A Sleigh full of Toys....

When Les was the music minister at Leedey, we were blessed with so many wonderful friends.  We were the recipients of sweet gifts and warm hugs.  One couple, whom we have very fond memories of, treated us like family and one year the husband made a little wooden sleigh for us.

It was made of plain, unfinished plywood and the shape was so cute, I usually put some ornaments in it for Christmas even though it wasn't embellished with paint.

Then this guy came along.  He was on the clearance rack just before Christmas and even though I don't really decorate with Santas, his craggy face and woodsy costume made him appealing.  (along with the clearance price of course!)  But he just didn't go with my plain unadorned sleigh.  His fur trimmed, green velvet robe and pine twisted walking stick was begging for a more folksy conveyance. 

So while Sarah painted ships, I got out the craft paint and decorated the sleigh.

 

 

I tried the easy route first--spray painting the body red and painting the runners black.  Well, that resulted in paint on the porch (don't tell Les) and a fire engine red sleigh that really didn't fit my 'woodsy' theme! So I dug out the forest green (almost black) paint and coated the runners with it.  Then I smeared that paint on over the red in streaks and rubbed it off with a paper towel.  It still was not finished so the gold was the next smeared on layer.  (do you think art instructors use the term smear?) Finally I found a holly and a snowflake stencil and embellished the sides and back with those.

 

 

Then I used a q-tip and painted on dots around the edges with a mixture of green and gold paint.  It was much more fun to deliberately mix and smear the paint without regard to perfection.  I've missed a lot worrying that I couldn't paint, instead of just having fun and messing around with it till I liked it. 

I kinda think this guy likes it too.  Anyway, he's been trudging along with it for a day or so without complaint!