Sunday, December 12, 2010

Nativity Blocks

My kids LOVE these Nativity blocks. 

We have a breakable Nativity set that lives up high on a shelf, but these are indestructible and fun to play with.  So we cleared out the bottom shelf of the kids' bookshelf for them, so the star can live up one shelf and shine over Baby Jesus.
They're also hard to get a good picture of because as soon as I start to arange them for a picture, the kids come in and HAVE to play with them RIGHT now. 

Of course Baby Jesus is Sweet Pea's favorite.

And that's Firecracker behind her stacking them to compare how many pieces we have of each size.
I made these quite a while ago, long before I'd started or even heard of craft blogs.  My mom first got the idea at a Christmas Craft Day at church.  I borrowed her set to copy them for our family and to make as gifts several years ago.  The original set had Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, The Three Wise Men, a shepard, and two sheep.  Then two years ago, I added the angel, donkey, camel, and star because we still had a few extra blocks left over.  The blocks are just 2x4's that were cut, sanded, and stained.  Then I traced the design in pencil, painted them with acrylic paint, and then used a black paint pen to go over the lines.  (That makes the images stand out and also helps to cover any small mistakes made when you painted.

Because I made these long before I was blogging, I don't have a printable pattern for them, but I did scan the blocks themselves in using our scanner, so even though they're not very printable, you could trace them off yoru computer screen.

NOTE: 

I forgot to include the lengths of the blocks initially.  Most of them are 8 1/2 inches tall. Mary is 7 in. Baby Jesus is 5 in. The sheep are 4 in. The donkey is on a longer one because that's what I had and didn't want to go cut the wood again, but he could be on one a little shorter.

Here is the link to a PDF in Google Documents that you can download to get the Nativity Blocks pattern here. I just put the blocks on my scanner and scanned them in, so it's in full color.

I also recently saw an idea of felt nativity finger puppets at the Craft Patch.  Anybody else have some Nativity related craft ideas?  I'm always looking for more.

You can see a round up of my Christmas posts from last year here.

Please show my sponsors some love...
ELF OWL, 8x10 - From NJoyArt
Fat Quarter Bundle of Joy - From Sisters and Quilters
The True Reason for the Season - Art Print from Prints of Peace

33 comments:

  1. Ahh, hooray! I'm so happy to finally have a pattern for these. Not that I'll get around to making them this year anyway, but they've been on my to-do list since I helped Mom make that set years ago. Olivia would absolutely love them. :) Thanks Polly!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am LOVING this!!!!
    I have seen nativities out of blocks that just had the printed names on them (Maria, Josef, Jesus, ...) - but they were just for fun kinda. I totally totally love this one. Even though we already have a nativity for playing - it is a bough one though - this is so cute!!!! I really want one.
    Will think of nativity related craft links ... way too late now (after midnight over here) but I HAD to comment after I read that you MADE this. I had this post open for hours but thought they were storebought and figured as I live in Germany there would be no way that I could buy them anyway ...
    AWESOME idea!!! REALLY!
    May I link to it with a picture? I will have to share this!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Perfect for little toddler hands! Love this, b/c my little one wants to play with our porcelain Nativity set so badly!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I was hoping that some of your creativity would rub off on me while we were together on Thanksgiving, but no such luck!

    ReplyDelete
  5. SOOOO much fun...love that they're kid-friendly!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yes, and I'm hopefully posting about it on Wednesday, fingers crossed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What sizes ARE they? I know you said 2x4's, but how long for each size? I think I can make those this week...for Primary and then for home!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love these blocks! Such a cute idea and so fun for kids.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love it! I'm actually in the process of making some of these for my little one, but they're a lot smaller. After seeing this, I might just have to scrap it and start over so I can make them big like yours. Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for linking up to Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Craft Edition - I featured you today! - Mandy, www.craftedition.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. These are wonderful. You did a great job making a child's nativity!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Very Cute!! Awesome Idea! Thanks SO Much for sharing & Linking up for Craftify It Thursday!

    ReplyDelete
  13. these are amazing. my daughter would love these, plus, they look adorable!

    I'm hosting a giveaway right now that you might be interested in!

    ReplyDelete
  14. saw you on made by you monday and i LOVE this idea!! i think I'm going to have to make some!! thanks for sharing :D

    ReplyDelete
  15. They are very cute! I thought they were stickers at first, which would be so much easier than painting! Don't you love how kids only want something when you need it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I saw your link on the Weekend Wrap Up. I think these are wonderful. They would also be a lovely gift for a new baby. Christmas blessings to you and your family.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Those our darling, and they would be perfect for our family. I have a 2 year old and a 5 month old. Just so cute.

    http://www.alwaysinwonder.com
    Having a blog GIVEAWAY for a $20 Home Depot Gift card if anyone is interested.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Super cute! I need to do this! Maybe a good post-Christmas activity to prepare for next year. Thanks for the great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love the idea of a nativity set kids can play with. I think I'll have to make my own!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm in LOVE with these!! I'm sure you have lots to do but feel free to come link up to handmade tuesdays @ ladybug blessings.

    www.ladybug-blessings.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love this! I'll have to remember this for next year!

    ReplyDelete
  22. We love ours! Each year my little ones enjoy them and I love that they have a nativity set that engages them. One of the best gifts we ever received. Thank you Polly!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Just stumbled upon your blog. I love your ideas you've posted! Thanks so much for offering them free to us.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I made a set for my nephew for Christmas this year and I can't wait so see how much he likes them. I did mine a bit different, I bought the pattern for the nativity from Scrapchick (http://myscrapchick.com/collection_small2.htm) and cut them out, put them together and mod podged them to the blocks.

    ReplyDelete
  25. My husband and I made a set of these for the Grandkids. They love them and like to tell the story with them. We're making another set with some friend's children before Christmas. Thinking it would be fun to make Daniel and the Lions, David and Goliath, etc. (We teach Sunday School to 3-4 year olds.)

    ReplyDelete
  26. These were on my "maybe next year" list, and I went to my family Christmas party to find that two of my sisters-in-law had made a version of these for everyone in the family! They even put scripture references on the back of each block. Rather than painting each block, they used nativity stickers and mod-podged over them. They are a bit smaller, and they don't have the hand-painted look, but they took a fraction of the time to make! My kiddos love them.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is an adorable set! I can't believe that you painted these by just tracing. You did an amazing job! I LOVE the picture of your cutie holding the Jesus block. That is priceless!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. Thanks for sharing your idea and patterns. I made them for my daughter this year. They are GREAT! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  29. How funny! I made my set of 2x4 nativity blocks about 15 or so years ago. I used for patterns characters from a stuffed nativity set my mum sent me. As it was freehand, it was a great deal of work. I've only made a few sets and don't have any camels in mine-I do have an angel, though. On one block I write John 3:16 and put the family name on it. "For God so love 'the Smith's'...
    I often make small nativity sets from smaller pieces of wood. Those are just silhouettes of the Holy Family in the recipient's favorite color.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Can you scan the pattern of your star? It was left out of the other patterns.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Thank you so much! I saw similar things made with discontinued stickers. I can't wait to make a set. Thank you. Found it on pintrest.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Thank yo so much for sharing. I saw something similar with stickers but I love the idea of painting. Thanks for the pattern.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I love hearing from you. I also love responding, so please make sure your Blogger account is set up for me to be able to see your email address or include your email address. I've had to stop accepting anonymous comments due to spam. If you don't have any other way to comment, you can always send an email.