Vintage Sled DIY tutorial with link to instructions and pattern

As I was surfing the pinterest wave this weekend I happened upon fynes designs and her amazing vintage sled. I have always wanted a vintage sled and I have hunted for years but just like fynes designs said if you want to pay $100-$300 you can have one. Seeing how that doesn’t quite fit in my budget I wanted to have one without the price tag that was attached. I was amazed at how easy her tutorial was to make your own and for only $10. I had already capped off my Christmas projects list because I have so many things that I want to make but how could I pass up making this darling vintage sled? I needed to have one! The vintage sled was then moved to the top of my project to do list now I just needed to get the wood for it. If you know me I am cheap and I hate spending money on wood and there are plenty of places I can get for FREE by my home. So instead of buying the wood I had noticed a wood crate that had been sitting by the side of my neighbors home for a little while. I asked my neighbors if she had plans for the create or if I could have it for a craft project. Thank goodness they were more that willing to part with it. My sweet husband brought it over to our house and I got to work tearing apart the crate. I printed off fynes designs template and the instructions then traced and cut out all of the wood pieces. Some how in my haste of making the sled I goofed up and instead of cutting the skis straight on the back end, I curved them like the front. I didn’t notice this until it was time for assembly and it was too late then. My vintage sled has it’s own little twist.

After all the pieces were cut I followed her design and painted my sled pieces red and brown. I had such a hard time waiting for my sled pieces to dry! Next up was assembling the sled. We used liquid nails and a brad nailer to put the sleds together. I had a metal piece of gutter strapping that I cut down to use as a decorative piece on the front of the sled. the last thing I did was drill two holes to attach a rope pull for the vintage sleds. Yes, I ended up making 2 of them. I knew Avry would want one even thought she has a real vintage sled!

Over all this was actually a very simple wood project and I would rate my own skill level at a beginner to middle wood craftsman. It took me about 45 minutes to cut apart the crate and cut out all of the pieces for 2 sleds using a skill saw. Painting and assembling the sled was about another 30 minutes with dry time in between. This was a great Saturday afternoon project! Will you jump in and create you own vintage sled too?

20 Comments

Angelic Sinova

December 1, 2015 at 10:37 pm

I love how that vintage sled turned down! I used to love going sledding down huge snow hills as a kid. I definitely have the urge to go sledding again now <3

Sarh S

December 1, 2015 at 11:18 pm

I love Vintage Sleds, I’d love to build my own. This would be perfect to prop up next to the front door.

Miranda

December 2, 2015 at 3:00 am

This is a beautiful project which has been nicely done and saved dollars. Since I can not DIY to save my life I will use my bin lid and slide down lol

Alli

December 2, 2015 at 4:51 am

I, too, have been looking for a sled. I haven’t been able to find one here in the southern part of the US. My sister in CO found one and when she went to mail it to me, the shipping cost more than the sled did. So, alas, I’m sled-less. This is a great project for me to try!

Travel Blogger

December 2, 2015 at 8:36 am

This is beautiful! I have an old sled that I could totally do this with and put on my porch. Great idea!

Samantha

December 2, 2015 at 9:41 am

That looks like a fun project! It was so much easier for me to make DIY stuff when I was living at home and had lots of stuff at my disposal.

Heather

December 2, 2015 at 4:37 pm

That’s so neat to be able to make your own! I could see using it to also decorate with adding a sled to an entry way with a poinsetta on it or something. So fun!

Heather @ Kraus House Mom

December 2, 2015 at 6:32 pm

My sled like that from when I was a kid is in my grandparent’s garage (now my aunt’s house). It’s rusty, but could be sanded down and fixed.

Shell

December 2, 2015 at 8:30 pm

Oh how precious. You did a great job with this. I could see this in any winter decor either indoors or outdoors!

Rachel

December 2, 2015 at 9:19 pm

What a cute idea. I like that you made it but it looks vintage.

Franc Ramon

December 3, 2015 at 12:35 am

The vintage sled looks so cool. It’s even better than you can do this in less than an hour and a half.

Stephanie of The TipToe Fairy

December 3, 2015 at 6:08 am

What a totally cute winter decoration! You could have that out all the way through the end of winter. This is when I wish I had power tools and knew how to use them, lol.