Craft a Nativity Diorama Using Paper Dolls

Arrangement for the paper doll figures. CC
An simpler set of figures for young children.

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."

Next Figure(s)

Make these tiny pears for your feather tree...

These tiny pears without their hooks are
no larger longer than one inch.

        Miniature cotton batting pears are simple enough to shape from cotton batting for a beginner. Paint them using water color like washes of acrylic. The acrylics will remain brilliant longer next to artificial lighting over time. Although, I do not hang fairy lights on my feather tree, some of you may choose to do this and so use a paint that has some durability but that also looks delicate after being applied.

Supply List:

• cotton balls (one or two)
• thin wire
• acrylic paints: two greens, brown yellow
• translucent glitter
• white school glue
  

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Unravel the cotton balls.
2. Cut a thin piece of wire and drip on a tiny bit of glue.
3. Wrap the wire with a fine film of cotton. Roll this wire between the palms of your hands to tighten the fibers down.
4. Snip off one inch of the wire and wrap a tear drop pear shape onto the wire slowly. Use glue between the layers of cotton. Let dry.
5. Smooth on a final glue finish and let it dry.
6. Paint the pear with a brown stem.
7. Add a unsaturated green around the edge of the batting that buts up against the stem. Gradually add more water to the green on the pear as you dab towards the center of the shape.
8. Water down the yellow and dab this on the center of the pear. As you approach the bottom end paint with a more intense yellow. Try to make the colors of your pear filter gently into one another, as through you are painting with water color washes on paper.
9. Smear on a bit of white glue after the paint colors have dries and sprinkle on the glitter. Let dry.
10. Paint the vine, which will also act as a hook, a darker green or another green entirely. Let dry and twist it about the stem of the pear into a hook shape.
    

The Secret to A Very Merry Christmas

Wise men seeking a King, a perfect King.

        When the first clear voice of the belfry rings out upon the frost sweetened Christmas morning air, let us rise within ourselves to a higher realization of the significance of the Christmas spirit. It remained for the noble, manger-born Jew of Nazareth to imbue this festival time with the splendid spirit of sacrifice, and to teach us that there is far greater joy in giving than in receiving.
       It is the special mission of all art workers to give. It is within their power to contribute to the world a kind of wealth beside which the millions of the plutocrat seem paltry. The glorious Christmastide affords a fine opportunity for any artist to carry his or her tribute to those who need them most.
       What shall be your frankincense and myrrh? It might be a little song to carry some aged soul back to the golden days of youth, when the argosies (merchant ships) were all coming in, when life was all hope, all joy, all love; it might be a soothing melody caressed from an old violin to ease the pain and mental anguish of some sufferer; it might be some happy little game played or craft made for the dear little ones in a homeless shelter, to make them forget, if for only a few moments, what it means to spend Christmas‚ of all days in the year without a mamma or a papa.
       Come, do not let us fall into the venal convention of making Christmas an consumption of cheap tinsel and gourmandizing. Let us be completely filled with the jovial spirit of the day. Let us remember that it is the privilege of musicians to give certain gifts, not to he found in the steel barred vaults of the multimillionaire. Let us realize that the best way to attain happiness is through making others happy. This is the secret of a Merry Christmas.  
       Since Christ's humble beginnings in Nazareth, the world has made tremendous advances in many directions, and it has also gone through cataclysms too hideous to think about. Empires, great cities, huge navies and millions of men have been wiped out of existence, but these ideals of the Christ Spirit, the spirit of love and giving, enthroned in Christmas, are eternal. A millennium of wars could not crush
       These ideals are still the ideals of many in this materialistic age, even more than ever before. They have sustained and fortified us. They are our everlasting Fountain of Youth, Faith and Joy. We are grateful for the unending fine responses that our readers have always given to them. They bring all of us closer together.

Eel for The Christmas Eve Soup

        Serving Eel is a traditional Italian Christmas dish. It is popular also with the Swedes, Dutch, French and English. In Victorian days, the eel pie was a feature of English fairs. In North America's past, the eel captured in the St. Lawrence and along the Richelieu river in Quebec was believed to have the best taste. In England, the eel of the Severn river was reputed to be of the meatiest grade, so much so, in fact, that before the World Wars the Dutch kept two eel ships moored off of London bridge in accord with an ancient charter.
       In North America, the eel is spawned in the Saragossa sea near Bermuda. Two thousand feet below the surface, the eel emerges from it's egg, a flat and transparent creature. After growing an inch in length, the eel then joins the rest of the herd that starts its migration north.
       The eels will swim for thousands of miles along the coast, heading into estuaries and tidal marshes. Males generally settle down, but the female restlessly moves on until finding waters exactly to her liking. After settling, the eels feed and grow rapidly, adding a row of tiny scales with each birthday. When eight years old, they reach maturity. Then they return to the Saragossa sea to spawn. It is said they turn a silvery white during the breeding period.
       Italian women have many special dishes for preparing this Christmas treat. There are recipes for baking, grilling and frying. The Swedes sell eel for smorgasbord. Cutting it into short lengths, they boil it tender and then mold the flaked white flesh in piquant vinegar aspic.

A lovely Italian grandma makes baccala & eel Soup!

Snowman gift tags to make Christmas a little merrier...

        Here is a set of snowman themed gift tags to label your Christmas presents. I've made these a bit larger than usual in case some little folks have difficulty writing such small text on packages. Kids can color the carrot noses orange too! Ho ho ho...

Snowman gift tags in blue.