My New Nativity Set

I am the proud owner of a nativity set made by my grandchildren! I know Christmas is over, but I'm still finishing some things, so I'm letting you in on the fun.  It was one of the projects that I did with the kids over the holiday. I still have a couple of grandchildren that need to add their pieces, but they may have to wait until next year. For now, I have all the main pieces, some of which are in the oven right now, and I am starting the finishing work. I am doing the details and faces, etc., so they will be a matched set. They are so cute. Mostly they are short and kind of squatty, and I love them. They are made from salt dough, which my kids loved to use when they were young, and their children do, too.

Bags of salt dough!

We had to do a little experimenting, because I've never made free-standing stuff before, only ornaments that hang. The salt dough is really dense and heavy, so I finally figured out that we needed a base to build on. Aluminum foil was the best thing at hand, so I made these little foil cones, like something out of science fiction. (You can't hear me, but I'm humming the theme song from the Twilight Zone.)

As you can see in the before photo, they look white-ish and dried out after they are baked, but as soon as you varnish them, they look great. I am using acrylic paints and fabric paints to do the finishing details. If you make any salt dough stuff, you need to know that the paint doesn't stick very well to the plain dough, but if you put a coat of varnish or decoupage medium on it first, then you can paint it easily. Then give it another coat of varnish and it will be permanent. Here are some before and after photos.

You can tell Joseph isn't finished yet. He's waiting to be baked.

You can really see the difference in these photos. The before figures look all
dried and cracked and the finished ones look much better. Cute camel, huh?
He was too tired to stand up any longer. (So said the grandson who made it.)

The shepherds didn't get fancied up like the wise men, but this one had to have a crook. The other one, not done yet, has a lamb in his arms.

Salt dough is a very fun medium to work with, and truly inexpensive, too. If you have never worked with it before, you should try it. Kids love to work with clay and this is one of the cheapest ways I know of to create "works of art" that you can bake in your own oven and keep for years! I am going to make a tutorial, with all the things I've learned over the years about working with salt dough, so keep an eye out for that.

You know, the more I work with children, the more amazed I am. They are creative without even trying. They are SMART! I think kids today come out of the womb smarter than I will ever be. They are joyful. They spread joy without even knowing it. I love to watch them when they don't know they're being watched, to listen to them chatter and interact with one another, or just be by themselves, talking  to themselves or to imaginary friends, whichever the case may be. My little granddaughter sings ALL THE TIME. If she isn't singing actual words then she is humming, and I love to hear her making up her own little songs. Sometimes she drives me crazy because she sings the same line or phrase over and over and over again, but I still love the fact that she sings. As I leave you today, I want you to consider these words, written by Angela Scwindt: "While we try to teach our children all about life, they teach us what life is all about." Isn't that so true? Until next time,

Merry Christmas!

I know it's a little early, but I am taking the next couple of weeks off to finish projects and to just enjoy time with my family. Things have slowed down a bit, but not totally. I still have a few things to make and some baking to do, but I took the day off today and I feel much better. I wanted to take this opportunity to say Thank You to anybody out there who is reading this blog. I know there aren't many of you, and I hope there will be more someday, but for now, a big THANKS to the few.

Before I take my break, I want to show you some photos of a nativity a good friend of mine made. Her name is Robin and she is one of the craftiest people I know. She is always making some goody or another, plus she sings and leads a singing group, directs and acts in plays, she's involved in church and community, and so many other things. She cuts her own wood items, too. Anyway, here is one of her nativities (she has a whole collection of them.)

The pictures were taken while it was on display at the annual Festival of Trees at the Old Logandale School in Logandale, Nevada.

Last year we spent Christmas with the six of us living in our little tiny motor home. We had very little money and it wasn't a big Christmas, but it was a good one. We had what we needed and the kids were happy and that's all that mattered. Here are a few photos from last year.

You can see our little tiny tree in the background of a couple of the photos. It was all we had room for and we loved it. We were stuffed into our little space and could barely move, but we were together. It was such a tight fit that when we cooked, or ate, or did dishes, we had to put the tree in the bath tub so we could use that little counter space.

Christmas will be so different this year. We don't have any more money this year, but we will have more family. We are going to Elko, Nevada, to my oldest daughter's home. We will have 10 adults and 15 children (I wish it was going to be all 16) and there will be lots of laughter and craziness, which is a given in our family, and there will be snow and snow angels and snowmen, and sledding and hot chocolate and, of course, presents. I hope we will not be so caught up in the chaos that we won't remember what it's really all about. My family are not active in the church and don't even think about the reason for the season, so I hope I can get them all to stop and take a minute to listen to the real story of Christmas, the only one that really counts.

