The figures, which have recently popped up on pavements all over Britain, were branded a con by some passers-by, leading many to believe they were made beforehand or even with a mould. But today MailOnline can reveal exactly how the artists create the perfect sculpture. We watched one artist in London's High Street Kensington as he worked for nearly two hours to create the animal. Robert Marian, from Romania, arrived just after 9am carrying two sandbags and a rucksack. He set to work by placing a purple rug outside of H&M; on the High Street before he laid down two empty one litre water bottles (top left). Using his hand he shaped the body of the dog, its paws and its head before creating the finer details with a trowel and a sharp knife (top right and bottom left). Shoppers flocked to see the finished sculpture (bottom right) before leaving money for the artist, who said he can make up to £40 a day.

Millions of shoppers will be making a last-minute dash to high streets across the country as they scramble to find the perfect present just hours before Christmas Day. Retailers have been told to expect sales of up to £1.4billion during store hours after yesterday saw frantic Britons spend more than £1.3billion. Nearly three quarters of retailers have already slashed their prices to attract last-minute Christmas shoppers - days before the traditional Boxing Day sales. Eager to get started early, shoppers gathered on Oxford Street this morning, waiting for John Lewis to open (right) as customers waited outside Pandora at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol (left).

The family of David Miller, 24, main, say they are happy Burmese migrants Zaw Lin and Wai Phyom inset, have been found guilty of his and Hannah Witheridge's murder on the Thai island of Koh Tao. The battered bodies of Miss Witheridge, 23, and Mr Miller, right, were discovered on a beach on the idyllic holiday island on September 15 last year. Today the long awaited verdicts from the protracted and drawn out murder trial were delivered. The men had been warned prior to the verdicts being read out that they could face the death sentence if found guilty.

Hungarian artist Gergely Dudás has posted another Christmas puzzle on his Facebook page, showing dozens of hand-drawn owls with a single cat carefully hidden among the crowd. A few days ago he posted a similar picture of a panda hidden among some snowmen which was liked by 42,000 people and shared 100,000 times within just a few days. Once again the illustrator has planted a few red herrings like a colourful bow tie and a festive hats, but the owl's facial features make it particularly difficult to spot the cat.

Storm Eva roared in across Ireland and western coasts of the UK overnight bringing strong winds of up to 75mph and heavy downpours. And almost 2,000 homes and businesses in Northern Ireland are without electricity today after the fifth named storm of winter damaged power lines. There are more than 100 flood alerts and warnings in place for England, Wales and Scotland - two days after a river burst its banks in Cumbria again. The Met Office has put out an amber 'be prepared' severe weather warning for up to 150mm (5.9in) of rain in the county on Boxing Day. Pictured: Storm Eva begins to batter the west coast of Wales at Cardigan Bay in Aberystwyth today (left), dark skies surround Plymouth in Devon this morning (top right), and a flood warnings and alerts map is seen for England and Wales (bottom right).

Nothing to see here ladies and gents, nothing to see. Just a family of eleven, off to Disneyland. A lovely big British family, off to the place where magic happens and Mickey Mouse makes dreams comes true. They'd saved hard but were turned away at the gate by ruthless officials from USA Homeland Security who said they were no longer allowed to board. At least, that's the story you'd be believing if you listened to the BBC or Labour's blond-bobbed maniac Stella Creasy. But there is another side to this story not being told. This family aren't exactly conventional. They are two brothers - and 9 children... between 8 and 19 years old. All called Mahmood. I worked at Disney as a security guard, and this family doesn't sound like the typical visitor.

The video, which is believed to have been recorded a week ago in Jerusalem, left, shows guests dancing with guns and a petrol bomb with another holding a knife through a picture of the dead baby, top right. The baby, 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, bottom right, died after an arson attack on his home in the West Bank in July. The video has been strongly condemned by many in Israel including by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Perfectly groomed celebrities, their pictures splashed across glossy magazines, can leave ordinary mortals feeling a little flat by comparison.  What's their secret, you can't help but wonder? The answer to one of those questions, at least, has been provided by Cheryl Fernandez-Versini (pictured top left), who was spotted earlier this month with some rather obvious hair extensions. Paris Hilton's all-too-obvious weave was put on show when she tied her hair into a high ponytail (centre) and Elizabeth Hurley's clipped-in weave was exposed by the wind (bottom left). Here, Femail investigates the pitfalls of the secret world of the beauty boosters.

Claire Ford and her husband Clyde (pictured with their son Calum) booked into a holiday cottage in the remote village of Shieldaig, Wester Ross ahead of Christmas. They then lied that they had got snowed in to avoid dealing with the 'tears, shouting and emotional blackmail' of spending Christmas Day with their mothers. Ms Ford said: 'It might sound an extreme solution, but emotions had become so fevered around Christmas that Clyde and I could tolerate it no longer.'

