- Transform toothpicks into works of art for Chirstmastoothpicks image by Christopher Hall from Fotolia.com
The earliest recorded manger scene was created in 343 A.D., according to Ball State University archaeology Professor B.K. Swartz. Early nativity scenes depicted Christ's birth in houses, caves, churches, and occasionally in a stable. But over time, the pastoral setting for the nativity has become a strong tradition, the one commonly accepted today. You can give children a creative Christmas craft activity by helping them make a nativity scene out of a common household item, toothpicks. - Use round toothpicks to create a toothpick-framed ornament. Provide used Christmas cards with manger scenes and 2 1/2-inch square stencils. Children can position the stencil on a card centered on the main part of the nativity scene, trace it, and cut out the square with the picture on it. Run a thin line of glue on the right and left sides of the square and set toothpicks on the glue. Then glue toothpicks to the top and bottom by placing dots of glue where the toothpicks will intersect. (This second set of toothpicks will sit above the card surface.) Continue gluing toothpicks on alternating sides until you have a nice frame for your nativity picture about five to seven toothpicks high. Allow the ornament to dry completely and then tape a looped piece of string to the back of the card for hanging.
- Make embroidery floss-covered toothpick people. Break a toothpick to get a piece about an inch and a half long for the torso. Set slightly longer toothpick pieces to the right and left of the torso for the legs. Glue them in place and wrap embroidery floss around to fashion a long robe. Use glue as needed to make the floss stay in place. Wrap shorter pieces of toothpick for arms and them glue them to the doll at the midpoint of the torso. Once glue is dry, glue and wrap floss to create the upper part of the robe, beginning just above the shoulders and stopping when you reach the legs you have already wrapped. Add a wooden bead on the top for the head, cover it with glue and wrap it in flesh color floss beginning at the neck and ending at the top. Add a head covering or glue on floss to make hair. Now make the rest of the characters needed for a nativity set.
- Create nativity figurines with toothpicks and bread. Completely remove the crust from a fresh loaf of white bread. Crumble and rub the bread between your hands until all crumbled. Add enough glue to form a dough. Create nativity shapes about 3 inches high using toothpicks and dough. Toothpicks, for example, can be used to make animal legs. You can leave them exposed or cover them in dough. Once you have all the characters for a nativity set, allow them to dry for two to three days. The dough hardens into a bright white color. Paint the figures if you wish.
