Nativity Scene In A Walnut Shell Tree Decoration.

I seem to be a glutton for punishment as far as making myself crossed eyed is concerned! This is an idea I found on Pinterest, I did do something similar, but smaller, in bottle caps a couple of years back so I already had an idea how to make the figures.

I started off by making said figures in Fimo and then popped them in the oven giving them a little extra time to what the instructions said, to make doubly sure they were really “cooked”.

I baked them with their halos (silver jump rings) and shepherds crooks (bent jewellery copper wire) in place, however they didn’t stick, quelle surprise, so I used tiny amounts of E6000 to set them when the figures had gone cold.

While the figures were in the oven I split the walnuts as carefully as I could, but some did go by the wayside. I then put a little yellow/gold fimo at the wider end of the walnut and then baked them too. I wasn’t sure if the fimo would stay in place, but fortunately it did.  This then gave me a base on which to stand the figures.  Looking at the finished results now,  I think that when I make some more (when I can find some more walnuts) I can get away with using a lot less fimo in perhaps a subtler shade of light brown. 

I drilled a hole at the pointed end of the walnut for an eye screw hook to hang the finished decoration from, using a little E6000 again for a really secure bond.

I made around fifteen sets of figures, the sizes differ to account for the varying sizes of the walnuts which I married to the figures accordingly.

I now have to wait for walnuts to hit the shops before I can continue with a few more of the ideas I have ……….. lesson learned from last year, always buy a few more of anything that you think you might need, especially if you plan to start your festive crafting in the summer!