How to make mini cotton batting candy canes...

Mini cotton batting candy canes for feather tree.

       Candy canes are very old-fashioned theme for a Christmas tree. These petite "shepherd" hooks in peppermint colors red and white are simple made and look charming on any feather tree.

Supply List:

• thin wire
• cotton balls
• chenille stem
• red and white acrylic paint
• tiny brush
• translucent glitter
• white school glue
• fine gold cord for hanging

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Bend and cut the candy cane shape in the size and proportion you prefer. My mini candy canes for the family feather tree measure approximately two inches.
   
2. Unravel two to three cotton balls.
3. As you work with the batting and white glue it is easier at first to unbend the candy cane and cover the full length of the chenille stem with a even distribution of cotton. I made mine approximately 1/4".
4. Now bend one end into a hook shape again. Let the batting and glue dry and harden.
5. Roll a thin layer of glue and cotton batting down a foot length of wire between your finger tips. Make it an even coating of cotton as you go.
6. Next paint the candy cane hook red. Let it dry completely.
7. Wrap the white cotton coated wire around the red hook using white glue to attach it. Let dry.
8. Smear a bit of white glue on the mini candy cane and sprinkle it with glitter.
9. Attach a thin gold cord for hanging

Wise Men Inside the Diorama

Three Kings bearing precious gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
These gifts are things that a great King would need for his burial.

       Here, the third picture in the series of your creche, are the three Wise Men, who traveled a great distance to see the new King and to bring Him gifts. A tradition says their names were Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. 

       Paste this picture on cereal box cardboard and color is with crayons, markers or colored pencils. The kings are kneeling on straw, which is yellow. They are dressed richly and in brilliant colors- reds, blues, greens. Each king represents different parts of the world where people have many different colors of skin, so the picture should reflect this idea.

We three kings of Orient are:

Bearing gifts we traverse afar.

Field and fountain, moor and mountain,

following yonder Star.

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Oranges for Christmas...

       Make the bowl of colored construction paper. The oranges may be cut from white paper and colored with bright orange colored crayon. The paper oranges are pasted together to present a piled appearance, and then placed back into the bowl. If desired a few holly sprays, taken from the spray from the clip art file may be put in and among the oranges, to give a Christmas appearance. The design may be displayed on the wall after the picture is finished.

Pattern for orange bowl and oranges.

"An Orange for Frankie" is written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco.

       Children might like to make Christmas orange pomanders for the festive season. To make pomanders you will need toothpicks, cinnamon, whole cloves, and oranges. Spread out newsprint or an old tablecloth onto the surface you will be working on. Give each person their own orange and toothpicks to work with. Poke a design or face into the flesh of the orange and plug each tiny hole with a clove. Once you have finished your design, put the oranges into a pretty dish and cover them generously with the cinnamon. The pomander will perfume the air and keep your home smelling just like Christmas!

Stamped ornaments from Brown Bag cookie tiles

Cookie stamps were sold inside a small wooden catty with decoupaged label.

        These cookie stamps by Brown Bag, 1999 are about half the size of regular Brown Bag cookie molds. They came in a set of four, which I have, but only two are included below so far. Visitors may copy the way that I have painted my own if they wish. I used air dry clay to mold stamped ornaments so that they would be incredibly light weight for the Christmas tree. I hand painted my ornaments with acrylics.

The snowman carries a straw broom stick and wears a top hat and scarf. He has a carrot for a nose.

The Santa is dressed more like a belsnickle here and he carries a small Christmas tree with star on top.

DIY Miniature Cotton Batting Cherries

Cotton batting cherries and stems.

       Here is another very simple, miniature ornament to complete for your feather tree. Small cherries on stems in festive Christmas colors of red and green.

Supply List:

• thin wire
• cotton balls 
• white school glue
• acrylic paints: green, red
• transparent glitter

Step-by-Step Instructions:

• Start by unraveling 5 or 6 cotton balls.
• Cut a length of then wire and apply a thin line of white glue down it's length. 
• Roll small pieces of batting on to it's length between your fingers until the wire is covered evenly with a thin layer of cotton.
• Bend this four inch length wire in half and glue small balls of cotton at each end.
• Build up the balls of cotton until these are the size of cherries. Let dry.
• Paint the stems with green acrylic paint.
• Paint the cherries dark to light from their centers nearest the stem and gradually add more water to the painted surface as you proceed around the cherry.
• Where the red is lightest brush on a thin coat of white glue and sprinkle on transparent glitter.
• Add a wire hook covered with cotton batting and painted a darker green.

Shepherds Inside The Diorama

Two shepherds, two sheep, one staff.

 

       Here are two of the shepherds who were in the fields of Bethlehem and followed the light of the great star to the manger. One of them is a grown man and the other a young boy who has carried his pet lamb as a gift to the Christ Child. Together thy form the second picture with which to make your own Christmas crib or creche.
       Color the figures brightly, paste them on cardboard and cut them out in one piece. The big sheep is gray, but the lamb is white.
       So that the figures will stand up, fold forward the center part of the base, and fold back the two end flaps. Then put it away with the angel until you have the whole set.

While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around

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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."

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