Create Your Own Monster for Christmas

When my kids saw the Create Your Own Monster Kit, they couldn't wait to open the lid to unleash more than a dozen creatures into our living room. Fortunately, these colorful, snarling, lurching creatures don't leave a mess and are actually pretty good houseguests.

These aren't your average monsters with blue fur and big teeth. All 12 of them are very snazzily designed, each by a different illustrator, like the Berlin art collective Klub7 and Swedish artist Camilla Engman, whose gift tags we've featured on CMP. And then three of them come "naked" as a blank canvas for your own little artist to design themselves. Printed and scored on heavy card stock, each totally unique monster is easy to put together. Even the one with two heads or eight legs. And since they are pretty sturdy, my kids like that they don't fall apart  as soon as they start moving them around the room. Set them up on a dresser or bookshelf to watch over your child as he sleeps (in a protective way, not a scary way).  Or, your child can send a monster to each of his or her friends as a holiday gift, using one of the 15 colorful enclosed envelopes in the kit and enjoy knowing their monsters are popping up all over town. Create Your Own Monster Kit is available from our affiliate Amazon.