supplies needed:
disposable drinking straw
paper straw for baby Jesus
3 wood balls, two 25mm and one smaller one
2-2 inch clay pots (cheapest ones I found were at Hobby Lobby)
1-1.5 inch clay pot or clay pot saucer (I just couldn't find one small enough)
acrylic paint
paint brushes
some cloth scraps for Mary and Joseph
glue gun
butane lighter (to melt the edges of the fabric to prevent fraying)
stable (if you have one)
Put the heads on a paint brush to easily paint them while holding the paint brush then set them on cans to let them dry. Paint the clay pots for Mary and Joseph (they dry really fast so you can quickly get on two coats. I did not paint the pot for the manger.
For Joseph's shawl I just cut a strip of cloth. For Mary's shawl I cut a diamond and then rounded off the top and bottom corners. I would suggest cutting a scrap piece of paper to get the size and shape you want and use that a a pattern before cutting your real cloth. For the baby swaddle I just cut a circle of cloth. I used a butane lighter to melt all the edges of the fabric so that they won't fray over time.
Glue the heads to the pots and the baby head to a piece of drinking straw. Wrap the baby in a piece of cloth and glue to hold in place. Stuff some straw into the small clay pot and then glue the baby on top of the straw.
Glue the pieces of cloth over Mary and Joseph's heads. The instructions for folding Mary's shawl are in the pictures since it's a little hard to describe in words.