The Art of Receiving Guests

How to make a DIY Nativity Scene

Crib is the most popular Christmas decoration in Italy. Every year in many cities a lot of people participate in classes to learn how to build it at home. In trade fairs the area dedicated to crib is bigger and bigger, clear evidence of the interest on it. I like to see on these occasions fathers and children watching, spellbound, mill wheels spinning, wells for water, statuettes of the trades on the move ... Crib is Christmas!

handmade characters for crib — Needle felted wool Holy Family

DIY crib ideas

The crib is the most important sign of Christmas for Christians. The tree is rather a symbol of consumerism.
A lot of people had always devoted time and patience to crib sinceit was "invented" by St. Francis.
Typically we Italians buy the figurines year after year. Crib fans are always looking for new ideas of mechanical devices or special houses to enrich it with details. So it is usually a project that grows over time. My husband and I, instead, offer you some ideas of DIY small cribs that we made with different techniques. Our statues in fact can be made with needle felted wool or wire technique ... read more ...

Crib How-To

Nativity scene with wire technique

Crib figures made with wire technique, easy to do

All the crib is built by hand. Houses gluing bits of branch and bark; characters with the wire technique. On the page you will find step by step descriptions including all the photos.

Holy Family with needle felted wool figures

This is a very special scene that emphasizes the Holy Family. It photographs the hours immediately following the birth of Jesus, before the arrival of the shepherds. The characters are built with the technique of needle felted wool.