Carve The Nativity

Improve your whittling while creating a heirloom

Growing up in a Communist country where the word “Christmas” was completely taken out and replaced with “Winter Holidays” and “Santa” became “Frosty”, people were still celebrating the Birth of Jesus, but in a hushed, low-keyed way. And maybe that made it all the more memorable, without all the commercials, the buzzing and the frazzle associated with it today.

Now, every year at Christmas time those memories come flooding back, the scent of pine, the smell of babka and nut-bread baking, the decorating of the tree.

I enjoy whittling and over the years I have carved a few Nativity sets that I gave away as gifts and last year due to the pandemic, I had more time and decided to carve yet another set, this time to put under our own Christmas tree.

I had a piece of linden burl that I thought would look good for a manger and after making that, I had an idea for the size of the figurines. Once again, my drawing skills came in handy in drawing the various personages, but there are plenty resources for inspiration, from kids’ story-books to Christmas cards.

Two more months 'til Christmas, hope to finish it in time! "O come let us adore Him..."