Luke Thackham (pictured top right with his mother), 27, secretly filmed his mother Annette frantically trying to phone a friend (left) to share news of her big 'win'. But the 57-year-old's joy soon turned to anger after her son confessed that it had been a prank. Ms Thackham, from Peterborough, failed to see the funny side and flew into a fit of rage(middle) - and says she has still not forgiven him. Mr Thackham decided to play the prank on Tuesday evening when he visited him mother with his son, seven-year-old Ethan. He gave his mother one of four scratch cards he had bought off eBay (bottom right). She said: 'I'm furious because he's humiliated me. I'm not talking to him. Maybe my luck is in and I should go and get a proper scratchcard.'

These incredibly well-camouflaged animals can all be found living on the island of Madagascar, off the African coast. They include the Madagascar nightjar, which can barely be sen among the leaves of the forest floor, and a number of chameleons - camouflage experts by nature. Leaf tailed geckos mirror tree trunks to avoid predatory birds while leaf chameleons are easily mistaken for fallen leaves.

There have been happy ones, sad ones, awkward ones, tragic ones. There is hardly an emotion that hasn't been lived through over the years at the Royal Family's Christmas get-togethers. Today, as 31 royals gather again at Sandringham, the focus, for once, is on the Queen herself, as this is the last Christmas before her 90th birthday in April. A historic one, then. But they would rather forget some of the awkward Christmases they have had in the past, particularly in the 1990s when there was a tense relationship with Diana (pictured) and a fire devastated Windsor Castle.

Benny, an eight-month-old pit bull, was abandoned last month at Carson Animal Care Center, a high-kill shelter in Gardena, California. On December 10, a family was charmed by the shy pup and decided to take him home, sparing his life and, according to a video of his release, he couldn't be more grateful.

The Daily Mail watched as Petru and Ancuta Neagu (pictured left), aged 29 and 25, filled out the MoneyGram forms (bottom right) to transfer £800 earned begging (top right) to their home city of Iasi in eastern Romania, where their four children, aged between one and seven, live. Within half an hour of sending the cash to Ancuta's mother, who is looking after her grandchildren, Petru was out begging again. He sat on the pavement at the entrance to Selfridges food hall, while Ancuta went shopping at Sainsbury's for the couple's lunch.

It has been an unforgettable year full of moments that have been amazing, heart-warming and terrifying. MailOnline has been there to cover every major story, bringing you first-class footage as events unfolded. Here are the five most viewed news videos that made headlines this year. Pictured top left, exclusive footage from inside a cafe of a jihadi's gun jamming during November's Paris attacks. Top right, the moment a former employee executed two ex-colleagues on live TV in Virginia in August. Bottom left, Jaxon Buell whose parents were told by doctors that he should be aborted because he suffers from an extreme brain malformation says 'hello', in October. Bottom right, Australian pro surfer Mick Fanning fights off a shark on live TV in South Africa in July.

Sir Elton John rode in a wheelchair with his son Zachary on his lap for a family outing at Disneyland in Anaheim on Wednesday (right). The 68-year-old pop star was joined by an entourage including three bodyguards, husband David Furnish, a nanny, their son Elijah, and their very own Disney guide. It's unclear what injury Elton sustained to confine him to a wheelchair, since he and Furnish had no trouble walking out of Barneys New York in Beverly Hills 24 hours earlier (left). The pair had put on a stylish coordinated display, in ensembles made up of black attire as they marked their first wedding anniversary and the 10th anniversary of their civil partnership, with a spot of retail therapy.

Arthur won the hearts of the world after he decided to accompany a Swedish team through the Amazon forest as they tried to complete a 430-mile race - wading through knee-deep mud, climbing steep hills and swimming treacherous rivers to keep pace with his new friends. By the time they had finished, team member Mikael Lindnord (together, inset) knew he could not leave him behind in Ecuador, and set about bringing him back to Sweden to live with him in the frozen north. A year later, Arthur is loving life - and the snow - with his new family (main).

The British man was filmed arguing with staff and threatening to take action against the venue, believed to be a restaurant or a bar located in Thailand. He can be heard asking "Who wants it!? Who wants some!?' before he is knocked out cold with a single punch by one of the members of staff. As he goes down, a second staff member kicks him in the face, before others step in and try to revive the man.

This is the shocking moment a white van man did a three-point turn in the middle of a busy dual carriageway before driving the wrong way down the road in a bid to escape lengthy traffic jams. The horrifying video footage, captured on a dashboard camera, shows the van driver performing the dangerous manoeuvre (circled left) at a slip road joining the A14 in Cambridgeshire. The driver had driven the full length of the slip road and was trying to join the dual carriageway at junction 33 before realising the traffic was heavily congested and backed up for miles. Instead of waiting in the tailbacks, the white van driver appeared to have other ideas and carried out the tricky three-point turn (centre) before zooming back down the slip road the wrong way (right).

