled down at one end to 1" so they can fit into holes drilled into the timbers (if you have a lathe, you could do this in a heartbeat). I'm guessing they're each about 3' long.

The neck could be made the same way, but this homeowner seems to have found a 2.5"-3"-round bit of wood somewhere, perhaps from fencing materials. He has carved both ends of the neck down to 1" to go into the head and body. Some of these look like they were done with a lathe, but I'm not sure.

If you have a few acres like this fellow has, you won't have much trouble finding branches to use for antlers.

Please let us know if you create your own version of these or any other Christmas crafts.

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• Popular Mechanics^TM Christmas 'Project-a-Plans' - See how Popular Mechanics^TM designers 'raised the bar' for home-made front yard Christmas decorations in the 1960s, and how those projects live on.

• America's First Christmas Store - See how the hobby of Pharmacist Leonard Brynolf Johnson started two unique Christmas businesses, one of which decorated many front yards in the 1930s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.

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