I will be back after the festivities to show you pictures of my family, the whole group of them, so you can see the many reasons I have for being happy. I love them all very much. Merry Christmas to you and yours and I hope you enjoy your holiday as much as I plan to! 

Day 12 of the Twelve Days of Christmas

This is it! The last day of the Twelve Days of Christmas! And, of course, it's a nativity. For me, that is the culmination of all the happiness and joy and celebrating. The real reason for Christmas. I have a little pin that says Jesus is the Reason for the Season, and I wear it all season long.

Our little nativity is all natural this year and it looks like this:

Gather your supplies and let's get started. You will need: cinnamon sticks, whole cloves, whole allspice, Star Anise, a pine cone and jute twine. You will also need a little hot glue to help you hold it together and a little saw to cut the cinnamon sticks and the pine cone.

You need 5 cinnamon sticks to 3" to 3 1/2" long. Mine were 7" so I just cut them in half. You can adjust if yours are 4", but if they're longer than that, you need to use a saw to cut them. You also need one piece 1 1/4" long, for Joseph. You need to use a saw to cut a petal from a pine cone for Mary. And you need 1 whole star Anise and one piece of one, for the baby.

Start by laying out your five cinnamon sticks in the shape of a stable. When you get everything placed just right, lift each piece and put a little dab of hot glue. When you get it all fastened together, use the jute to tie it at each joint. Also tie a piece of jute at the top for a hanger.

Now, you're going to make the figures. Start by finding two whole cloves with good size bracts and two pretty good size allspice, too.

Pull the clove out of the bract and use your fingernail to clean it out good. Glue the allspice into the bract. This makes the head with a collar under it.

For Joseph, glue the clove down into the short piece of cinnamon stick.

For Mary, glue it to the back of the pine cone petal.

Sorry some of these photos are blurry. I was having trouble with the macro setting on my camera. I finally got it to work, so they get better. Now we're going to work on the star and the baby.

Some of the Star Anise will be broken, so if you can't find a whole one, or one you like anyway, then you can glue pieces together to make a whole. After you get your star chosen, pick one of the broken, single pieces to use for the baby's body.

The seed inside will be the body, the hull will be the manger, and you glue a small allspice to the open end for the head. Now, you're ready to put it all together. Using hot glue, fasten Joseph and Mary to the back of the bottom piece of the stable. Glue baby Jesus in front of them, head toward Mary. Glue your star at the point of the roof and you're done!

I love this little nativity. I got my first one at a yard sale about 10 years ago, and I've been meaning to make some more ever since, but never got around to it until now. I DID buy all the supplies 3 or 4 years ago, though, so I still honored my "no buy" challenge for this year! Children really like these little nativities, and they can make them with help. They make sweet gifts for Primary teachers, and it's a nice little project for Activity Day Girls and Young Women, too.

A man named Harlan Miller said he wished we could put some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar every month. I think the world would be a much better place if we had an endless supply of that spirit to call on when we feel contentious, or jealous, or blue. Maybe we'll have to come up with a project that would be somewhat comparable to one of those jars. Let's all think on it and see what we come up with. And by the way, there seems to be no cure for the common birthday, and I am a year older today. Until next time,

This post linked to:

Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou

Day 5 of the 12 Days of Christmas!!

Another ornament. This one is all about the real meaning of Christmas, and your children will love to make this one.

You will need:
Round or square wooden toothpicks
Glue
An old Christmas card with a picture of the nativity OR
A stamped or hand drawn nativity
Scissors

Using the toothpicks for size, pick a picture that will fit into your "stable" that you are going to make. Glue a toothpick across the bottom and one on each side, overlapping the ends of the toothpicks about 1/2" like Lincoln Logs. Glue two more toothpicks to the top, making a roof shape and again overlapping the ends of the toothpicks. Let this part dry.

When its dry, trim around the toothpicks as close as you can get without causing your stable to fall apart. Now start adding toothpicks to your structure. Glue them in the same order that you did to begin with...bottom, sides, roof, bottom, sides, roof. You can move the sides out just a little bit each time if you want it to really seem like you're looking into the stable. Make your stable three or four toothpicks deep.

Now find another card with a picture of a Christmas tree that will fit in the shape of your stable. Trace around your stable onto the card and cut it out. Glue it to the back of the stable and glue toothpicks to frame it. Use fine gold cord or embroidery floss to loop through the toothpicks at the top and form a hanger.

As you make these little nativities, you can tell your children the real Christmas story, or discuss the real meaning of Christmas. You will be able to plant in their hearts the true joy of the birth of our Savior, and what it means to us as individuals, families and the world. Activities like this help our children learn without even realizing it and they will remember these times for years to come.
Remember...a happy memory is a hiding place for treasures. "Night, Gramma G.