Lots of last minute ideas for decorations and gifts in this week's set of Make it Merry Contributions . Try your hand at any of these for last minute ideas that still look great!

Victorian Snow Day
Put together a mixed media portrait using crafting scraps and this tutorial from Margot Potter.

Cookies in a Jar
Fun article with recipes and gift tags for making cookies in a jar.

Christmas Crackers
Make your own Christmas crackers this year (don't forget to add your favorite terrible joke for an authentic touch)!

Striped Stocking
A stocking knit in tow colors on large needles is a quick and easy way to hold gifts for the holiday. Use traditional Christmas colors or make one with stripes of the colors of your favorite sports team.

Crocheted Wire Necklace
If you can string stone nuggets onto wire, and if you can crochet a simple chain stitch, then you can make this pretty necklace. Visit Beading Arts for the instructions!

Stained Glass Votives
Here's a great easy project that's perfect for kids and fun for adults! We spend lots of time making great votive candles, why not dress them up even more with hand made votive holders?

Skating Penguin Cartoon
Add a cute penguin to your holiday cards with this step-by-step drawing tutorial from Helen South.

Lampwork Snowman Earrings
Use a few wire techniques to turn two lampwork snowmen beads into some holiday jewelry. These literally take minutes to make.

Greeting Card Album
Recycle a greeting card and create a holiday album using materials you already have around the house.

Cut Paper Trees
These three dimensional stand up cut paper trees can be used for table decorations or winter scenes. They're cut just like snowflakes from regular paper.

Christmas Tree Seed Bead Earrings
If you're in a pinch for some holiday cheer upon your ears, then these simple seed bead earrings are just the holiday miracle you've been looking for. With just a little wire and a handful of beads, these can be made in just minutes.

Gingerbread Ornaments
When you don't have the fragrance of a real Christmas tree, fake scents just don't do it. Make a batch of these ornaments every few years and hang them from your tree, the scent will last for two or three years!

Want to Join Make it Merry to show off your holiday crafts? We will showcase your crafts and recipes of all holiday traditions. Learn more.

Mahogany miniatures are quite stunning, but often very pricey. This Faux Mahogany Finish is a simple way to turn unfinished softwood or painted pieces into very realistic mahogany using acrylic paints and glazes. The photo shows a piece of real mahogany behind a piece finished with the faux technique to show how close a match you can achieve.

You can use the technique to match the often overly red finish of commercial pieces, or create even more realistic looking mahogany from unfinished or painted pieces.This technique works just as well on full scale furniture or painted objects as it does in miniature. I'm eyeing the floorboards in my workshop in a whole new light!

Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.

Need an inexpensive fireplace for your dolls house? This traditional fireplace can be bashed from an inexpensive craft store dollhouse hutch, or easily made from scratch in a size and scale you choose. The simple construction method allows you to build it from illustration board or bookboard if you have scraps of that handy as well.

If you need Christmas stockings or lashing of Christmas foods to add to your scene, I suggest you wander over to check out the Association of Miniature Artisans wonderful Advent Calendar for Miniatures. Click on a numbered door (no peeking ahead allowed!) to find instructions for tiny toys, gloves, Christmas mice or other miniatures. There are lots more Christmas projects in AIM's Free December online magazine as well.

Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.

If you paint any type of scale model or miniature, you should practise your dry brushing techniques. The fine lines and dots you can create will help you create faux finishes for dollhouse miniatures, or add dirt or shadows to military figures or railroad cars. It's an easy technique, and one miniaturists use all the time. I'm going to be using it to explain a method of creating faux mahogany finishes in the next few days.

Other Wood Finishing Techniques Worth Learning:

• Classic Painted Wood Finishes
• How to Age or Weather New Wood

This traditional Yule Log centerpiece can be made in full size or dolls house scale. It just requires a piece of wood, a candle, and a few decorations.

If you want to make it tiny enough for a dolls house, the instructions for making the tiny wax candles are included. The candles will burn, but they burn too fast to actually use. These are for effect only!

Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.

Paper Cone Angel
Make this pretty paper cone angel to decorate your table or tree. The angel is easy to customize and personalize using your favorite festive rubber stamps!

Goofy Reindeer Ornament
Need a little silly on your tree? This easy ornament from Tammy Powley will lighten the mood on your tree this year.

