Crochet Christmas Reindeer Wreath with Bells and Star

This is the wreath that makes people stop at your front door. A fat striped teal and cream base holds a smiling amigurumi reindeer, two golden bells with holly, a star, a little gift bag and a big red bow.

It looks big, but it is made from small pieces. Make them one by one, and put the wreath together at the end.

What you need

Yarn: worsted weight (medium 4) cotton in teal (#5E9C8F), cream, red (#2474d8), brown (#2e487b), taupe (#808da5), golden yellow (#E3A92A), green (#2F7A4A), white and a little black.
Hooks: 5 mm for the wreath base and bow, 3.5 mm for the small tight pieces.
Other: a 30 cm (12 in) foam wreath form, polyfill, 2 black 8 mm safety eyes, 2 silver jingle bells (about 2 cm), tapestry needle, hot glue or strong thread, a ribbon for hanging.

Parts list and abbreviations

The wreath is made of one big base and many small pieces. Make the pieces first, then add them to the wreath.

1 striped base, 1 reindeer head with 2 ears and 2 antlers, 2 golden bells with holly, 1 star, 1 red bow, 1 red gift bag with 2 candy canes, 1 poinsettia, 1 pinecone, 1 gold bauble, 1 drum ornament, 1 white swirl disc, 1 red and 1 green rolled coil.

ch chain
sl st slip stitch
sc single crochet
hdc half double crochet
dc double crochet
inc 2 sc in the same stitch
dec sc 2 together
blo back loop only
sp space
st(s) stitch(es)
magic ring adjustable starting loop

Striped wreath base

The base is a long strip that covers the foam form like a sleeve.

Row 1: With teal and a 5 mm hook, ch 16. Hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook and in each ch across. [15 hdc]
Rows 2–4: Ch 1, turn, hdc in the back loop of each st across. [15 hdc] Change to cream in the last st of Row 4.
Rows 5–8: Work the same way in cream. Change to teal in the last st of Row 8.
Continue in stripes of 4 rows teal and 4 rows cream until the strip is long enough to go around the thickness of the foam form with no gaps and is also as long as the whole circle of the form. Wrap it around to check. Fasten off.

Wrap the strip around the foam form and sew the long edges together at the back. Close the short ends together. Sew a ribbon loop to the back for hanging.

Reindeer head

Use a 3.5 mm hook and work in a spiral without joining. Use a marker for the first st of every round.

Head (brown): Round 1: magic ring, 6 sc. [6]
Round 2: inc in each st. [12]
Round 3: *sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [18]
Round 4: *2 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [24]
Round 5: *3 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [30]
Rounds 6–12: sc in each st. [30] Put the safety eyes between Rounds 9 and 10, 8 sts apart.
Round 13: *3 sc, dec; repeat 6 times. [24]
Round 14: *2 sc, dec; repeat 6 times. [18]
Rounds 15–22: sc in each st. [18] This is the neck. Stuff firmly and fasten off with a long tail.
Muzzle (cream): Round 1: magic ring, 6 sc. Round 2: inc in each st. [12] Round 3: *sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [18] Rounds 4–5: sc in each st. [18] Stuff lightly and sew to the lower face. Embroider a black nose.
Ears (brown, make 2): Round 1: magic ring, 6 sc. Round 2: *sc, inc; repeat 3 times. [9] Round 3: *2 sc, inc; repeat 3 times. [12] Rounds 4–5: sc in each st. [12] Flatten, sew to the head and add a cream inner ear.
Antlers (taupe, make 2 stems and 4 branches): Stem: magic ring, 5 sc, then sc in each st for 14 rounds. Branch: magic ring, 4 sc, then sc in each st for 6 rounds. Sew 2 branches to each stem and sew the stems on top of the head.

Add 5 or 6 small cream dots on the forehead with embroidery thread and a small red scarf (a ch 30 strip in hdc) around the neck.

Golden bells

Make 2 bells with a 3.5 mm hook in golden yellow, in a spiral.

