Craft a Nativity Diorama Using Paper Dolls

Arrangement for the paper doll figures. CC

The Nativity by Charles Kingsley

O blessed day which giv'st the eternal lie

To self, and sense, and all the brute within;

Oh! come to us amid the war of life;

To hall and hovel come! to all who toil

In senate, shop and study! and to those

Ill-warned and sorely tempted-

Come to them, blest and blessing, Christmas Day!

Tell them once more the tale of Bethlehem,

The kneeling shepherds and the Babe Divine;

And keep them men indeed, fair Christmas Day!

        Children may collect all nine if these lovely paper dolls (some are pictured together) from the Creative Commons. Each paper doll represents a character in the traditional Christmas Crèche. The restored illustrations are not to be redistributed from alternative collections or sold for profits.
       What is a Crèche? A painting, diorama, display or sculpture representing the birth of Jesus.
       After you have printed them out on your home computer, color and cut them, arrange and paste the figures neatly inside a box.
       Add even more blue or purple paint to the box for the night sky and glitter for the endless stars.
       Collect straw or grass to arrange about the figures. Place the diorama on a table or beneath the Christmas tree in your home.

Angel figure with outstretched arms and wings.

       "Displaying a creche, a scene showing the Bethlehem stable at the birth of Christ, is one modern Christmas custom tied directly to Jesus' birth. Other decorations - candles, garlands, bright ornaments, holly, mistletoe and even the Christmas tree - stem from other customs and or from legends.

      The tableau of the Christmas creche is an effort to tell again the story of  the birth of Jesus in a manger. More than 700 years ago, St. Francis of Assisi made such a model to help make the story more real for Italian boys and girls. Since then many others have been made, some of them rare and expensive art treasures, some simple and lovingly made at home.

       One by one, we bring you figures which you can put into your own Christmas creche. Above you can see how to arrange them after cutting the figures out, mounting them on cardboard, and coloring these in.

       The angel is to be hung above the creche scene. This may be done by putting a thread or cord through the two holes at the top of her wings. Use a hole punch for this."

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