20 Adorable DIY Draft Snakes Fight Chills

This winter many families are feeling the double pinch of financial worries and high heating costs, and some are being forced to choose between warming their home or filling the gas tank. Luckily, there's an easy way to rediscover what our parents and grandparents did to save money, while reducing our carbon footprint at the same time: draft snakes.

Elegantly simple and inexpensive, a door draft stopper or draft snake can be as simple as a rolled bath towel or blanket, placed along the bottom crack of doors and windows. This will help take a bite out of drafts, making rooms more comfortable, and will slow heat loss. In fact, drafts sap home energy use 5 to 30%, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, while 11% of a home's heat loss is through doors and windows.

For a tidier look, you can buy ready-made draft snakes (here's a clever Wizard of Oz one). Or better yet, get crafty and make your own from scraps, old neckties, worn denim, dried beans, sand or other materials you can recycle from around the house. Get the kids involved and decorate with googly eyes, felt tongues and so on, so they can learn about saving energy too.

The draft stoppers in this gallery were mostly made at home by folks who did just that. We hope you get inspired to make your own (send us your photos, and we'll add them here)!

The draft snake in the preceding slide was made by Samara, who named him Colin. She wrote, "On a wild and wooly weekend our front door whistled and shook. It was so noisy and annoying that I whipped up our friendly door snake to take care of the draft." Cute!

The green snake in this photo, named Cyril by owner Sandy Macdonald, helps keep his York, United Kingdom place cozy all through the cold months.

Not all draft snakes have to look like snakes, which is good news for those who have an aversion to scaly reptiles. Mother, blogger, art teacher and crafter Ellene McClay makes attractive, original draft dodgers for sale on her Etsy store ($19.99).

Ellene's creations come in a variety of colors, including in blues, reds and neutrals, although she also offers custom jobs. When you receive yours in the mail, just fill with dried beans or rice, and Velcro shut. And you're off to savings!

UK-based designer Benjamin Brown bought his fiance (pictured) this draft excluder for Christmas. He calls it "the greatest present of all time."

We're not sure about that, but we are sure that it will save his honey money. Yeah, that is pretty awesome.

April Farnum also makes draft snakes that she sells on Etsy ($22). The eyes are vintage buttons and the fabric is extra durable. Standard size is 36" long, with different options upon request.

If you're making your own draft snake, the look is limited only by your imagination. Crafter and blogger Seri Quarton explains, "Instead of a draft snake or a draft wiener dog I opted for a draft bunny to keep the cold, cold air out of our drafty little cottage."

Featured on the fun-but-useful IKEA Hack blog, artist Allison Gryski points out that this whimsical toy stuffed animal from the Swedish retailer actually makes a great draft snake. It's a reminder that many different things can be used to dodge drafts.

See some of Gryski's photography, fine stationery and other creations at her Etsy shop.

This colorful draft dodger is made of yarn scraps, and according to maker Vashti Braha, "has kid appeal and doubles as a body pillow." Keep an eye on Braha's site, DesigningVashti, for a downloadable pattern so you can make your own draft snake.

Braha serves on the Board of Directors for the Crochet Guild of America, and has been designing crochet fashions and home decor professionally since 2004.

This fun draft snake was crocheted out of acryllic scraps collected from other crafters, according to maker Katy. She got the patterns Sally V. George, and named her creation "Mr. Beans" because of the filling.

Sally Shim's son "Big J" requested "a minimalist look -- no patchwork." So Sally put together this stylish "draft dinsaur" with linen, a triceratops applique and some dry pinto beans (a spare bean made a fun dinosaur egg).

By using our smarts and saving energy, hopefully we won't go extinct!

Rosemary snapped this shot and made the following observation on Flickr: "Bunnings really does have everything. WOW, to think a foam snake can end our water crisis. To think mine barely stops the draught coming in the back door... aah technology!"

Course we can't blame shopkeepers too much for their spelling, what with confusing spellings of "draught" and "draft" across the pond... At least it's good to know that one can pick up a draft stopper for cheap if one isn't feeling too crafty.

This whimsical draft snake was knitted by Jan, who has pressed it into long service. She told us, "The snake is now a bit worse for wear having been fending off drafts since I made it and has now lost both of its eyes. He is a sad sightless snake now!"

We appreciate your sacrifice, little guy!

After it got cold, Steph made this draft snake with stuff she had lying around. This included "googly eyes aplenty."

Steph added, "It fits the door frame perfectly and the draft is totally blocked. Now, I just have to make sure the cats don't think it's a new toy."

Lia from Estonia made this draft stopper after being inspired by her Flickr buddy Elizabeth.

Lia says she has been glad to have it since her home has been hit with record cold temperatures.

This crafted draft snake has a sweet, innocent look... Unless you are a cold wind.

Danielle Smeets made this patchwork draft snake for the bottom of her French doors. She combined scraps from her screenprinting and fabric by Lara Cameron, Lotta Jansdotter and others.

The very first project Bobbie completed after learning how to knit was this useful draft snake. She says it has seen a lot of use since.

Sarybow made this attractive draft dodger out of an old jeans leg. She wrote, "Though I learned from the sweater arm fiasco for draft snake #2, and cut my pieces perfectly to size before I did any sewing." Good call! It's filled with dry navy beans, which as she points out, are actually cream colored. Huh.

See Sarybow's blog on quilts, crafts, a cat and a PH.D.

Living up in Michigan, Julie got cold one weekend, and sewed this draft stopper for her back door. She says she got the idea, and some basic instructions, from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing book.

In the fight against cold drafts (not to mention pollution and global warming) draft snakes can be real superheroes. As Jeremy Dennis told us, "No ill-fitting front door should be wihout one." Indeed.