Round 1: magic ring, 6 sc. [6]
Round 2: inc in each st. [12]
Round 3: *sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [18]
Round 4: *2 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [24]
Rounds 5–7: sc in each st. [24]
Round 8: *3 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [30]
Round 9: *4 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [36]
Round 10 (cream): sc in each st. [36]
Round 11 (red): sl st in each st. [36] Fasten off.

Holly leaf (green, make 3 per bell): Ch 5. Sl st in the 2nd ch from the hook, sc in the next ch, hdc in the next ch, 3 dc in the last ch. Work back along the other side of the chain: hdc, sc, sl st. Berry (red, make 3 per bell): magic ring, 6 sc, fasten off and pull tight. Sew the leaves and berries on the front and hang a silver jingle bell inside each bell with a short yarn tail. Join the two bells with a ch 20 loop.

Big red bow

Bow: With red and a 5 mm hook, ch 21. Row 1: hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook and across. [20 hdc]
Rows 2–30: ch 1, turn, hdc in the back loop of each st across. [20 hdc] Fasten off.
Knot: Ch 9. Row 1: sc in the 2nd ch from the hook and across. [8 sc] Rows 2–8: ch 1, turn, sc across. [8 sc]
Tails (make 2): Ch 9. Row 1: hdc in the 2nd ch from the hook and across. [8 hdc] Rows 2–24: ch 1, turn, hdc in the back loop of each st. [8 hdc]

Bring the two short ends of the bow to the middle of the back and sew them down. Pinch the middle, wrap the knot strip around it and sew the ends at the back. Sew the tails under the knot.

Gift bag and small decorations

Red gift bag: With a 3.5 mm hook, ch 24 and join to make a ring. Round 1: sc in each ch. [24] Rounds 2–14: sc in each st. [24] Round 15: *sc, ch 1, skip 1 st; repeat 12 times. [24] Round 16: sc in each st and ch-1 space. [24] Sew the bottom closed and thread a white cord through the holes. Add 2 candy canes made from ch 30 twisted strips in red and white, and green and white.
Poinsettia: Make 8 red petals: ch 9, sl st in the 2nd ch from the hook, sc, hdc, 2 dc, hdc, sc, sl st in the last ch, then work back along the other side of the chain with the same stitches. Sew 4 petals in a star, put 4 more on top, and add 3 yellow berries (magic ring, 6 sc) in the middle.
Pinecone and gold bauble: Make a ball: Round 1: magic ring, 6 sc. Round 2: inc in each st. [12] Round 3: *sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [18] Round 4: *2 sc, inc; repeat 6 times. [24] Rounds 5–9: sc in each st. [24] Round 10: *2 sc, dec; repeat 6 times. [18] Round 11: *sc, dec; repeat 6 times. [12] Stuff and close. Use brown with a spiral of surface stitches for the pinecone, and gold for the bauble.
Star: Make a 12 cm five-point star in golden yellow sc, front and back, sew them together with a little stuffing and embroider a cream snowflake with straight stitches.
Drum, swirl disc and rolls: The white disc is a flat circle (increase to 36 sts, about 9 cm). The red and green rolls are sc rectangles rolled up and sewn. The drum is a short red tube with cream circles at the top and bottom and a gold band.

Put the wreath together

Put the wreath flat on the table and place all the pieces before you sew or glue anything.
Start with the big pieces: the reindeer head in the middle, the bow at the top and the bells on the upper left.
Add the star on the left, the gift bag on the right and the poinsettia at the bottom in the middle.
Fill the gaps with the pinecone, bauble, drum, disc and rolls.
Sew the heavy pieces with strong thread through the base. Use hot glue for the light pieces. Hang the wreath on a ribbon.

Tips for success

Stuff firmly. Pieces that are too soft will droop on the wreath.
Use a stitch marker in every spiral round.
Take a photo of your layout before you sew.
Make a small wreath first. You can skip the reindeer for your first try and add 5 or 6 simple decorations.
Weave the ends inside the pieces before you stuff them.