I found an old sled by the curb and want to decorate it for the holidays. It is very dirty but I can see remnants of red paint on the sled itself and the runners. I am in the long process of sanding it. Here is where I need advice:

Do I sand and/or paint the underside or leave as is?
What color would you paint the sled? Runners?
How would you decorate it?

I'm not very crafty, but I really want to do this. So the simpler the better.
Also any pics or links?
Thanks

Do you have a photo? Is this the original paint? If so, I would advise just to clean it, don't sand, and spray with matte acrylic spray to seal it. This would be more a primitive look. If you decide to paint it, choose any color that you like. I would paint the underside, and would probably paint the runners black.

I agree with farmerswife. If the paint is in decent shape I would try saving it but from the sound of it it isn't. If not, I would sand it down and I personally would stain it and paint something with red in it on the sled. The runners I could do black. I thought silver but I've found that painting stuff silver just never turns out that good for me. Always looks painted and not natural. If you are not good at painting look into some stencils or even stickers if you could find anything that is good sized. Then a sprig of greenery near the rope and/or a bow. I am waiting to find a sled that is pretty much toast as far as the seat part goes. I want to try to make it into a shelf for Christmas. Hang it up and put some of the many (too many actually lol) Christmas things on it. I thought that would look different and I like different.

Here are a couple of sled ideas to look at.
I do mine with fake pine bough and ice skates.
I also stand my up against the house on my porch...but I wrap a small piece of foil on the area of the runners that touch the porch floor and my house siding. (I didn't want any rust from the runners getting onto my home.)
http://lonadawn.blogspot.com/2...friday-12172010.html

http://applestonecottage.blogs...h-and-christmas.html

Google image seach:
http://www.google.com/search?n......1ac.1.Gt-WzRjSoAs