Monday, December 5, 2016

12 Days of Christmas, Day 10, How to Build a Stable


Christmas decor, rustic, farmhouse, nativity, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
 If you give a mouse a cookie...

If you know this children's book, you know that it is all about one thing leading to another.  

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That is how I felt this weekend while trying to finish up my Christmas decorating.  I built a shelf and coat hook for stockings (You will see these Thursday on my home tour day!) and I thought it would be a perfect place for my WILLOW TREE NATIVITY SET.  But, it looked dwarfed on the big shelf.  
nativity, stable, creche, Willow Tree, barn wood, Christmas decor, pallets, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
So, what is a girl to do?  Build a pallet table for the nativity set.  Which then led to me wanting a stable for my creche.  

I started with a very thin piece of plywood, cut 16" wide, with 11" sides.  The angle on the roof line is about 25 degrees.
building, how to, barn, stable, nativity, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
I added barnwood sides.  This piece of wood was cracked all the way through, so instead of waiting to glue it, I secured them with scrap pieces of wood at the top and bottom at each side. I screwed through the back of the thin plywood into the edges of the barnwood.
nativity, creche, stable, barn, DIY, pallet wood, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
For the stable roof I used some thin barnwood siding type pieces.  I wanted it lightweight.  At first I joined these to a small 1'' x 1" board.  BUT, this made a roof with a 45 degree pitch, oops!
stable, barn, nativity, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
So, I took off one side of the roof and attached the one side to the stable.
nativity, barn, stable, barn wood, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
I then set the other roof pieces onto the stable and secured them with screws, drilled in at a bit of an angle.  See the screws up there.  Definitely not the contractor way to do a roof, but it worked an the stable is stable.
I hot glued a copper metal star from Target to the roof. 
Nativity, Willow Tree, Stable, barn, fake snow, creche, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
I painted the inside grey, left the sides their natural barn red color, and added a hand-lettered O Holy Night. 
nativity, creche, barn, stable, how to build, https://goo.gl/xwgamA
Some FAKE SNOW and battery operated lights finished the look.
stable, barn, nativity, barn wood, Manger, https://goo.gl/xwgamA

3 comments:

  1. Oh what a great project. Love it and your nativity.

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  2. Love it. I've been looking for a stable for my nativity set and can't find anything suitable. Maybe I'll have to copy your project! Thanks for the inspiration.

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  3. What a fun find with the natural barn red wood.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate your kind words!