Crafty Christmas countdown: 18

 I like to make holiday peg dolls every year, usually inspired by some favorite show or movie. This year I chose Heat Miser and Snow Miser from The Year Without a Santa Claus.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 19

 I've come to enjoy punch needle quite a bit and I've always loved capybaras. So I made this little Santa capybara to hang on my wall.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 20

 When you find yourself unexpectedly babysitting, you dig into the memory banks and come up with a holiday craft to do with the kids. I made these wreaths from contact paper, construction paper, and sequins with a 5 year old and 2 year old.

And as a special treat for the 5 year old, we made this holiday puppy sock puppet while his sister napped.

Crafty Christmas countdown - 21

We don't want to leave out our animal friends during the holiday season so I thought I'd make a dog toy. I've made simple tug ropes in the past but decided this time to make a wreath. This was done with a simple overhand knot around a central core of cord for strength.

 

Crafty Christmas countdown - 22

 These little ornaments were simple to make but I think all the better for their simplicity. I used a base layer of white paint on some precut ornaments and added decoration with paint markers.

Crafty Christmas Countdown - 23

 I got this decoration for free last year because it was flawed. While I certainly didn't want to put it up as-is, I could see potential in it.

The first step was to pry off that bottom bar. I set that aside for use in a future project. While I was at it I pulled off the tree too. That left me with a nice surface to repaint. I find the red glitter too much, so I made it a more natural camper color. When I was satisfied with the overall look, I decorated it for Christmas with a little wreath and some red and green pennants.

Crafty Christmas Countdown: 24

 It's December and that means it's time for my annual countdown to Christmas. We're starting small today with a simple trio of paper ornaments. I cut these shapes from scrapbook paper, added contrasting paper for the tops, and some interest with a bell in the center of each one. These ornaments could hang on the tree or would make nice wall decorations.