Our handmade wooden nativity set is my favorite. Just because it was handmade by us.
It may not be the most beautiful, and the painting isn’t perfect, but it’s beautiful to me. There’s something about handmade Christmas ornaments and handmade Christmas gifts that are just so much more special to me. Making things together at Christmastime is one of our cherished family traditions.
When I see it, I remember the sweet time painting the figures with my daughter. I love that we have this memory of painting these together. I also love that this nativity set, since it’s made with natural wood, is more durable and I can let the kids play with it.
Supplies Needed for This Project
This post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure here.
- 7 Wood Peg Doll 3.5″ Bodies for Mary, Joseph, shepherd, angel, and three wise men
- 1 Wood Peg Doll 2 3/8″ (you can let your kids paint the extra ones!)
- Wood Bowl (extras can be used for other educational activities)
- 1 Wood Ball 1 1/4″ for the large sheep (you may need to sand the bottom so it can stand up)
- 2 Wood Balls 1″ for the small sheep (bottom may need to be sanded)
- Assorted colors of acrylic craft paint (we used black, white, yellow, gray, brown, blue, green, red, and metallic gold)
- Wool Roving for hay
- White Felt for Angel’s Wings (we used a stiffer white sparkle felt)
- Glue gun and glue sticks to glue on angel wings
How to Make a Handmade Wooden Nativity Set
We had never made anything like this before, so it was a new experience for us.
I had seen a picture of someone else’s hand-painted nativity set, and I modeled my figures after the inspiration photo.
We did a few things differently, and painted a few of the details in our own way. We didn’t worry about perfection, we just did our best and had fun.
Our figures didn’t turn out perfectly, but they did turn out much better than I had anticipated! It always helps to not expect perfection.
We just looked at our inspiration photo of the handmade wooden nativity set and painted our wood figures accordingly. It was actually fairly simple!
The baby’s eyes didn’t turn out the way I had hoped (the paintbrush I was using had a stray hair and it kind of smudged one of them!) but that’s okay. I used some wool roving (left over from another project) to line the “manger” with.
The wooden balls did need to be sanded on the bottom to make a smooth surface so they would stand up without rolling off the table!
My daughter painted all of the wise men. She did a great job! The one with the green robe does have a little smudge of green paint on his cheek, but that just gives him more character. 🙂
We hot-glued sparkly white felt wings to the back of the angel.
This set is being kept in the school room, and this morning during our read-aloud time my youngest had such a fun time playing with them. ♥
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Pin it for Later
alice says
December 22, 2019 at 3:28 pmsuch a cute idea! I’d love to do this with my kids when they get older. THanks for sharing with us at #OMHGWW
Joy Kincaid says
December 28, 2019 at 9:09 pmThank you!
angie says
December 19, 2019 at 10:06 pmI have several nativity sets not one like your wooden set here though it is very charming thanks for sharing
come see us at http://shopannies.blogspot.com
Tracy says
November 29, 2019 at 2:35 pmI absolutely love this can’t wait for my grandchildren to be old enough to make a set altho I’m not wishing time away
Joy Kincaid says
November 29, 2019 at 3:38 pmThank you, Tracy!
Jennifer Wise says
December 10, 2018 at 10:18 amWOW!!!! This looks absolutely perfect to me! I love it. It’s gorgeous.
#inspirememondaylinkup
Joy Kincaid says
December 10, 2018 at 2:21 pmThank you, Jennifer!
Sansa says
May 25, 2017 at 1:55 amI liked your way of art and creativity. All are such a wonderful nativity set. I will definitely try to make such nativity in my home also.
Thanks for sharing.
Shecki Grtlyblesd says
December 19, 2015 at 6:29 pmOh, I love that! We made peg people for Chinese New Year one year… I'm sure I have leftover pegs around here somewhere… Hmm!
Joy Kincaid says
December 19, 2015 at 7:18 pmThank you—they're really fun to make, aren't they? 🙂
deborah says
December 16, 2015 at 2:07 pmThey are darling! How fun and what sweet memories you made along with the nativity!
Joy Kincaid says
December 16, 2015 at 6:37 pmThank you, Deborah! Yes, the memories are the best part. 🙂
Tabitha says
December 15, 2015 at 11:56 pmI love them! They are so cute! Good job!!
Joy Kincaid says
December 16, 2015 at 12:53 amThank you, Tabitha! 🙂
RebeccaL. says
December 15, 2015 at 1:40 pmI LOVE IT!!!! Now I want to do this! They are absolutely beautiful!
Joy Kincaid says
December 15, 2015 at 5:36 pmThanks, Rebecca!
Sara says
December 15, 2015 at 1:34 pmAdorable! You both did a great job, they're so cute 🙂
Joy Kincaid says
December 15, 2015 at 5:36 pmThank you, Sara!