Painted Rock Nativity Sets - A Collection of Year-Round Display Ideas

Painted rock nativity sets aren't just for Christmas.

My Inspiration - Marquita's Display

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There are many ways to display painted rock nativity sets year round and during the holidays to express your unique style.

Simply place the nativity scene figures in a bookcase or on one of your tables.

Easy Year-Round Display Idea

I would advise against placing heavy rocks in a high spot. If they get knocked over they could cause injury or damage.

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Natural Displays

Here's how to display painted rock nativity scene figures year round using natural elements such as a piece of slate, wooden bowl or plate, and decorative stones.
 

Painted Rock Nativity Sets Displayed Using Natural Elements

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Candle Accessories Displays

Here's how you can display your unique, painted rock nativity scene figures year-round using candle accessories and glass gems. 

Painted Rock Nativity Sets Displayed Using Candle Accessories

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Charger Plate Displays

Place the nativity set on a metal or plastic plate and surround with greenery, glass gems, or polished river stones.

Customize this display to fit your decor with plate color choice, foliage type, gems, or rocks.

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Christmas Displays

Use an existing nativity stable and place the nativity scene figures inside.

Painted Rock Nativity Set in a Traditional Display

I found this stable at my local craft store (Hobby Lobby). Stables come in many sizes and you should be able to find one at craft or general merchandise stores

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Use an existing nativity stable and animals that came with the set.

Traditional Nativity Display with Animals

Store-bought nativity sets (stable and figures) come in many different sizes and are readily available. You can decide which pieces from the nativity set to combine with your painted rock nativity scene figures. 

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Make your own stable using balsa wood, bark, and moss.

If you want to keep a natural or hand-made theme, a simple stable can be constructed with balsa wood, moss, and bark. This rustic display would be charming in a cozy mountain cabin.

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Make your own stable using a wooden key caddy.

 
Learn how I made this nativity stable from a wooden key caddy.

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Outdoor Display

These edgestone paver nativity scene figures are sealed to withstand the outdoor elements. 

Outdoor Pavestone Nativity Scene Figures

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Painted rock nativity sets are a unique and versatile addition to your home decor any time of the year.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Painted Rock Nativity Sets - Ready for Spring

The joy of Spring and Easter is in the air and I was drawn to the yummy, pastel acrylic hues of "Basil Green" and "Summer Peach" for my latest unique nativity sets painted on rocks.

"Basil Green" and "Summer Peach" Acrylic Paint Purchased at Hobby Lobby

I was anxious to try these beautiful colors, so I primed some stones and went to work painting them.

Primed stones awaiting pastel paint

Here are my two latest nativity set creations using "lightweight" colors rather than the blues and browns I normally paint with.

Painted Rock Nativity Scene Figures Ready for Spring

Painted Stone Nativity Scene Figures in Spring Attire

Remember, painted rock nativity sets aren't just for Christmas. They can be displayed in unique ways year round as a piece of art.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Year-Round Display for Painted Rock Nativity Sets Using Candle Accessories

You've learned easy and natural ways to display nativity sets painted on rocks.

Now, you'll see how to use candle accessories for displaying your unique painted rock nativity scene figures year round. 

You'll need:

• Metal, glass or ceramic candle plates or dishes or
• Candle holders and
• Glass gems

Tiny Painted Rock Nativity Set Displayed on a Small Candle Dish

Tip 1: Look around your home. You may already have candle dishes, plates and holders that you can use.

Tip 2: Choose glass gems in colors that blend with your decor or the the painted rock nativity figures. Glass gems can be found at craft stores (e.g., Hobby Lobby) usually in the floral department.

Tip 3: It helps to place the Mary and Joseph nativity figures on the plate first and then surround them with the glass gems. Baby Jesus can sit atop the glass gems.

Tip 4: For inexpensive display ideas, visit your local thrift store, dollar store or garage sales.

Here are four more ideas using candle accessories, glass gems and painted rock nativity scene figures.

The Tiny Nativity Set is Replaced with a Small Nativity Set

Red, Metal Candle Plate with Glass Gems and Tiny Nativity Set

 

Round, Glass Candle Dish Used with the Tiny Nativity Set

Tiny Nativity Set Sits Atop Glass Gems in a Frosted Glass Candle Holder

The possibilities are endless for creating a year-round, nativity set display to fit your unique home decor style using candle accessories and glass beads. 

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Easy, Year-Round Display for Painted Rock Nativity Sets

Christmas is over and you're saddened because the holiday decor is headed back to the closet.

