Sea Glass nativities are a beautiful reminder of the reason for the season, with a coastal twist.

You will fall in love with the tender sweetness and simplicity of these nativity scenes. Craft them for friends and family or purchase them ready-made. Either way, these will be sure to be treasured for years to come.

What You’ll need

• Sea glass

• Thin twigs

• Precision super glue 

• Backing board of some kind

• Sketch paper and pencil

• Creativity
  

Instructions

These instructions aren't so much about following a step-by-step process as they are about finding the right materials and using the proper techniques.  

Let’s start with the Sea Glass.  Sea Glass is a found material. It is made by the process of sand and time wearing down the sharp edges of broken pieces of glass.  

If you live by a coastal area, you can try finding some sea glass of your own. If not, you can buy some on Etsy (my shop is linked above), which is my personal go-to for any unique craft supplies I may need.

Now I will talk about twigs. Any twigs will work. They don't have to be perfectly straight. As a matter of fact, twisty or bendy twigs add to the character of a piece, so it might be a good thing to go out of your way to find some unique ones. The only limit is width because you don’t want them to take up all the space and outshine your sea glass. I tried to keep all of mine smaller than pencil width.

Precision Super Glue. What can I say? The name is fairly self-explanatory. The more precise, the better. It's not fun to be struggling with a bunch of tiny and irreplaceable materials and an out-of-control bottle of glue. I know this from bitter experience. This one below has worked wonders for me. It’s sold at Hobby Lobby, and it’s fairly popular at hardware stores. (Affiliate link.)

Backing board of some kind. This may be the most unfamiliar material on the list, so I will do some more explaining. It’s basically a foam core board, to glue everything upon. I used an acid free foam board from Hobby Lobby, but if you want your project to look even more beachy, you could use a driftwood slab, or a natural wood round. As long as it’s a stiff board and you can glue pieces of sea glass onto it, it should work. I chose to get mine framed. But that decision is up to you and depends on your own personal style and taste, which leads me to the last of my materials:

Creativity. I can’t tell you what colors of sea glass to buy, where to hand embellish your backing board with praying hands, or how to arrange your various components. However, I can give you a few tips:

1.

Practice arranging pieces and drawing details on a piece of scrap paper BEFORE you take the cap off your super glue.

2.

Give your characters space, so they have room to breathe. Don’t crowd them. You want them to be able to resemble people, not a mess of sea glass.

3.

Definitely break your twigs into shorter pieces. Don’t feel like you have to find them all at the proper length.

4.

Be creative and do what you feel is the most beautiful. Remember, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23). The reason we celebrate Christmas is to remember the Lord and his advent. This project is a sweet reminder of this.

Love the Look but Lack the Time?

You can find ready-made nativity scenes like the ones pictured in this post at Amelia’s Etsy shop, as well as sea glass and other holiday gifts!