One of the things I enjoy most when I am in Italy during Christmas time is visiting the nativities.

Some villages organize live nativities which are suggestive costume reenactments; at seaside resorts you will find sand nativities and also there are many others made by local artists who spend months creating them; some have music, lights, special effects like day and night, running water, thunder and moving statuettes. They really are works of art.

Every year I visit a place in my home town where you can visit several different nativities all made by local people who have a passion for it. Everything is carefully made enterely by hand and every year the display is different.

These are typical Northern Italian farm houses, I can only imagine how much work it has gone into creating one of these…brick by brick.

This is a nativity made out of buttons and fabric.

This is with jute fabric.

Look at the details outside and inside the houses too. These are typical houses from the mountains of Friuli.

This mosaic is made with different types of corn

These are trulli or dry stone huts with a conical roof typical of Puglia.

And this could not be more Italian: a nativity made out of different types of pasta!

This one is made out of hay.

And finally! This is my Nativity I made at home this year. All the statuettes are from my childhood. Every time I look at it I get all those Christmas childhood memories coming back. I simply love it and I cannot help feeling a bit of nostalgia.

I wish you all a Buon Natale – Happy Christmas!