Nativity Sets at Wood You Like to Craft?

This month at Wood You Like to Craft? Melinda shared the pattern for her nativity set and asked us each to re-work it in our own style. You can find the patterns by checking out the posts on the WYLTC site...

 

I'm really excited to share my take on Melinda's nativity set with you. This little creation has caused me to have a wild and crazy week, but all for the most wonderful of reasons.
So first, here is what I did...

 

 Are you thinking, wow, that looks an awful lot like Melinda's? That's because for the most part, it is. In the past, I have helped Melinda to cut out a large amount of these sets, I have had my own set that she gave me for years--and I love it. My kids love it. So "re-doing" it wasn't going to happen. I needed another purpose, and as it turned out, I happened to have one.

I work with the young women in our church and while trying to come up with a service project for December, this nativity set and a sweet little book that I used while teaching pre-school came to mind. Together, they made up the perfect base for our 12 Days of Christmas service project.

 

The book that I based our project on is called "This Is The Stable", written by Cynthia Cotton.
 

It's a sweet, rhyming story, that introduces all the key players in the nativity in a pattern similar to "This is the house that Jack built" in that it always comes back to the "quiet stable, dusty and brown."

As the stable is the root of the story, I tweaked Melinda's a bit to make it really stand out.

 

 

 I made it taller, used bead board for the backing, gave it a cross beam, and added a base piece/platform to the front. Everything is cut from 1/2 inch MDF.

 

Then I had to add a few pieces from the story that were missing from the original set...

 

 

I needed a cow and the three gifts from the wise men...

 

 

...which meant I had to tweak the wise men to remove the gifts from their bodies, and last had to separate the manger from baby Jesus.

(Again, everything is cut from 1/2 inch MDF)

 

I love the simplicity of the story, and how each piece compliments it's part in the story.

We'll start our project tonight with a plate goodies and an introduction letter. Then each night after that we will deliver one part of the set along with it's part in the story and a coordinating gift until the set is complete!

Here's a little sample:

 

"This is the stable, dusty and brown, in a quiet corner of Bethlehem town."

(We will deliver the STABLE along with a gingerbread house kit for our family to build together)

 

"This is the star whose light shone down on the quiet stable, dusty and brown."

( we'll deliver the STAR piece along with a candle)

 

"This is the manger, filled with hay to feed the animals sheltered away from the chilly night when the star shone down on the quiet stable, dusty and brown."

( We'll deliver the MANGER along with a Hickory Farms set)

 

I love that the last night we are also including a copy of the book so the family can always remember this Christmas. We separated and wrapped all the gifts last night--my young women are so excited to get busy with this activity. Can you think of a better way to get them into the holiday spirit? I'm so beyond thrilled with how it all came together.

 

 

 I owe a huge chunk of it to Melinda and her nativity set--it made the whole thing come together! So thank you dear friend, for another great idea and fun month here at WYLTC...

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Crafting to you all!