DIY Mini Nativity Set

My Mom designed and put together this beautiful miniature nativity set! You can completely make this tutorial your own; all four materials used for this craft can be substituted. This would make a beautiful holiday decoration or gift. If you already have the supplies to make this craft, it can take as little as 15 minutes!

ETC: 20M-40M

Supplies:
– Cloche or glass case
– Wooden clothespins
– Holly or other holiday foliage
– Felt

This unique nativity set didn’t come together all at once- these were a bunch of crafting supplies that my Mom already had before she had a glorious light bulb moment! When I asked what inspired her, she said she had seen a plastic ornament with a tiny wooden clothespin inside as baby Jesus. She thought about an assorted bag of wooden clothespins she had purchased this past summer from Michaels, and quickly set out to find it. You can use any type of small wooden item to represent the characters, you don’t need to use clothespins. Check out your closest dollar store!

My mom then had the idea to wrap the Jesus clothespin in a ‘blanket’, using beige-coloured felt that she wrapped around the clothespin until she was happy with how it was placed.

The ring of holly around the Joseph, Mary and Jesus clothespins is actually from a huge roll of wired holly wreaths we found at a thrift store a few years ago (which is sadly almost gone!). You could use any type of holiday foliage such as a twig of spruce, red winter berry branches, etc.

The dainty cloche used to encase the nativity set is from a thrift store! You can easily use an upside down jar instead.

Every once in a while look through your local thrift stores, you’ll be shocked at the potential craft supplies you can find!

Stay inspired,
Kendra

Dollar Store DIY Birch Slice Garland

ETC: 20M-40M

Supplies:
– Jute
– Wooden slices
– Drill

This adorable DIY is courtesy of my Mom, who found these mini birch slices at the dollar store and it didn’t take her long to find a use for them! She bought two bags, which had about 10-12 in each. Mom, who’s a little tree crazy, was decorating our kitchen tree (yes, kitchen tree) when she then had the brilliant idea to drill holes through the birch slices to create a garland! After quickly enlisting Dad to drill the holes through the birch (he did so with an 1/8 drill bit) Mom easily threaded the jute through the holes.

It took only 15 minutes to string this garland together!
Mom wanted to give the tree a vintage baking meets woodland theme.

Also, Mom didn’t measure the jute out beforehand, just kept stringing the garland until she could wrap it around the tree and it looked the way she liked. You can easily paint little stencils onto these pieces to personalize them, or even create little ornaments! Try applying vinyl to these! This is a very versatile craft- make it your own.

Stay inspired,
Kendra