No room at the inn? No kidding – the denizens of these strange nativity scenes would get even the kindest innkeeper flipping the switch on the No Vacancy sign.

The Modern Nativity Hipster Nativity Set throws tradition out the window and recasts the original nativity in a modern mold. “We started joking about how religions would be different if their sacred texts were set in modern times,” explains creator Casey Wright, who whipped up the concept while enjoying a few beers with his buddies. How hipster-ish is The Modern Hipster Nativity Set? Well, Joseph sports a man-bun and wears a denim shirt while he takes a selfie with Mary, who’s holding a coffee from a certain popular java purveyor as she puckers up with her best duck-face.

Meanwhile, the fashionably sunglassed Three Wise Men roll in on Segways bearing gifts bought online at Amazon. The shepherd captures the miraculous event for posterity by posting it on Instagram using the hashtag #babyjesus. Clean green electric power for his tablet provided via solar panels on the manger’s roof because global warming.

That Ain’t Kosher

Y’know, we liked The Last Supper a lot better when Leonardo da Vinci painted it but hey – not everyone’s a vegetarian. Flickr user quik86 uploaded this iconic image of a baking bacon and sausage nativity back in December of 2010 but some things never get old, especially when they’re smothered in bacon.

Kitty Nativity

For over ten years, sisters Annette and Sue Amendola have been setting up a classic nativity scene outside their home in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The scene itself wasn’t out of the ordinary… at least it wasn’t until a bunch of stray cats arrived and made it their own.

The clowder of kittehs was first attracted by food the Amendola sisters would leave out but then stayed to enjoy the replica manger’s comfy bales of hay. “When the figurine of baby Jesus does finally appear on the hay bale,” explains Annette, “the cats usually push him right off to take their rightful spot.” Cats: doing the devil’s work since 0 AD.

Praise Cheeses

We’ve got your cheesy nativity scene right here, highlighted by a Babybell Jesus and an Emmental angel personifying Oh Hole-y Night. Not suitable for the lactose intolerant.

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Strange Manger The Worlds Weirdest Nativity Scenes

Cool and clever trump common sense and normal physics in this levitating record turntable, which aims to bring a vintage technology into the future.

Mag-Lev Audio wants to push audio technology in a new (vertical) direction, creating an “uplifting experience of music” in the form of the world’s first floating record player.

The device, the creators claim, not just about a look, but also the ability to “maintain the incredibly precise turning of the platter with sensor regulating software. Air is the smoothest medium with least amount of friction, which further elevates this project into a truly unique listening experience.”

Feet support the spinning platter when it is not in use while stored-up power can bring the system to a comfortable stop and lift the needle in case of an outage (instead of it dropping the floating disc uncontrolled).

The makers boast the simplicity of the system: “pick a favorite record; turn the turntable on; move the tone arm into position; and lower the cueing lever; then let the smart-record player do the rest.”

A series of LED lights and digital displays lend the entire setup an air of cyberpunk futurism as well, reinforcing the ambient aesthetic created by the floating form of the disk. Whether this approach will take off remains to be seen, but the gadget has already raised enough money on Kickstarter to make it happen.

Spanning 1,700 square feet of interior walls in a Washington, DC office building, this stunning digital display cycles through different settings and seasons, reacting to workers as they walk through the building.

Designed by ESI, the bright and dynamic lobby installation is also visible through expansive glass panels at the front of the building, making it visually accessible to the public as well.

The design shifts between three core programs: Color Play, Cityscape and Seasons. The scenes are constantly shifting, generated by algorithms that keep them fresh from one day to the next. Ambient sounds play in the background, adding a layer of effect to the visual experience.

The installation is 80 feet wide and 13 feet high, seamlessly integrated into the architectural surfaces. In Season mode, it displays DC’s famous cherry trees through periods of the year. In Color Play, bright patterns light up the walls. In Cityscape, iconic architecture, statues and transportation settings are shown.

“The different media create distinct rhythms to give terrell place a unique identity and strong street presence,” says Michael Schneider, Senior Creative Technology Designer at ESI design. “Each of the media scenes reflects the time of day and the movement of people through the lobby, acting almost as a large abstract data-visualization of the ebb and flow of Terrell Place.”

Paired to fantastic effect, a series of arch-forming shelving units and a black-mirrored floor create a wraparound tunnel in a Chinese bookstore, punctuated by a fracture leading visitors through the resulting passageway.

Designed by Shanghai studio XL-Muse (images Shao Feng), these floor-to-ceiling shelves in the Yangzhou Zhongshuge bookshop drew inspiration from the winding and reflective Zhen Yuan river nearby, as well as the area’s arched bridges.

“In the past, guided by water, many literati and poets visited and gathered here,” said XL-Muse, and these regional infrastructural icons were “used to be the guiding factor of culture and commerce, and they represent that the bookstore is the bond between humans and books at the same time.”

The tunnel opens up into a vast library-worth realm of further reading in the cavernous interior, with architectural elements echoing the arches of the entry corridor. The rounded-and-arched theme is carried through in thin pillars and sloping displays.

Additional interior design dimensions come into play in themed reading spaces for children and adults, with starry ceilings and other humanizing elements. Here, furniture colors and shapes soften these spaces and make them more comfortable and inviting for longer-term occupation.

Combining a Japanese floral arrangement tradition (ikebana) with the hunting convention of mounted trophies, these plant holders allow for clever, colorful and ever-changing organic displays.

The Elkebana consists of a pair of glass flower holders set into a familiar wooden wall plaque, designed by Fabio Milito & Paula Studio and hand-crafted in Italy.

Its creators have had quite a bit of fun naming some of their experimental arrangements, including Nora the Angora, Girgenta the Goat, Jason the Aries, Isidoro the Oryx and Frank the Buck.

Unlike the more morbid mounts that inspired this creation, there is also a greater degree of flexibility – change the flowers or their organization and you change the piece.

And unlike traditional tabletop vessels for botanical displays, this one works well for small living spaces where surface area cannot be sacrificed.

Made of high quality birch plywood, solid walnut, solid oak or cork shield, the wall mounts hold your botanical arrangements in the two hand-blown glass vases.

From its makers: “The ‘ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of arranging floral elements in harmonious compositions. Elkebana brings the ancient art of ikebana to the wall, in order to transform the wall trophy idea into a continuously mutating, colourful creature.”