AUTHORS SHARING ORNAMENTS! This week I’m teaming up with picture book authors Laura Sassi, Mindy Baker, and Tama Fortner to present FOUR days of book-themed ornaments inspired by our Christmas themed picture books. Each day this week, families can pop over to our Facebook and Instagram pages to hear a little bit about each book and then do the craft!  Today is my day! I just finished sharing my ornament online and thought I would take a minute to share the clip here and then provide more detailed instructions for the ornament.

Enjoy the short video then scroll down for instructions on how to make the ornament.

Baby Jesus in the Manger Ornament.

What is better than reading a brand-new Christmas book? – Making an ornament to go along with it! So, for my new book, That Grand Christmas Day! let’s make a manger with baby Jesus in it because that’s the place where Jesus first lay, when he was born on that Grand Christmas Day!

Now to make the ornament:

Gather your supplies.

Feel free to use whatever you have around the house. I used purple and yellow construction paper to coordinate with the book, yellow popsicle sticks (but plain work just fine), yellow ribbon, two cotton balls, wiggly eyes, a paper bag to cut a circle for Jesus’ face, and markers.

Take two popsicle sticks and glue them together crossed about one inch from the bottom. Remember that this is a manger that holds hay for cows to eat. This is where our Savior slept!  

 

 

 

 

Cut a triangle of construction paper to fit in the top part of the crossed sticks. Glue this to the sticks leaving a small portion of the sticks above the triangle.

 

 

 

 

Take your paper bag or brown construction paper and cut a circle to make baby Jesus’ face.

Use markers to make eyes and a face on baby Jesus.

Glue the face behind a portion of the triangle part of the manger.

 

 

Cut a rectangle of yellow or pale colored paper the length of the manger and about an inch high. Cut this into fringe. Glue the unfringed edge behind baby Jesus’ head. Bend a few pieces forward to look like hay. This scratchy hay would soften the manger for the Savior of the world.

 

 

 

 

Cut a piece of ribbon or string about 15 inches long. Tie this to the open ends of the sticks.

Get two cotton balls and rip one in half. Glue the small piece to the larger cotton ball. Find two mini wiggly eyes or cut small dots out of felt or construction paper and glue them on to the smaller cotton ball to make a lamb. Glue this to the base of the manger. This is to remind us that Jesus was born next to animals in the stable.

Voila! Your ornament is complete!

Enjoy reading your book by your Christmas tree and looking at your ornament of the manger where Jesus first lay, when he was born on the Grand Christmas Day! Merry Christmas!

Have you made the ornament? Share your pictures with us below!