IN PICTURES
Nativity Scene Videos
Twenty-six English-language videos, each one hand-picked and paired with the written guide it goes with: building techniques from diorama and model-railroad makers, simple nativity projects for families, and short documentaries on the tradition. Nothing is hosted here: each thumbnail opens the video on YouTube when you click it, and not before.
Building the scenery
Twelve videos that show, step by step, what our tutorials describe. Most come from diorama and model-railroad makers, who use the same materials and tricks as nativity builders. Their scale is often smaller than a 3-inch santon, so adjust the sizes using our size guide.
Back to basics : How to make a stone wall for free (well almost)
Diorama Don
A stone wall built from cheap materials, joint by joint, with painting and aging at the end. The method works just as well at nativity scale.
Plaster Cloth – Model Layout | Woodland Scenics
Woodland Scenics
The classic way to build hills and rock: wadded paper covered with plaster cloth, shown by the company that makes the materials.
Model dry stone walls
Dartside Scenics – Dioramas and Models
Dry-stone walls for a hillside landscape, the same technique you need for terraced ground around the stable.
Crafting a fountain for my miniature medieval village
Okay Hobby Time
A stone fountain for a miniature village, very close to what a Bethlehem street needs.
Making a Clay Fountain (Really Works) [Part 1]
Zachary Hypes
A small fountain that actually runs. Watch it with our safety notes in mind: water and furniture don’t mix.
How to Build an Ultra Realistic Waterfall… Realistic Scenery Vol.34
Boulder Creek Railroad
A full waterfall build from one of the best scenery channels there is. Long, but you see every step.
How to light up your Christmas Village
Miriam’s Manner
Lighting a small village display: where to hide the wires and how to light houses from inside.
Christmas Village Power Sources Tutorial
Silvio Allena
Which adapters and power sources to use for a lit display, and how to keep it simple and safe.
Ep.64 I made a Miniature Stone House | Scratch Build Diorama
Colonel O’Truth’s Miniature Issues
A stone house built from scratch. The carving and painting work for any house in your village.
Making Putz Houses – DIY Chipboard Christmas Village with a Vintage Look!
Smile Mercantile
Small cardboard houses in the American putz tradition, simple enough to make with kids.
How to make a French farmhouse diorama. 1/35 scratch build modelling
Diorama Don
A country farmhouse from start to finish. Follow it if you’re tackling a bigger set.
Tiled roof for diaramas/wargaming. Step by step guide
Diorama Don
Tiles laid one row at a time, step by step. Short, and you’ll finally understand the overhang.
Making your first nativity
Short, complete tutorials, from a bare board to a finished nativity. If you’ve never built anything, start with these instead of the thirty-minute videos.
How to make a Christmas Nativity Scene Diorama
Millenia Hegina
A complete nativity scene with its stable, built from scratch.
DIY Nativity | How To Make Your Own Nativity Scene At Home
The Grit and Grace Family
A family makes a simple nativity at home. A good place to start with kids.
Easy Ideas for Building Your Own Nativity Scene
Crafts and Recycling
Nativity ideas made from recycled materials. Handy if you don’t have cork or foam on hand.
DIY – Nativity Stable under $25
BigRedFishDad – The DIY Workshop
A practical stable built on a small budget, from the first cut to the finished roof.
Building a Nativity Barn
MDM Woodworking
A wooden stable built in a woodshop. Watch it before you buy a single board.
Christmas Village Platform Tutorial
Miriam’s Manner
The base, the part you’ll regret rushing: a raised platform with levels for a village display.
Making of a Large Nativity Diorama ‘Bethlehem Village’ at Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore
JoyHopeStudio
A large Bethlehem diorama for a cathedral, from the first pieces to the finished scene.
Traditions and documentaries
What a tutorial can’t teach you: where the nativity scene comes from, how the figures are made, and some of the great nativities you can visit, in Europe and in the United States.
How to Set Up a Nativity Scene
Snow Village Studio
Where each figure goes, step by step. A good companion to our own guide.
Cabinet of Curiosities: Santons
York County History Center
An American history museum looks at a set of Provençal santons: what they are and where they come from.
How St. Francis invented the Nativity Scene in Greccio | EWTN Vaticano Special
EWTN
The story of Christmas night 1223 at Greccio, told from the places themselves.
Il Presepe: The Italian Nativity, at the Ferrigno Workshop, Naples
Catholics & Cultures
Inside a historic workshop on Via San Gregorio Armeno, where Neapolitan figures are still made by hand.
Christmas Tree and Crèche at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
ArtMuseumJournal
The Met’s Angel Tree and its 18th-century Neapolitan figures, the most famous nativity in America.
Why a Sacramento man creates a massive nativity scene in his living room every year
ABC10
One man and the huge nativity he builds at home every year. What happens when you just can’t stop.
The Christmas Putz
Nazareth Moravian
The Moravian putz of Pennsylvania, the German home nativity that crossed the Atlantic.
Channels to follow
Four English-language channels show up again and again in this list, and they’re worth subscribing to:
- Boulder Creek Railroad: realistic scenery, water and rocks, explained step by step. Model-railroad scale, but every technique carries over.
- Woodland Scenics: the company’s own how-to videos on ground, rocks and plaster cloth.
- Diorama Don: walls, roofs and old buildings, with cheap materials and a clear method.
- Miriam’s Manner: Christmas village displays, lighting and platforms. Villages rather than nativities, but it all applies.
Know a video we should add? This page is a hand-picked list, not a directory: each video is here because it shows something that’s hard to explain in words. If you know a better one, especially a nativity tutorial in English, write to us.