Deer and reindeer motifs for the holidays
Booths at this year’s gift and decor trade fairs featured lots of deer and reindeer motifs — some specifically for the holidays and others to leave up and enjoy after the festive season is over.
Incorporating the woodland icon into your home decor can be a fun departure from an otherwise luxe and elegant holiday esthetic.
“We love to offset all the glam by adding a woodsy, rustic feel to make a home feel cozy,” say Shannon Wollack and Brittany Zwickl of Studio Life/Style in West Hollywood, California.
“Running with a classic holiday reindeer motif, we like to hang our stockings by the fireplace with a real or faux antler prop, and add a wreath intertwined with antlers to our front door.”
Set the scene outdoors with one of Lowe’s majestic white-vine deer sculptures, festooned with white lights and a multi-hued set of antlers.
Or go for Frontgate’s 4-foot-tall resin stag, with realistic textured detail and a gleaming golden finish. There is a pair of regal reindeer here as well — one standing, the other feeding, crafted from an original sculpture and suitable for indoors or out.
Indoors, a stag-horn-framed mirror by Carolyn Kinder for Uttermost would add drama to the entryway. It’s available at Lamps Plus .
At CB2 , the Donner wreath, available in white or silver polyresin, is a minimalist, modern way to include the antler theme.
Chic and useful, a lacquered tray from Mark & Graham can be customized with a monogram framed by an antler motif. Also from the retailer, a super-soft throw similarly personalized makes a cozy holiday gift.
Martha Stewart’s holiday collection at Macy’s includes a deer’s head table decoration made of vines and berries, decked out with fairy lights and faux snow. Create a snuggly nook with a Sherpa fleece throw pillow appliqued with a plaid stag’s head, also part of the collection.
For the sofa, Target’s got throw pillows with illustrated woodland or reindeer prints from Threshold, as well as a whimsical Wes Anderson-esque deer bundled up in scarf and sweater.
There are lots of animal prints in home decor these days, but not too many deer prints. Lamps Plus has one from Nourison that would accent Scandi or rustic modern decor, with a butterscotchand-white, faux-deer-hide pattern on a supple leather pillow.
For the holiday table, consider Lowe’s rustic, burlap table runner with a stitched reindeer, holly berry and branch embellishment. Napkin rings are an easy, inexpensive way to bring in a theme like this — check out Pottery Barn’s resin antler ones in natural or gold.
You could set up a small herd of Pier 1’s charming reindeer down the centre of the table; made of Styrofoam and faux fur, each walking or resting deer sports a little wreath necklace.
For the tree, there are sweet little plaid-fabric deer ornaments and snazzy, pastel, glitter-encrusted ones at Target. Waterford’ s beribboned, silverplated stag ornament comes with a diamondshaped glass bead and silver dated hanging tag, ready for gifting. And Zazzle has an array of Christmas stags on porcelain tree ornaments, in both red and white contemporary designs and vintage designs. Some can be monogrammed.
Finally, if you really want to commit to the theme, go full-on winter wonderland with Frontgate’s 59-inch-tall mechanical deer. He’s got plush, snowy white faux fur and a head that nods back and forth. Santa would no doubt approve.