Supplies needed:

• 7 craft (Popsicle) sticks
• red paint or wood stain
• hot or low melt glue gun
• gold thread
• "finger" drill and small saw
• miter box or thick piece of moulding
• pins and foam board

Directions:

1. Measure 3 3/4 inches from the end of two craft sticks and mark a line on a 45-degree angle. This is for the sled runners.

2. Mark a 45-degree angle close to the end of another craft stick, then measure 2.5 inches further down the stick and mark another 45-degree angle in the other directions (so you make a long trapezoid.) This is for the sled's cross-bar.

3. Drill small holes in either end of this piece, or nail in small nails then pull them out if you do not have a drill.

4. Using the end of the previous stick mark 90-degree angles to make a rectangle with the long side measuring 1 1/4 inches. This is for a bottom support piece.

5. Cut on all lines with the small saw and a miter box. If you don't have a miter box you can use a scrap piece of thick frame moulding and mark and saw the desired angles into the raised, then hold the stick in place against the raised side and use the groves in the moulding as your guide.

6. Paint the runners and cross-bar red on all sides.

7. Place one stick down on the foam board and stick pins on either side of the stick 1/2 inch from one end and one inch from the other end. Add a second pin next to the one on the right of the stick, and then place another stick down. Repeat until there are four sticks spaced apart with two pins each. Make sure the sticks are staggered so the middle two are 1/2 farther out than the outside two. Place pins at the end of the sticks to mark the proper placement.

8. When the cross-bar is dry glue it across the sticks 1 inch down from the middle sticks. If making several sleds slide four more sticks into your placement pins and glue on another cross bar.

9. Turn over sleds and glue the bottom support piece approximately 1 inch away from the end of the outside sticks.

10. Glue runners to the bottom of sled with a small bead of glue.

11. Cut an 8 inch length of gold thread and tie each end to the holes in the cross-bar. You may wish to add a dot of glue to the back-side of the cross-bar to better hold the thread in place.

12. Write your child's name on the front of the cross-bar in black or metallic pen.

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