A handmade crib is a Christmas crib that's not homemade. Santons Fouque santons and nativity scene decorations are handmade from clay in our workshop. A unique and traditional know-how that has endured since 1934. A handcrafted Christmas crib should be made up of several unique elements, of any desired size, and installed on the first Sunday of Advent, November 29, or on Saint Barbara's Day, December 4.

Decorating a handcrafted nativity scene

The first step is to consider the space you can offer your handcrafted Christmas crib. If there's no shortage of space, you'll decorate the floors to create the hills surrounding the main scene. You can also decorate the different floors with houses and buildings, such as the bastidon, the fisherman's cottage or the Cassis lighthouse. You can also include key Provençal backdrops such as a boule court, the cabanon de Bibémus, the Provençal bar or Sainte Victoire. The possibilities are endless: a handcrafted Christmas crib is shaped year after year, with each family member adding his or her own “stone” to the edifice.

A handcrafted Christmas crib reflects the personality of the person who created it: jovial, strict, religious, minimalist... It's up to you to make your choice, according to your desires.

The main scene of a handcrafted nativity scene

If you don't have a lot of space, the main scene can be the only decorative elements to be integrated into your Christmas crib. This is, of course, the stable where the characters will be placed. The cowshed can be built with a pitched or gable roof. It can stand alone or be attached to a building. It can have an interior wall decorated in paint or roughcast, again the choice is yours. To accentuate the surroundings, you can add small elements such as wells, bridges, cypresses, barrels, a wheelbarrow, a cart or a fountain. Hanging elements, such as the shepherd's star, can also add a lot of cachet to a handcrafted Christmas crib.

Character positioning

The main figures should be placed in the center of the crib: the Three Wise Men, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the donkey and the ox. For Jesus, the santon should only be placed on the evening of December 24. Tradition also dictates that the Virgin Mary be placed next to the donkey, and Joseph next to the ox. The Three Wise Men will be placed away from the stable on the first day of installation, and moved over the days to find themselves in front of the stable on December 24.

For other characters, such as the farmers and their animals, the bug lady and the baker, you can place them further away from the barn, close to their buildings, near the scenery surrounding the main scene.

When to remove the handcrafted Christmas crib?

There is no set rule. Some prefer to wait until the third Sunday after Christmas, the date of Christ's baptism. Still others will keep the crib set up 40 days after Jesus' birth. Finally, purists will tell you that you should never go beyond the day of Jesus' presentation in the Temple, February 2, the day of Candlemas. In the end, it's up to you to decide when to remove your handcrafted nativity scene.