A simple cardboard tube can become a surprisingly adorable Christmas decoration with a little brown thread, a bright red pom-pom, two googly eyes, and a pair of tiny twig antlers.
This toilet paper roll reindeer craft is based on a wonderfully rustic design that uses brown embroidery thread wrapped around the cardboard tube instead of simply painting it. That extra texture gives the reindeer a fuzzy appearance, while colorful thread wrapped around real twig antlers adds a playful handmade touch. Finish it with Rudolph’s unmistakable red nose, and an ordinary cardboard roll suddenly has plenty of Christmas personality.
The project is easy enough to make with children, inexpensive enough to create an entire herd, and flexible enough to adapt with whatever supplies you already have at home. Make one for a mantel or bookshelf, create several for a Christmas centerpiece, or let every child design a reindeer with its own expression and colorful antlers.
🦌 What This Toilet Paper Roll Reindeer Looks Like
The original design starts with an empty cardboard toilet paper tube that is almost completely hidden beneath brown embroidery thread. Rather than looking like a cardboard roll with a face glued onto it, the wrapped thread gives the entire body a softer, more finished appearance.
Two googly eyes sit near the top, with a fluffy red pom-pom underneath to create Rudolph’s famous nose. The antlers are real little twigs, but they are wrapped with bright embroidery thread before being attached, adding color and whimsy to an otherwise natural-looking craft.
That mixture of recycled cardboard, natural twigs, thread, pom-poms, and googly eyes is what gives the finished reindeer so much charm. Nothing has to be perfectly symmetrical, and every reindeer can look a little different.
✂️ What You’ll Need
For each reindeer, gather:
- 1 clean, dry cardboard toilet paper tube
- Brown embroidery floss or thin brown yarn
- 2 googly eyes
- 1 red pom-pom
- 2 small branched twigs for antlers
- Colorful embroidery floss for wrapping the antlers
- Child-appropriate craft glue
- Scissors
- Ribbon or a small strip of felt for a scarf (optional)
- Small bells, pom-poms, paper shapes, or other lightweight decorations (optional)
If you would rather not use an actual toilet paper roll, purchased cardboard craft tubes work exactly the same way.
Choose supplies based on the age of the children making the craft. Googly eyes, pom-poms, bells, and similar embellishments are small pieces, so they require close adult supervision around young children.
🧵 Wrap the Cardboard Tube in Brown Thread
Begin with a clean, completely dry cardboard tube.
Place a small amount of craft glue near one end of the roll and press the end of the brown embroidery floss into the glue. Once it holds, begin winding the thread around the tube.
Keep each row close to the previous one so as little cardboard as possible remains visible.
You do not have to make every strand perfectly straight. Slight overlaps and variations actually make the finished reindeer look softer and more textured.
Continue wrapping until you reach the opposite end of the tube. Cut the thread and secure the loose end with another small dab of glue.
If you are making this craft with younger children, wrapping may take a little patience. Let them rotate the tube with one hand while guiding the thread with the other. An adult can occasionally push the strands together if large gaps appear.
🤎 Why the Thread-Wrapped Body Works So Well
You could simply paint the cardboard tube brown, but wrapping it in thread gives the craft much more personality.
The fibers create the illusion of a fuzzy reindeer coat and add tactile texture children can see and feel. They also disguise the recycled origin of the cardboard tube more effectively than a quick coat of paint.
Brown yarn is a perfectly good substitute if you do not have embroidery floss. Yarn will create a fluffier, chunkier reindeer and may actually be easier for small hands to work with.
For a very quick version, brown construction paper can be wrapped and glued around the tube instead. The finished craft will look different from the inspiration design, but the basic reindeer shape still works.
👀 Add the Reindeer’s Eyes
Once the wrapped body is secure, decide where you want the reindeer’s face.
Glue two googly eyes near the upper third of the tube, leaving enough room above them for the antlers.
The eyes do not have to line up perfectly.
In fact, deliberately placing one slightly higher than the other can give your reindeer a funny expression. Oversized googly eyes make the craft look especially silly, while smaller eyes produce a more understated face.
