2025 Double Take: Eight Tiny Reindeer

Dasher
Eight Tiny Reindeer
1st in the series.

Dasher and Friends Fly Again!

We couldn’t wait for you to get a look at the first ornament in our new Eight Tiny Reindeer series-and who else would it be but Dasher? Keepsake Artist Allie Robillard is spilling the tea on the inspiration behind her series and all the fun it has in store.

“The idea for this series started 4-5 years ago, when I saw some artwork from The Twelve Days of Christmas that’s now a series Gregor Benedetti has created. And it got me to thinking, ‘How do I put my spin on some classic Christmas content?’ That thinking led me to Santa’s reindeer. So I started throwing that idea around, and it lived as a maybe for about 4 years. Then my Art Director Charles Young and I went back to it and decided to develop it further. We saw a good opportunity to take the nostalgic feel of Santa’s eight reindeer and mash it with a modern vintage look. We felt like its time had come, and we were ready to unleash those little reindeer on the world.”

But before you can unleash a series, you have to look ahead to how it will develop and how you’ll create its story. For Allie, “that’s the really fun part,” she says.

“I like to build my series ideas off the characters and creating a world for them. I think about how they would interact with their environment, how they would be having fun and what their day-to-day lives are like. Who is this Dasher character and what is he thinking?

Dasher sketch

“Collaborating with Charles and Editorial Director Lindsay Evans, we decided to go in the order of the poem, so I started with sketches of Dasher. We wanted a look that mashes up the cuteness I’m known for with a vintage feel. And we decided to give each reindeer its own unique personality inspired by its name. We worked to be sure that every single detail is intentional. For example, they’ll each have a different blanket with unique colors and their names on them. And maybe it’s Mrs. Claus making those blankets and bringing a homemade quality to them, embroidering them with her own technique, so she’s part of their world. These are the kinds of ideas we share, and then they get honed and tightened into a cohesive story that we can build out over time.

“It’s important to us that our collectors go on the journey with us to see the love and care that goes into each ornament in the series. There’s so much that happens in planning before the ornaments get to anyone’s hands. And when it does reach you, we want it to be exciting. When you pick it up, we hope you’ll feel a little flutter of ‘Oh, this is so cute!'”

It’s clear that Allie is passionate about this series and, just for club members, she’s revealing an extra detail you’ll know before anyone else.

“We decided to add special birthmarks to every single reindeer that will tie in with their personalities. I hope you’ll have fun finding them!”

Mark October 10 on your calendar for Ornament Debut Early Shopping, when club members can be first to pick up Dasher and start your own Eight Tiny Reindeer series. she says.