Crafty Christmas Countdown: 9

An evil snowman might not be everyone's idea of a great Christmas decoration but this homage to the Doctor Who special "The Snowmen" seems perfect to me. It now holds a place of honor on my bedroom door.
 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 10

An empty oatmeal canister just begs to be used in a craft. I'm not sure what I'll do with this nutcracker box. My first inclination was to bake cookies for my coworkers but they would need to be awfully big cookies. So for now it's sitting empty on my table.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 11

Today's craft started with a simple template I found online, traced and cut out of lightweight cardboard. I could have painted this little sleigh and decorated it with fancy trims and sequins and such. In the end, though, I decided I liked it plain. So I decorated the scene with little figures scavenged from around my house instead. 

Nothing says Christmas like a penguin and a yeti in a sleigh pulled by unicorns

 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 12

With the number of crafts I'm doing this month, one was bound to be something of a dud. And here it is.

In this case, I think it's roughness actually works in it's favor. I was going for something that was intentionally tacky. Our second floor is decorated with dark wood paneling and green stripped shag carpet, so we put all of our tackiest decorations up there. I made this hot air balloon to go with our paper chain and elementary school artwork.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 13

This self-imposed challenge has stretched my creativity in some interesting ways. Like this puppet. It was a vague idea that popped into my head one day while I was at work. I had intended to make it out of a foam playground ball but when I couldn't find one at my local store, I dug out the paper mache. She turned out pretty well.
 

This is probably my favorite part: the eyelashes made from dollar store false eyelashes.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 14

I've always wanted to make my own Christmas cards but I've never been able to come up with enough ideas in time to get them sent out. These were the designs I came up with this year.
 

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 15

Some time ago I made a cardboard viking ship in a tennis ball can. Like a lot of things I got rid of it when I moved (though I somehow managed to keep the can). I've had a vague thought for a while that I might replicate it. Then, when I had my cuckoo idea to make all these Christmas crafts I had this idea to make my viking ship holiday themed. And this was the result.