Matchbox Manger Craft

My kids LOVE Christmas. They love everything about it: the parties, Santa, the reindeer, the presents, the family gatherings, the treats and all that stuff. I feel that amongst these happy things the real reason behind Christmas can get a bit lost in there, and I like for my kids to think about why we celebrate it in the first place. We read lots of nativity books (amongst many others) like the ones we have wrapped up and ready to go under our advent tree. This year I also decided to make them each a baby in a manger matchbox toy, and it has been a huge hit! They are easier to make than you think and involve just a tiny bit of sewing, but I rarely sew anything at all and am not much good at it, so if I can do it you can too! Here’s how…

• A matchbox – I used a paper mache matchbox that I bought from Spotlight but a real one will do just as well
• Yellow and dark blue felt
• Needle and thread
• A small neutral coloured bead (make sure it is small enough to fit inside the matchbox when closed but big enough to look like a head)
• half a pipecleaner
• A small scrap of white material
• A fine tipped permanent marker
• wood glue (strong permanent pva)

Cut a small square of felt the same size as the matchbox base and snip the edges with a pair of scissors so it looks like hay

You don’t need to glue it down, just sit it in the box to make a little bed for the baby.

To make the baby fold the half pipe cleaner into three and slide it inside the bead for the body. Next you just need to swaddle it like a real baby with the scrap of white material.

Any mother will remember how the folding works. I sewed it under the chin to keep it in place…

and then also at the back to hold it together. That’s all the sewing you need to do and it only takes about five minutes!

Next draw a little sleeping face with your permanent marker.

Cover the outside of the box with the dark blue felt, and cut out a star to stick on the top. I used pegs to hold the felt in place while the wood glue dried. You could try it with regular kids pva (school) glue but the wood glue is a little stronger and holds better.

My girls love their little manger babies!

If you have time, these would make cute gifts for school friends or even little stocking stuffers. Bigger kids capable of wielding a fiddly needle and thread could even make these themselves. They are so easy –  who wouldn’t want a baby in a manger in their pocket?