Packing up Christmas 'til next time

As I was packing all our christmas stuff away I was pleased to see the handmade stuff is multiplying every year. And the Christmas UFO box is gradually emptying!

This funny little nativity was a kit Mum bought for me from a discount store years ago, and it finally made it together this year. The intructions called for lots of gluing but it was so slow and messy I substituted sewing wherever possible. The Holy Family have already survived being ripped off the tree for cuddles by a toddler.

Also completed this season was another discount store kit from Mum, this funny looking angel, in front of our very simple cardboard advent calendar.

These are a mixture of crafts from this year and past years, experimenting with different media! A few years ago everybody got fimo angels with their gifts. I remember making heaps of ornaments with fimo and was surprised to only find six amongst my decorations. Then I remembered I gave most of them away and my parents have a vast collection of fimo for their tree!

This is a half finished Christmas card holder from Handmade Magazine a few years ago. It's the only thing not packed up because I want to finish it while I've got the bits out. The embroidery was a lovely portable project and much of it was done in the car between Christmas visits to relatives (hubby was driving!).

Ah, our wreath! It's a work in progress. It was started when I moved into my own flat about 8 years ago, and has been added to each year. It's evolved quite a lot since its first outing.
Only about 320 days 'til I can unpack it all again, I wonder what will be crafted for next time?

Baby Bear

Any day now a new niece or nephew will be arriving. I made the big-brother-to-be a bear when he was born, and this a a slightly smaller sibling to it. I love this pattern and this is the 3rd time I've made it now. He is so darn cute! It was initially intend to be for my little boy, but as I still have fur left over, and several eyes, noses and joints so I'm sure he'll get one eventually!

Some pig

My son needs a doorstop as his bedroom door has a tendency to swing shut on its own, and the door handle is WAY above his reach. The house came with a heavy weight at this door for this reason. It's functional but ugly. And as I was painting a farm scene for his walls I just knew what he really needed was a pig doorstop. Of course! A quick search of the internet didn't bring up anything suitable, so it was a case of back to the drawing board! I already had a suitable test fabric, stuffing, felt, pellets etc. So here is my test pig:
His snout is a little wonky, and he is not quite heavy enough. I planned to insert the weight into the base of his body, but a last minute change to the foreleg design didn't allow enough room for this. His weight from the pellets is enough to keep him sitting upright. I think he needs to be made from a heavier fabric to handle the weight inside too.
Still he is rather cute, and now I have to urge to embroider a spiders web onto a cushion for Charlotte to join him...