Christmas prep begins in September for me 'cause I make gifts. This one took me a few months to complete. I used to buy my mom nutcrackers from Garden Ridge, but they got so cheesey. My mom likes the nutcrackers that have robes and crowns and I coudln't find those anywhere. I decided to put one together myself out of deck post toppers, dowels and polymer clay. The wood work only took an afternoon, the painting took forever and a day! My dog kept snatching the shoes and eating them so I finally had to make those out of clay as well as the crown, but that's 'cause I had no idea how to make an easy wood crown. I think it turned out pretty good. I will soon be starting '08's nutcracker and will post that after Christmas... maybe with a how to?