The bright constellation

For the lake, cut the cardboard into an irregular oval (a parent's job). Wrap the foil, shiny side up, around the oval. Tape the foil edges in place on the underside.

For each tree, use a butter knife or your fingers to coat a sugar cone with a thin layer of icing. Roll the cone in a dish of green sugar.

To make a lamppost, push a candy stick down through a gummy Life Saver and into the jelly ring. Push another gummy Life Saver onto the other end of the lamppost and glue a gumdrop on top with icing.

With photo editing software or a color copier, enlarge or reduce your photos so your family's faces are about 1 inch tall. Print the photos and cut them into 1 1/2- by 1-inch rectangles.

Tip: School photos work well here.

Cut an 8 1/2- by 2-inch strip of white card stock. Tape a 1 1/2- by 1/2-inch piece of white card stock to the left end of the strip, then fold it over the edge of the strip to create a hook. Glue your photos side by side on the strip (on the same side you taped the hook to), lining up the subjects' eyes and leaving at least 2 inches at the right end of the strip uncovered.

Fold the blue card stock in half widthwise. Cut a snowy hill and a snowman with a 1 1/2-inch head from white card stock. Use a craft knife to cut a 1-inch circle from the snowman's face, then glue both pieces to the card, placing the snowman so his head is 1 inch from the right edge and 1/2 inch below the fold.

Open the card and cut a matching face hole in the blue card stock, as well as a 2-inch-long vertical slit parallel to the snowman's head and about 1/2 inch from the edge of the card.

Turn over the card and tape the ends of a 2 1/2- by 1/2-inch strip of card stock to the inside edge of the hole for a guide, parallel to the slit, as shown. Slip the photo strip facedown under this guide and out through the slit.

Close the card and write "Pull" along the edge of the strip. Draw a snowman's face on the white card stock that shows through the hole, then add arms, buttons, and a card stock scarf, if you like, as well as a holiday greeting.

Make 2 basic egg carton body shapes as described for the Petite Penguin (omit the rice in one of them). Paint them white and sprinkle on clear glitter. When they have dried, glue the empty body part atop the rice-filled one.

Use a pushpin to create a small armhole on each side of the bottom segment, then push through two 31⁄2-inch lengths of brown pipe cleaner for arms, bending the ends for hands.

Glue a 1- by 41⁄2-inch piece of felt around the top of the head for a hat. Glue closed the top, then glue on a pom-pom.

Glue the snowman to a white snowdrift (cotton glued to a 3-inch cardboard circle).

Glue on an orange felt nose, mini black pom-poms for a mouth, eyes, and buttons, and a 1- by 7-inch strip of felt for a scarf.

Cut a 6-inch-long teardrop-shaped body from red felt. Near the center, cut 2 parallel slits that are 1 inch long and 1/2 inch apart.

For a pair of ears, cut a 5-inch-long rounded bow-tie shape from green felt. This will be used to make the ears.

To put the mouse together, fit the ears through the slits in the body. Glue on googly eyes and a pom-pom nose.

Finally, add a curly tail by slipping a candy cane beneath the mouse and tucking the straight end between the body and the ears to hold it in place.