If you are crafting with children too young for loose googly eyes, draw the eyes directly onto paper circles or make them from larger pieces of felt or cardstock instead.
Let the glue set before moving the tube around too much.
🔴 Give Rudolph His Famous Red Nose
Now comes the detail that immediately turns the cardboard creature into Rudolph.
Glue a red pom-pom beneath the eyes.
A medium or slightly oversized pom-pom works especially well because the bright red nose becomes the focus of the face.
Do not have a red pom-pom? Cut a red circle from felt, construction paper, or craft foam instead. A large red button can work for older children’s crafts, although buttons are another small-part concern around very young children.
You can also create the rest of Santa’s reindeer by switching the red pom-pom for brown or black noses.
Make nine reindeer and you have the beginning of an entire Christmas Eve team.
🌿 Find Two Tiny Twigs for Antlers
The little twig antlers are one of the most distinctive parts of this project.
Look for two small twigs with branching shapes that resemble miniature antlers. They should be lightweight enough that the cardboard tube can support them without tipping over.
An adult should inspect the twigs before children use them. Trim away sharp points, loose bark, or splintered ends and make sure the pieces are clean and dry.
Avoid branches that are heavy, brittle, moldy, or covered with anything you cannot identify.
You do not need perfectly matching twigs. Real antlers are not manufactured in a factory, and slightly different shapes make the reindeer look more interesting.
If gathering twigs is impractical, pipe cleaners make an excellent substitute.
🌈 Wrap the Antlers With Colorful Thread
Before attaching the twigs, wrap them with colorful embroidery floss.
This little detail is what transforms ordinary sticks into wonderfully whimsical Christmas antlers.
Secure one end of the thread with a tiny dot of glue, then wrap it around the twig, working your way along the main branch and around the smaller sections. You can use one color for each antler or combine several colors.
Red and green keep the craft traditionally Christmasy. Pink, purple, blue, yellow, and turquoise produce a brighter and more playful reindeer.
There is no need to cover every bit of wood. Allowing some natural twig to remain visible creates an attractive contrast with the thread.
Secure the final end with glue and repeat with the second antler.
🦌 Attach the Antlers
Once the antlers are decorated, attach them to the top of the cardboard roll behind the face.
An adult may need to help with this step because twigs can be more difficult to secure than lightweight paper or pipe cleaners.
Place a generous but controlled amount of craft glue at each attachment point and hold the antler in place until it begins to stay on its own. Depending on the glue you use, the reindeer may need to lie on its back while the antlers dry completely.
Try angling the antlers slightly outward rather than placing them perfectly vertical.
If you are using pipe cleaners, bend them into branching antler shapes before attaching them. Pipe-cleaner antlers are lighter and can be easier for children to position independently.
🎀 Add a Little Christmas Scarf
The original craft leaves plenty of room for extra decorations, and a scarf is one of the easiest additions.
Cut a narrow strip of ribbon or felt long enough to wrap around the lower portion of the tube. Cross or knot the ends loosely at the front and secure the scarf with a little glue.
Tartan ribbon creates a traditional Christmas look. Red or green felt keeps things simple, while a striped ribbon can make the reindeer especially playful.
If you are creating several reindeer, give each one a different scarf.
Suddenly they begin to look less like identical crafts and more like individual characters.
🔔 Add Bells, Bows or Other Decorations
Once the basic reindeer is finished, children can decide whether it needs anything else.
A tiny bow between the antlers can be cute. A paper snowflake might become a badge. A small jingle bell can be attached to a ribbon collar for older children, provided the finished craft will be kept safely away from younger siblings who could put small pieces in their mouths.
You can also glue a little tail to the back using a brown pom-pom or a loop of yarn.
Another easy idea is to cut two ear shapes from brown felt or cardstock and tuck them just beneath the antlers.
The important thing is not to add so much that the wonderful thread-wrapped body and colorful twig antlers disappear beneath the decorations.
🎨 Make Every Reindeer Different
One of the best things about this project is that there is absolutely no reason every reindeer has to be brown.
