Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Peg Doll Nativity


Ever since I painted my first peg doll family I have been pretty much in love with these cute little wooden people.  I've painted several more and even taught a little class on how to do it!  A couple of months ago I saw this peg doll nativity on Pinterest, and I was so inspired I knew I had to make my own!  This nativity might just be my favorite peg doll project of all.

I decided that I'd have each figure carrying something symbolic.  Mary has a heart because she gave the gift of God's love to the world.  Joseph has a lantern because he was the protector and guide for baby Jesus.



 The angel has the star, of course.  I added the other colors to give her a more folk art feel to coordinate with the wise men.
 Here we have the shepherd with his crook and a little drummer boy.  And I just love these little sheepies.

Probably my favorite part, though, is the three wise men and their camels!  When I was at Hobby Lobby looking for the flat-bottomed knobs for the sheep and donkey, I found these flat-bottomed egg shapes (which I think are for some kind of Japanese wooden doll) and I immediately thought my wise men were going to have to have camels.  I definitely spent the longest of all trying to figure out how to do their robes and treasures and those darn camel faces.


A project like this might seem a little intimidating, but these little dolls are so fun, and you can really make them as simple or as detailed as you like.  I started by doodling how I wanted each doll to look in my ever-present doodling notebook.  I googled things like "nativity" and "three wise men" and "camel face" to get some inspiration for the colors and designs of the different dolls and took inspiration from many different nativity sets and paintings.  It was so much fun that I am hoping to list some in my etsy shop next Christmas!

P.S.  I bought my peg dolls at www.CraftParts.com.  All the "adult" dolls are about 3 1/2" tall.  I found the stable at Target in the dollar section for $2.50.  So perfect!

11 comments:

Bonnie said...

Love it!! Need to make one for our youngest grandson, but not enough time this year. Oh well! Christmas hugs to all of you!

Tonya said...

I totally want one of these! I am horrible at painting and fine details. Yours looks totally awesome! What a special heirloom that will be to pass down throughout the years.

Camille said...

This Nativity is beautiful. You did an awesome job and I think the camels are very creative and just wonderful.

ummelmommy said...

What a beautiful set you made! Thank you so much for sharing with those of us that are less artistically inclined. I've been wanting a nativity that my kids could actually play with for several years, and this is going to be the year it happens, thanks to you! :)

Lizzie said...

This is so great! I'm curious. The fine detail (in black) did you use a fine tipped sharpie or something? Or is it paint? zilnewt(at)yahoo(dot)com

Mary @ Better Than Eden said...

Found this from Pinterest and it is stunning! Beautiful work!

Amy Seven-Stitches said...

So brilliant. I thought for a minute that the boy had bought a camera with him (very post modern) only to look closer and see it was the drummer boy. So sweet!

Unknown said...

love this and looking to do something similar for our kiddos. what kind of paint did you use??

thanks!

megan(dot)rose(dot)devine(at)gmail

Panda said...

Which sizes/shapes did you order from craft parts for the sheep?

Unknown said...

Nice blog and very informative thank you for sharing us.

Mom Hebby said...

I have the same question as Lizzie. What did you use to do the fine detail, the black line detail specifically? Did you use an ultra fine Sharpie marker, tiny paintbrush, or a pigment ink pen?