Last week my sister gave us a *NEW* book – Bambinelli Sunday: A Christmas Blessing!! My kids don\’t often see *NEW* books!! Being a frugal mom who acquires all our family books from thrift stores, yard sales, or our local library, brand new books are a rare sight! So my kids were very impressed at the shiny new cover of this wonderfully illustrated book!
 Bambinelli Sunday is about a little boy who makes his own little Jesus out of clay. He and his Grandfather take it St. Peter\’s square where it would be blessed by the Pope on this special day! Well, my kids were excited to read this cute book!! And that excitement spilled over into creativity! My kids and I decided to make a few Bambinellis of our own!

Our little Jesus figures are not as fancy as the ones on the book, but they are easy enough for most kids to create! If your children are older or extra creative they may like to make their little Jesus fancier.
We made our little Jesus figurines from salt dough, because my air-dry clay had dried out from the last time we used it. Air-dry clay will keep much longer and make a nicer figurine. The air-dry clay is also nicer if you have mice in the house like we had when I was a kid! 🙂
But the salt dough is easy to make and always on hand. Plus, it\’s cheaper. So, fell free to choose the art-media that works best for you! 

To make your own Little Jesus, you will need:

• Air Dry Clay or salt dough
  Salt dough Recipe: 
  1 cup white flour
  1/4 cup salt
  1/3 cup water
  Mix flour and salt well. Gradually add water, stirring with a large spoon.
  Finish mixing with hands. Knead until soft and pliable
• tooth pick
• cooling rack
• acrylic paint
  brown
  yellow
  light blue
  peach
• paint brushes

First create the base of the manger. Make an oval shaped \”bowl\”.  Then make the hay. Make a flat pancake like circle and cut it into a \”sun\” . I used a toothpick to cut the points into the edges. 

(both salt dough and air-dry clay take a few days to dry.).

If you are using salt dough and you are in a hurry you can bake the figures in the oven at 300 degrees F till they are mostly dry (about an hour depending on the size of your figure). I don\’t recommend this unless you keep a close eye on them as they bake. Sometimes the figures can start to puff, and that can ruin the look of your figure.

First paint the manger – brown

Then the hay – yellow

Jesus blanket – light blue

then paint his face in peach or tan

Here are a few finished baby Jesus figurines!

But if you decide to get yours blessed, remember to bury them if they break. Don\’t throw blessed items in the trash!

~Jennifer

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