Try wrapping another tube in cream, gray, white, gold, or even rainbow yarn.
Give one reindeer green antlers and another pink ones. Make some noses red and others brown. Add tiny scarves in different patterns.
Children can invent names and personalities for each member of the herd.
One might be Rudolph. Another could be Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, or Blitzen. Or forget Santa’s traditional team altogether and let the kids create their own reindeer names.
Crafts become much more interesting when children are allowed to make creative decisions rather than reproducing an adult example exactly.
👧 Is This a Good Christmas Craft for Kids?
Yes, with the amount of adult help adjusted for the child’s age.
Wrapping thread around a cardboard tube gives children practice coordinating both hands. Gluing decorations, positioning eyes, cutting thread, and working with craft materials also use developing hand and finger skills.
Preschool-age children may need an adult to prepare twigs, cut ribbon, start and finish the thread, and help attach the antlers. Older elementary-age children can probably complete most of the project independently once the materials are ready.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends supervising children while they use art materials and choosing products specifically intended for children’s crafts.
For young children, safety scissors and washable, water-based craft supplies are sensible choices.
⚠️ A Few Craft Safety Tips
Because this project is designed for children, a few small adjustments can keep the activity both fun and manageable.
Adults should inspect and prepare real twig antlers before the craft begins so there are no sharp points or splinters. Scissors should be appropriate for the child’s age, and very young children need help cutting embroidery floss or ribbon.
Use child-appropriate craft glue rather than strong solvent-based adhesive when children are doing the gluing themselves. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends looking for art supplies intended for children and supervising their use.
Small pieces—including googly eyes, pom-poms, buttons, sequins, and bells—can pose choking hazards, so keep them away from babies and toddlers.
If very young children want to participate, larger paper eyes and a large felt nose can replace the smaller decorations.
📦 Turn It Into an Upcycled Christmas Craft
One reason this project is especially satisfying is that its main structure is something most households would normally throw away or recycle.
Saving a few cardboard tubes gives children a free supply of sturdy craft material.
Keep a small box for clean tubes throughout November and by December you may have enough for reindeer, snowmen, elves, Christmas trees, and other cardboard-roll crafts.
You can also reuse leftover embroidery floss from sewing projects, ribbon scraps from gifts, and small pieces of yarn that are too short for larger crafts.
The project does not require perfectly matched new supplies.
In fact, using leftover materials tends to make every reindeer more interesting.
🎅 Make Santa’s Entire Reindeer Team
One reindeer is cute, but nine make a complete Christmas display.
Create Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen, and Rudolph.
Give Rudolph the bright red pom-pom nose and use darker noses for the others. Different scarf colors or antler threads can help distinguish each character.
Write each reindeer’s name on a small paper label and place the herd along a mantel, bookshelf, windowsill, or holiday table.
Add a cardboard sleigh and Santa if you want to turn the collection into a larger Christmas project.
This can become a multi-day activity rather than trying to create nine reindeer in one afternoon.
🎄 Create a Christmas Mantel Display
The finished reindeer stands nicely on its cardboard tube, making it particularly useful as a Christmas decoration.
Place several reindeer among bottle-brush trees, pinecones, battery-powered candles, greenery, or other lightweight decorations.
A little artificial snow or white fabric underneath can transform the arrangement into a miniature winter scene.
Because the reindeer is made from cardboard, thread, and natural twigs, keep it well away from open flames and hot surfaces.
Battery-operated lights are a much better companion than real candles.
Children may enjoy rearranging the scene throughout December, especially if several reindeer have been given names.
🍽️ Use Reindeer as Christmas Place-Card Holders
These cardboard reindeer can also become part of the Christmas table.
Make one for each guest and attach a small paper tag containing the person’s name. Place the reindeer behind the dinner plate or beside a napkin.
After dinner, each guest can take the reindeer home.
This works especially well for a children’s Christmas table, classroom party, or informal family dinner.
If you know everyone attending ahead of time, personalize the reindeer with different colored scarves and let children decide which design belongs to each guest.
