Saturday, November 15, 2014

Wine Cork Nativity Tutorial

I had so much fun making these little nativity sets that I thought I'd share a tutorial.
They would be fun to make with grandchildren or in a Sunday school class.



I plan to give mine as little gifts. (Full disclosure: they're so cute, I'm keeping one set for my mantle.)



Why a wine cork nativity? When our friends Anita and Fred downsized to an RV (lucky them!), I was the recipient of a huge bag of wine corks they had collected over the years . . . lots of years judging by the size of the bag!


So I headed to Pinterest for some "wine cork crafts" ideas and found this photo on an Italian blog called Creamamma. It was love at first sight! I knew I had to make these. The blog is written in Italian but Google Translate took care of that. There was no tutorial so I just used the photo and figured out my own way of making the figures.  
 


I started by purchasing a couple of inexpensive packages of small wooden doll heads at JoAnn's Crafts These are optional; the blogger in Italy did not use them. She used champagne-type corks with wide tops but I didn't have enough of those.


I made a platform with thumbtacks sticking up between two layers of corrugated cardboard, set my corks out on it, and sprayed them with white primer. You can skip this step for the nativity but I am planning on painting some of my corks for future projects so I just primed them all.


Then I hot-glued the heads on.
(Children could do this with craft glue.)

I played around with a piece of fabric until I came up with a simple pattern for the felt robes. Here is the shape that worked for me. My pattern is approximately 3 inches tall and 4 inches wide.

I hot glued the felt "robe" to the head first, then just folded the two sides over each other in the front and glued the robe shut. (Oh dear, just realized it looks as if Mr. Winecork is flashing us - pretty funny but totally unintended!)
 
To make the baby, I cut a Q-tip into a piece a little over an inch long and wrapped it in a small square of felt - like you would swaddle a real baby. A little glue holds the "blanket" shut in front.

I glued on a little face out of tiny circle of flesh-colored felt and drew on eyes and mouth with a thin Sharpie. The cradle is another cork cut in half lengthwise; a serrated kitchen knife did the job. Another dab of glue holds the baby in the crèche.


Finally, I tied gold cord around each figure - as a belt on Joseph and around the neck or head for Mary.


These are quick to do.
Once I had the materials together, I was able to make four 3-piece sets in an hour.
 

The set I decided to keep is already on the mantle on a piece of fleece "snow" next to the little LED tree I found at Goodwill yesterday.
 

So very simple and sweet.
 
Enjoy!


This post is linked to:
Party Junk at Funky Junk Interiors
So Darn Crafty Party at Sew Many Ways
Show & Tell Saturday at Be Different, Act Normal
Make It Monday at Distressed Donna Down Home
 Link Party Palooza at Tattertots & Jello
Found & Foraged Linky Party at House of Hipsters
Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming by SL
Show & Share at Coastal Charm
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch

15 comments:

  1. Absolutely adorable! These are a must make!! :)

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  2. These are so cute. There is always room for miniatures.

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  3. Adorable, Cheryl! We travel to our youngest daughter's several times a month to watch the kiddies, and this is the perfect craft project for one of our next visits!! I've got a bag of corks I bought for a dollar at an estate sale, to I'm Pinning this. Thanks for sharing!
    Vickie

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  4. Oh, what a great way to repurpose! So very adorable - great craft for kids.

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  5. Oh my gosh, these are the cutest things!

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  6. Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing. I have a bag of corks and that's the perfect craft to do with them.

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  7. This is really cute. Confession, sometimes I keep things that I make for gifts, too.

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  8. These little wine cork nativity people are so adorable! Love this so creative and fun but potentially easy enough for any skill level! thanks for the tute!

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  9. I collect nativity scenes, but do not yet have a cork one! Thanks for sharing it at Make It Monday.

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  10. What a great idea :)

    Sarah @ EDEA Smith
    www.edea-smith.co.uk

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  11. This is TOO cute- my kids would love it!! Thanks so much for sharing at the Found & Foraged party!!

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  12. Seriously, I don't think these could get any cuter! Thank you so much for linking up at Found & Foraged! PINNED! Hope to see you again this Saturday night at 8PM at http://houseofhipsters.com

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