The widow of the man who died in prison after he was falsely accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart has committed suicide. Angela Morse Ricci, left, was found dead in her home last week as the result of  'an apparent prescription drug overdose.' . Her passing comes 13 years after her husband Richard Ricci, inset, suffered an aneurysm and fell into a coma while being held at the Utah State Prison on a parole violation. At the time of his death he was the primary suspect in Elizabeth's kidnapping case, and many members of the public and local law enforcement believing him to be guilty of the crime even after his death.'My loving mother and grandmother to my boy TJ passed away suddenly December 18, 2015,' wrote Ms. Ricci's son Trevor Morse. 'The official cause of death was suicide, but I believe she died from a broken heart.'

Harry Thomas, 60, had been wearing the cast for three weeks after he fractured a bone in his thumb and suffered a torn tendon when he came off his motorbike. But after spilling oil in his cast while at his workshop, the 'chainsaw artist' decided to take matters into his own hands to remove the cast and clean the burning oil from his arm. His son Danny used a razor sharp chainsaw to cut through the cast while Harry held his own still on a workbench.

While Christmas adverts have become big business in recent years, several festive campaigns from back in the day still live long in the memory and remain just as iconic, if not more, than the big-budget productions of today. Much-loved British brands like Oxo and Woolworths left their own mark on the festive season with ads from yesteryear that still resonate despite having cost a fraction of today's big-budget blockbusters. From the late Lynda Bellingham serving up Christmas dinner to the 'Holidays are Coming' Coca-Cola truck, Christmas campaigns have long competed for our attention in the lead up to the big day - and many have long out-lived even their own brand. However, while festive campaigns have, for many years, reminded us of love, family and fun at Christmas time - they have also become excuses for huge companies to battle each other over who can attract the most custom with the best campaign. Here, MailOnline takes a look back at how Christmas adverts used to be - before they became multi-million pound Hollywood-directed mega-productions.

Watchara Chote, 36, from Ratchaburi, named his new pet I-Half. The fish had suffered its terrible injuries after trying to leap out of a cement-lined pond. As a result, the fish - a hypsibarbus wetmorei - fractured its bones. These eventually wasted away, causing the tail to fall off.

The pranksters, who have not been identified, were seen clinging to the top of the trees in Beverley, East Yorkshire, in a series of photos that were later posted on Facebook, pictured. The three cone-shaped trees were paid for by the local community after a fundraising drive by residents who had been left disappointed by years without festive decorations.

A stunning remote control plane was scene flying the friendly skies earlier this year. The 1/13 scale model of a Boeing 747-400 was showcased at Airlinertreffen 2015 in Germany. It is designed to look like a Virgin Atlantic plane. The remote control plane has a wingspan of 4.95 meters (approximately 16.24 feet), measures 5.43 meters (approximately 17.81 feet) in length, and weighs 68 kilograms (approximately 150 pounds).

A South African beach that should have been packed with Christmas holidaymakers was instead shut as the giant carcass of a beached humpback whale was recovered as officials feared its blood may attract sharks. Popular with holidaymakers and surfers alike, the resort town of the Strand near Cape Town boasts a variety of watersports including board sailing, surfing, power-boating and paddle-skiing. But it was a sombre scene today as hundreds of people gathered to watch the heavy duty recovery operation to remove the body of the ocean giant.

Photo agency Magnum has compiled its favourite images from 2015 captured by photojournalists in locations as far afield as Iraq, Cuba and the Ukraine. They include a haunting photo of a body covered by a sheet close to the scene of the Bataclan massacre in Paris (right), the bullet wound suffered by an Assyrian man fighting ISIS in Iraq (inset) and desperate Eritrean migrants rescued from their Mediterranean crossing. The collection also features a bikini-wearing pensioner enjoying the beach in Nice, France (left), a student playing the piano in the Ukraine and a Cuban sandwich shop.

A Geelong mother has taken it upon herself to break down any stigma that surrounds breastfeeding. Sarah Murnane (bottom right) started The Australian Breastfeeding Project in October after she took a photo of a group of breastfeeding mothers on the beach (left). Interest in the project grew, and she travelled across Australia to take photos of other new mothers (top right) with hopes will empower those who breastfeed and reduce any negative stigma that surrounds feeding in public.

These black-and-white snaps from the golden age of travel show well-dressed passengers - wearing suits, dresses and fur coats (inset, bottom right) - racing through a Greyhound bus terminal in Washington, DC. There were no orderly queues to board the buses (top left, top right) and anxious passengers who queued for tickets (bottom left) didn't have the luxury of self-ticketing machines or mobile apps. While most of today's travellers are rushing through airports or train stations, the crowds and anxiety of the holiday crush are still with us nearly 75 years on.