DIY mini Christmas crib

After working very hard on my Master Thesis the last couple of weeks, it’s finally finished. At least for me. It’s now at my Thesis supervisor, who promises me a lot, but is not doing what he promises. It’s the first time he is reading something from my Thesis. I asked him several times to read parts. But he didn’t do that. And now the time is there, that I am probably too late to sent my Thesis to Nyenrode, because the deadline is very close.
I’m frustrated about it, because I can’t do anything about it.
Right now I need a little distraction, so I searched for a little Christmas DIY project. And it became a mini Christmas crib. I was looking for one for a while, but most of the time I found them too colorful, or too expensive.
So last week I saw a nice one on Instagram. I searched for a shop, but it was sold out everywhere.
After some more searching I found the wooden dolls, so plans for a DIY are ready. Are you in?

i used the following stuff for the DIY Christmas crib:
– Two big dolls for the man and the woman (9 cm), a little one for the Angel (5 cm), a very small one for the baby (3 cm) and a wing for the Angel (5,6 cm breed). Everything made of wood and bought seperately (bought on the internet)
– White and Dark grey Chalkpaint (Action)
– A piece of grey felt (de Zeeman, four colors in a package)
– Thin jute rope (I bought it at Sostrene Grene, but it’s also for sale in the supermarket or Construction markte)
– Glue
– Masking tape and a brush
– Needle and yarn
– Wooden box (I bought one at Sostrene Grene)
– Little fake Christmas tree (mine is around 17 cm)
– Little deer

Working method:

I made two cribs at the same time, because I also wanted to make one for my Mum.

First I cut a piece of 15 cm of the masking tape, and then I cut from both sides of the masking tape a strip of around 8-10 mm. I taped it on the man and female doll just under the head, with the not cutted side downwards, so you will get a straight line after painting.

I painted the male doll grey ad the female white. Both are painted twice.
The wing for the angels is painted white on both side, also twice.

For the baby I cut two pieces of felt, wide 1,7 cm. The felt I bought is not so tall, only 18 cm, so that’s why I had to cut two pieces. I sewed them together.
I put some glue on the bottom of the baby and sticked the felt on it and wrapped some felt in the length of the doll. After that I wrapped the rest of the felt around the waist of the baby. At the back of the baby I put some glue and taped the end of the felt on it (I made it a little bit shorter than the total length of the two pieces of felt). Use a clothespin to keep everything on it’s place to dry.

So cute these little baby dolls;-)

Now it’s time for the angel. I put some glue on the back of the angel doll and a little bit of glue on the front. This last glue will help preventing the jute rope sliding up.
I glued the jute rope on the back of the doll and started wrapping the rope around the doll. On the bottom of the skirt I glued the end of the rope. I needed a little bit more glue, because the rope wouldn’t stay on it, but finally I succeeded (with my hands full of glue;-).

To tie the man, female and baby together, I first lay a piece of rope on a some paper (easier to turn them around when making a second knot). Then the man and female together on it and on top of it the baby, with the ugly glued side against the man and female. Make a knot with the rope and wrap the rope three times around the three dolls. Again make a knot and shorten the ends to 1,5 – 2 cm.

The last part of this DIY is to glue the wings on the Angel, so now it looks like a real Angel.

For the Crib, I bought a wooden box at Sostrene grene for EUR 2,38. I wanted a wooden box in the form of a house, but I couldn’t find it, so this will do for now. The little Christmas tree is also from Sostrene Grene, but I saw them at The Action too.
The little deer is from Albert Heijn, but I guess you can also find them on a Christmas market.

I think it turned out as a nice mini Christmas crib, with light colors, which fits nicely in a Scandinavian Christmas style. I’m curious about your Christmas crib, it would be nice if you comment something below.

Merry Christmas

 kisses Claudia