The Grand Nativity...

As Small As I Could.....

I Imagine you must be getting tired, Dear Readers, of seeing pictures on this blog of items so small you can barely see the parts I am mentioning as I describe my adventures in this Teeny-Tiny scale! Well, I hope you can bear with me a little while longer, and I also hope you are glad that I decided to keep the "Large" sized Nativity I had started last week. I wanted to be able to see the figures in the nativity, and I didn't think I could paint them any smaller! Above you can see my method. I simply painted the figures on a scrap of the card stock I had used to construct the stable. Hence the cutout outline of the stable could be my guide for the size of the figures. There was no point in trying to measure or sketch.... at this scale the pencil lines would be terribly thick! So I relied on the color to suggest the figures I was painting, and an occasional prop to emphasize the identity of the figure.

Then I needed to paint the stable itself... 

you can see it there on the plastic surface. 

It was quite challenging to hold it and paint it at the same time!

Then I had to cut out my tiny figures! 

I started with the ox and the ass as they would go at the back of the stable.

I used my sharp x-acto knife, very carefully 

slicing as close to the edges of the figures as I could, 

while not cutting off or leaving out necessary parts...!

 Can you see them there in the middle of my gray cutting mat? 

You really need to not take your eyes off them

 for even a second for fear of losing them!

I glued them into the stable right away. 

You can see how snugly they fit!

(You can imagine that by now I have given up on a smaller stable!)

 

And then I cut out the Holy Family figures and glued them in as well....

Yes, they completely hide the ox and the ass....

*sigh* But I know they are there!

By now we want to see how it looks with the hearth.....

It  is large... but not outrageously so....!

And how about  if we test it in the Parlor?

I think it looks lovely!

I do want to be able to see the figures after all...

But then You must understand that

 there are More figures needed for a Nativity...

At the very Least you need a shepherd with his flock of sheep......

 and an Angel... or two!

You can see I have painted them the same way I did the other figures.

And then because I start to worry that there won't be room 

for them all on the mantle With the candlesticks.... 

I decide it is time to glue the candlesticks on the mantle!

(There is only so much "testing" you can do with items this small...

they just don't stay put without the glue!)

And while I was adding the candles, 

I decided it was also time to attach the stockings...

 

 That way I could be sure the Nativity would fit around them and still be visible!

 And then we need to test it all in the parlor again....

(The Nativity is still not attached...)

I do think there is room for the shepherd and his sheep.....

which need to be assembled onto a tiny base of "grass"....

Can you see him? I have added the first two sheep on one side....

Here he is finished, surrounded by his flock!

(Right there next to the stable... 

please poke the pictures to see them larger!)

And then we have to see if they will all fit on the mantle....

I thought the tiny doll in the stocking would block them too much 

if they were on the right side of the stable.... 

But they don't look right at all in this arrangement....!

I think they look much better with the shepherd on the right side!

And here they are testing in the Parlor... yet again....!

I think that is the right arrangement... 

but we mustn't forget the Angels!

I carefully cut out the first one and attached it to the roof... 

as if it is just about to land....

Then we test it again...

I think it looks wonderful and "alive"!

But what about the other Angel...?

(You know there were more than One angel at the Nativity!)

I cut the second one out and glued it on the other side of the roof....

But the first attempt had it too close to the other Angel....

I moved it a little farther down the roof to give them space....

I think it looks more balanced now...

I wanted to be sure the figures are visible...

Can you see them here on my finger?

And shall we test them in the Parlor again...?

I do think they look Very Grand!

Even though they block the painting a bit... 

and when the chandelier is in place they might be harder to see....

In this Teeny-Tiny room in this Teeny-Tiny house....

Where there will also be all sorts of furniture

 and even a fully decorated Xmas Tree!

Lady Evelyn has come by to check on the decorations...

She is quite worried that so Little has been done!

Will it all get finished in time...?

Well, Dear Readers, that was all 

I accomplished over the weekend...

one Very Grand Nativity....

that was as Small as I could manage!