Painted rock nativities can be left out year round because of their unique quality. It's more than a holiday decoration; it's a piece of art.

The easiest way to display your painted rock nativity set...

...simply place it in a bookcase or on a table.

Painted Rock Nativity Set Displayed in a Bookcase

These medium-sized painted rock nativity scene figures fit nicely with the colorful vase and ornate picture frame. The paint colors of this particular nativity set also blend well with the vase and the encyclopedia.

Why not keep the spirit of Christmas alive all year long. 

Coming next: Natural display ideas for nativity sets painted on rocks.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Sweet, Simple Gifts - No-Fat Rock Candies

Painted rock candies are a sweet gift to have on hand around the holidays and very easy to paint.

Quick How-To Lesson for Painting Chocolate Candy Rocks

• Small, round stones make the best rock candies.
• Paint one (or both) sides of each stone with a milk, dark, or white chocolate acrylic paint color. For the majority of these stones I used burnt umber acrylic paint. The light one is painted with buttermilk acrylic and for the shiny stone on the lower right I used brown fabric paint. 
• If you have stones that are naturally chocolate-colored, you don't need to paint them. FYI: The stone on the upper right is unpainted.

Paint the stones with chocolate-colored acrylics

• You can start decorating the stones now or you can add a little shading around the sides of each stone by mixing the brown paint with a little black (or brown with the buttermilk color).
• An internet search for chocolate candy images will give you ideas for how to decorate your candies
• I made this tool for applying the little dots on the stones

DIY Dotting Tool

• Now use your imagination - dots, swirls, lines, squiggles, a combination of designs - anything goes.
• 3-D Fabric paint is what gives the designs dimension and realism. I used white, butterscotch and brown fabric paint
• You may want to practice using the 3-D fabric paint before applying it to the stones.

Add designs to the chocolate-colored stones

The painted rock candies will look even more realistic if you display them in a festive holiday dish...

...or a bowl.

 

A few more gift-giving ideas: 

• Adorn wrapped packages with a candy or two
• Gift a few individual candies
• Place a few rock candies in a Christmas stocking
• Attach a ribbon to make a Christmas ornament
• Create a unique and/or personalized gift by packaging the candies in a dish, bowl, mug, etc.
• Painted rock candies make great gifts for Valentine's Day too.

Please, please, please remember to keep these candies away from young children. They can be very tempting and dangerous if ANYONE attempts to eat them.



Note: This idea was adapted from and inspired by Suzi Chua.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Painted Rock Nativity Sets - An Alternative to Traditional Christmas Decor

Nativity scene figures hand painted on Colorado river rocks and stones are an unusual yet appealing alternative to traditional Christmas nativity decor and a charming addition to a Creche collection.

He is my Rock Nativity Sets

For a delightful and distinctive conversation piece, try something new and out of the ordinary by replacing the figurines in your traditional nativity set with nativity scene figures that are uniquely painted on rocks.

 

Newly completed, painted rock nativities ranging in size from tiny, small, medium to large are available in the Nativity Shop.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Glass Gems and Charger Plate Nativity Set Display Idea

This is another simple solution for a Christmas holiday nativity display.

Use glass vase gems with a charger plate...

...and a painted rock nativity set.

Painted Rock Nativity Set

Steps:

1. Position the Mary and Joseph nativity scene figures on an empty charger plate
2. Scatter the glass gems around Mary and Joseph
3. Set the Baby Jesus painted rock on top of the glass gems

Tips:

• Glass vase gems can be found in the floral department of craft stores, some dollar discount stores, online, etc.
• Glass vase gems are available in many different colors which you can coordinate with your nativity set and plate
• You can find charger plates online, at department stores and sometimes at thrift and dollar stores
• Gold, green, silver and red charger plates work well for Christmas holiday displays 

You can see an idea using a charger plate with fake greenery instead of glass gems on this post. 

You can see an idea using a charger plate with polished stones on this post. 

Create your own customized nativity scene display with any of these easy ideas.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Unique Display Idea Using a Painted Rock Nativity Set, Charger Plate and Stones

Instead of using a bulky stable that sheds pieces of moss and hay, try this simple solution for your Christmas holiday nativity display.

This easy idea uses polished river rocks...

...with a round charger plate...

...and a painted rock nativity set.