Curly Branch Paper Tree
These are a recycler's dream and can be made from a used pencil or colored pencil and a sheet of any paper or curling ribbon in any color - try used gift wrap or ribbon to make a wonderfully stylized forest.

Little Tree Cross Stitch
Stitch a tiny, tiny tree using this pattern by Connie G. Barwick and add it to a card or gift tag. Or, add more pizazz and decorate the tiny tree with sequins and beads.

Christmas Tree Pillow
This easy to knit pillow has a simple Christmas tree motif on one side, and plain red and green stripes on the other, so you can use it all winter long without feeling too mired in Christmas decorations.

Puzzle Piece Ornaments
Create your own unique ornaments for your Christmas tree or other holiday decorating needs by recycling old jigsaw puzzle pieces. You can use the ideas and directions I provide on these project sheets to create a variety of ornaments. Use my projects as inspiration to create your own designs.

Christmas Scrubby Soaps
This project from David Fisher is a simple variation of my Animal Melt and Pour Scrubbies project - except with Christmas themed nylon scrubbies.

Sparkling Holiday Pin
This elegant sparkles pin from the Bliss Tree blog is really easy to make, especially if you start with a pre-formed pin with drop loops.

Recycled Christmas Needle Book
From the Craftside blog, create this needle book out of scraps from recycled wool felted sweaters. HTis is the perfect gift for the stitcher in your life.

Painted Christmas Cards
Imagine receiving not just your average Hallmark card, but one hand painted by a dear friend. Spend a cozy night painting a few cards with the instructions and technique guides from Marion Boddy-Evans.

If you missed the previous week's crafts, you can still find the other Make It Merry round ups here:
Make it Merry Week 1
Make it Merry Week 2
Make it Merry Week 3
Make it Merry Week 4
Make it Merry Week 5

Want to Join Make it Merry to show off your holiday crafts? We will showcase your crafts and recipes of all holiday traditions. Learn more.

I've just posted a review of 3M Spray Mount Artist's Adhesive which always seems to find a place in my work area. I've used it for years with paper and graphics, but also use it for stencils, even to glue dirt into my mini flower pots. I know most of us have a bottle of some kind of all purpose pva glue on the workbench, and maybe a glue stick. What special purpose glues do you use? Which ones have you thrown away as useless? I've started a thread in the forum to give you a chance to air your views on the best glues for .....Please share your experiences. So far I've set up reviews for:

Aleene's Fast Grab Tacky Glue
Glue N Glaze from Deluxe Materials
Sakura Quickie Glue Pen
Moveable Miniatures Glue
Elmer's Probond Stainable Wood Glue
Scenic Accents Glue

Use the forum link to share your favorites, and what you find them best for.

Furnishing a miniature house can be difficult and expensive. JBM Miniatures are one of the companies who produce a wide range of quality furniture for several periods that suit many traditional dolls houses. JBM have a good website with easy to view photos and descriptions of individual pieces and their furniture is widely available online.

Like most manufactured dolls house pieces, the finish is a little brighter and heavier than artisan made furniture. You can see JBM's mahogany finish compared to a Honduras mahogany box in the photo here. The finish does match that of other dolls house manufacturers allowing you to blend pieces in your room setting. I appreciate the classic traditional lines, and the avoidance of over the top detail. I only wish it were available in an unfinished range!

Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.

The Mini Time Museum of Miniatures in Tucson Arizona is featuring activities for families in their Winter Wonderland series on Saturdays. Today they have a simulated skating pond where you can try ice skating, and next weekend there is a snow globe making workshop and holiday story telling. You can check out this new museum online at the Tucson Museum of Miniatures Website. If you've visited already, share what you think of the museum in the comments below!

I have lots of fond memories of special cookies for special holidays. Make cookie cutters for Hanukkah cookies and bring some of that holiday feeling down to dolls house scale. The techniques shown here are useful for creating other custom shapes, the secret is careful measuring and even bending.

The basic information for making miniature cookies in dolls house scale, including polymer clay color blends for cookie dough is found in these two basic articles:

Make Miniature Cookies from Polymer Clay

Make Miniature Cookie Cutters from Foil

Photo copyright 2009 Lesley Shepherd, Licensed to About.com Inc.