D.I.Y Nutcracker Soldier

D.I.Y Life-size Nutcracker Soldier

Christmas Decoration On A Budget

Here's a D.I.Y guide to constructing a Nutcracker Soldier / Toy Soldier for Christmas with a limited budget. It'll only cost you about RM50 and above or below for 1 nutcracker soldier (below RM100 depending on the materials you obtain.). Most of the items you need can be found at any local home improvement superstores.

The items you need are:

a) 5 gal. bucket (upper body)

b) 4 gal. bucket (lower body)

c) Small plastic wash basin (neck/shoulder)

d) Medium sized plastic flower pot (head)

e) Small plastic flower pots (shoulder pads & shoes)

f ) 12mm plywood (base/platform)

g) 3" PVC Pipes

h) Anti-slip stick-on rubber pads & curtain tassels (accessories)

i ) Ribbons (accessories)

j ) Spray paints

Get our platform / base ready for our Nutcracker. Here, the 12mm plywood is cut into a 2' diameter circle.
Cut PVC pipes into 2' for each arm and 30" for each leg.

12mm plywood cut into 2' diameter platforms & pre-cut 2' (arms) and 30" (legs) PVC p

Spray paint the arms red, and the legs 1 foot from the bottom black for boots and the rest green for the nutcracker's pants. Leave to dry before applying another coat depending on your preference.

Colour the shoulder pads gold (2 small plastic flower pots). Cut into 1/2 the other plastic flower pot and colour it black to be its shoes. After the paints have dried, attach the legs to the platform base and then assemble the body of the nutcracker with the 5 gal bucket on top of the inverted 4 gal bucket which would act as the lower part of the nutcracker's body.
Attach the arms to the shoulder pads and then the arms unto the buckets just like Voltron.
( you may want to have 1 arm cut into 1 ft and connect a 3" elbow connector to make the Nutcracker look as if he's holding a sword or something or you can have both arms locked straight down, whichever suits you.)

"I'd shake your hand if I had any..."

Colour the body, the head (medium sized plastic flower pot) and the nutcracker's hat (rubbish bin).
Attach the head to the wash basin shoulder and then attach the rubbish bin on top of the head. Beige yellow colour spray was used to colour the head.

Accessorize the nutcracker's uniform and hat with ribbon cut offs and the anti-slip stick-on rubber pads, and also curtain tassels.

Glue on cotton wool to the back of the head as the nutcracker's hair, paint a face on the head. Create the nose with polystyrene and stick it on the face with hot glue.

One of the technical team members giving the nutcracker some final touches.

Judging from the pictures below,, the hands of these nutcrackers are slightly different, where the one on the left uses cut-off PVC pipe as hands, while the one on the right have unused Christmas balls as hands (they're all just personal preferences).
Also, you could notice the left nutcracker is holding a shorter stick while the ones on the right are holding longer ones. Those are just used bunting sticks and PVC pipes.