Joseph, Mary, Jesus Painted Rock Nativity Scene Figures

Steps:

1. Position the Mary and Joseph nativity scene figures on an empty charger plate
2. Scatter the river stones around Mary and Joseph
3. Set the Baby Jesus painted rock on top of the stones

Unique, Customized Nativity Set Display

Tips:

• River stones can be found in the floral department of craft stores, some dollar discount stores, online, etc.
• River rocks are available in different colors which you can coordinate with your nativity set and plate
• You can find charger plates online, at department stores and sometimes at thrift and dollar stores
• Gold, green, silver and red charger plates work well for Christmas holiday displays 

You can see a similar idea using a charger plate with fake greenery instead of stones on this post.

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Unique Display Idea for Painted Rock Nativity Sets - A Red Charger Plate

Are you looking for a simple, economical way to display your painted rock nativity set for the holidays? 

This idea couldn't be simpler and, unlike traditional nativity stables, it's easily moved from a coffee table to a dining table.

Supplies Needed:

• Jesus, Mary & Joseph painted rock nativity scene figures
• Charger plate
• Fake greenery - poinsettias, holly, pine, etc.

I used a shiny, red, plastic (Melamine) charger plate. Plastic is a perfect choice for use with painted rocks to lessen any chance of plate breakage.

A shiny, red, plastic, charger plate

Tip: You can find inexpensive charger plates at thrift stores and dollar discount stores. Silver, gold, and green are good color choices also.


Place your painted rock nativity set on the plate and arrange the greenery of your choice around the nativity scene figures.

A pretty way to display your painted rock nativity set

Tip: If you have holiday floral decorations that have seen better days, remove a few of the nicer pieces and use them for your nativity set plate display. 


There you go - a simple, unique, festive, inexpensive idea for displaying painted rock nativity sets.

Display the nativity in a way which is uniquely you depending on the plate and greenery you select. 

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

How to Paint Unique, Outdoor Nativity Sets on Garden Pavestones

An outdoor nativity set painted on garden pavers is a great gift idea but there's a problem - packing and shipping to out-of-town recipients is difficult and pricey.

Outdoor nativity set painted on garden pavers, brick and rock

The solution: I created a downloadable guide (in PDF format) explaining and illustrating how to paint these outdoor nativity scene figures and brick manger.

How to Paint Nativities on Pavestones PDF Guide

The following sample page from the tutorial shows the type of garden edgestones and paver brick I used along with the rock shape & size which works best for Baby Jesus.

Sample page from the PDF how-to guide

Included in my 40-page tutorial:

• a materials and supplies list
• paint and brush tips
• rock painting tips and helps
• easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions with photos
• ideas for more nativity sets using garden pavestones

Get your copy of 

"How to Paint a Nativity Set on Pavestones" 

Christmas will be here soon!

© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Holiday Gifts of Painted Rocks

The holidays are quickly approaching and here's a simple idea for unique, one-of-a-kind ornaments and gifts.

By adding a pretty ribbon to those small painted stones and rocks you've been painting, you've now converted your painted stone into a holiday ornament for tree-trimming or a small present for gift giving.

 Santa face painted rocks transformed into ornaments

Nativity set Baby Jesus transformed into a tree ornament

I've used holiday-themed painted rocks for my ornaments, however, any small painted stones would be a great gift ornament for someone.
 
Just glue the ribbon to the back of the stone. To make it look more finished, you can cover the spot where the ribbon is attached with fabric or wrapping paper and Mod Podge it.


Remember to keep the weight of the stone in mind when choosing to convert them into ornaments. You don't want the tree to topple over.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks

Hand-Painted Mystery Rocks - Unique Easter Basket and Garden Decor Gifts

Imagine the surprise on Easter morning when a child looks into their Easter basket and hidden among the marshmallow Peeps, colored eggs, chocolate, and jelly beans they find mysterious eyes looking up at them. What are those things? What kind of creatures are hiding inside?

Hand Painted Mystery Eggs Rocks

Those things are one-of-a-kind, hand painted rocks and they are a quirky, unusual gift idea for a child's Easter basket. After all the candy is eaten, these "Easter" eggs will still be around because they're painted stones. They easily fit into a child's pocket and will become their new pocket pet. Children's imagination will be sparked when they try to determine what type of critter actually lives inside these unusual, one-of-a-kind rocks.

Mystery Rocks for Garden Decor

As gifts for your gardening friends, these painted mystery rocks would be an unusual addition to their garden decor. Imagine these small, painted stones in a garden hidden among the flowers and plants, waiting to catch the eye of a passer by, inviting a closer look.


© Cindy Thomas Painted Rocks