What do you need to make a nativity scene?

As the holiday season approaches, it would not be a bad idea to jot down some of the things you need to make your nativity scene. Traditionally, the manger or nativity scene is made on Christmas Eve and put away after the holiday of the three kings on January 6, but in some places like Mexico, people normally put them up on December 16 until Candlemas on February 2, though the Baby always appear on December 24 and the Kings on January 6. It's not rare that in some nativity scenes there are representations of the events that occurred prior to the nativity, like for example, when Joseph and Mary looked for shelter, their arrival at the manger, the adoration of the magi, and the shepherds, etc.

You'll need to have a certain amount of space depending on the type of nativity scene you want to make. You should place it in a special location. Needless to say, nativity scenes come in all sizes and designs as well as materials (some are made of wood, ceramic, paper, porcelain or even silver), but the contrast is more significant when one compares the nativity scenes made at home with the ones made for public display, sometimes at an actual manger for instance, on the street, or at a church or school (not to mention live nativity scenes). Either way, in most cases they are real works of art.

Even though, Mary, Joseph and the Baby are quintessential images of the nativity, one can include as many figures as one wants, some more typical than others. To get started, once you have selected a place for the nativity scene, you have to lay down a bed of moss for the nativity figurines. The main characters (Saint Joseph, the virgin Mary and Baby Jesus) are placed in the manger along with the mule and the ox. This divides the nativity scene, so that everyday scenes can take place on one side, the manger and the adoration can go in the center, and the annunciation to the shepherds can go on the other side

	Page 1 of 2