A handmade place card becomes a small Christmas gift at the same time.
🎁 Turn the Craft Into a Homemade Gift
Children often enjoy giving presents but may not have many opportunities to make something entirely themselves.
A toilet paper roll reindeer can become a sweet handmade gift for grandparents, teachers, neighbors, or other family members.
Ask the child to write a tiny Christmas message on a cardstock tag and attach it around the reindeer’s neck.
The finished craft does not need to be flawless.
A grandparent is unlikely to care whether one antler leans slightly farther to the left than the other.
The imperfection is part of what makes handmade children’s gifts worth saving.
🖍️ Make a Simpler Version for Preschoolers
For younger children, simplify the project rather than trying to complete every part exactly as shown.
Instead of wrapping the cardboard roll in embroidery floss, cover it in brown construction paper or let the child paint it with washable brown paint.
Replace real twig antlers with large pipe cleaners or cardstock antlers prepared by an adult.
Use large paper circles for the eyes and a large red felt circle for Rudolph’s nose rather than small googly eyes and pom-poms.
Children can then concentrate on assembling the face and choosing decorations without struggling with materials beyond their developmental level.
The finished reindeer may look quite different from the original.
That is completely fine.
🧵 Make the Thread Wrapping Easier
Wrapping an entire cardboard tube with embroidery floss can take time, especially for small hands.
A little preparation helps.
Use a manageable length of thread rather than unwinding an entire skein. Extremely long strands tangle easily and can make the activity frustrating.
Add a narrow stripe of glue down one side of the tube every so often rather than covering the entire roll with wet glue at once. The thread can catch on these glued sections as it circles the cardboard.
If the thread repeatedly slides toward one end, gently push the wrapped rows together before continuing.
For very young crafters, yarn is much faster because each strand covers more cardboard.
Embroidery floss gives a finer, more textured result, but the best material is the one the child can actually enjoy working with.
🌲 Pipe-Cleaner Antlers Make an Easy Alternative
Real twig antlers give the inspiration craft its wonderfully rustic look, but pipe cleaners may be the better choice in classrooms or groups with younger children.
Fold a brown pipe cleaner in half and twist the center slightly to create the main antler stem. Add shorter sections by twisting small pieces around each side to form branches.
Or use brightly colored pipe cleaners and skip the thread wrapping entirely.
Pipe cleaners are lightweight, easy to bend, and simple to glue or tuck into the top of the tube.
They also make it easy to give every reindeer a different antler shape.
If the goal is recreating the original photograph as closely as possible, use decorated twigs.
If the goal is making the craft as easy as possible for children, pipe cleaners win.
✨ Why Simple Christmas Crafts Become Favorites
Children do not necessarily remember the most elaborate Christmas activities.
Sometimes they remember sitting at the kitchen table with a pile of cardboard tubes, tangled thread, pom-poms rolling across the floor, and an adult trying to glue an antler back onto Rudolph’s head.
That is what makes simple crafts worthwhile.
The supplies cost very little.
The finished reindeer will not look exactly like anything available in a store.
And for an hour or so, an ordinary piece of cardboard becomes something a child created with their own hands.
Save the best reindeer after Christmas instead of throwing it away with the decorations.
Write the child’s name and year discreetly on the bottom.
When it comes out of the Christmas box several years from now, the crooked antlers and uneven thread may be exactly what makes everyone smile.
❤️ A Reindeer Made From Almost Nothing
This craft begins with one of the humblest materials imaginable: an empty cardboard roll.
Add thread, twigs, googly eyes, glue, and a red pom-pom, and suddenly it has ears to listen for sleigh bells, antlers ready for Christmas Eve, and Rudolph’s unmistakable glowing nose.
That transformation is the best part of children’s crafting.
The finished object does not need to be expensive or perfect.
It only needs a little imagination.
Make one reindeer or an entire herd. Give them scarves, funny expressions, colorful antlers, and names. Line them along the mantel or give them away as Christmas gifts.
And when somebody asks what Rudolph is made from, you can tell them the truth.
Mostly things you already had around the house.
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