Craft Three Wise Men for the epiphany

Who says Christmas crafts have to end at Christmas? Coming up to the epiphany, make these Three Wise Men dolls to tell the story of how they came to Bethlehem. The feast of the epiphany is in just a few days and celebrates the arrival of the Magi, otherwise known as the Three Wise Men. 

Celebrated on January 6, the epiphany or Little Christmas celebrates the announcement of Jesus’ birth not only to the Magi but also to the Gentiles. The Three Wise Men were the last visitors to the stable in Bethlehem and came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 

Use wooden dolly pegs or wooden skewers to make them. If using the pegs you can pin them onto the Christmas tree before it’s taken down. If you’re using the skewers, then you can use them as a cake topper for a special Little Christmas cake.

You will need: wooden beads with holes and wooden skewers or wooden clothes pegs, glue, material and fabric in an assortment of colours, tin foil, scissors, coloured ribbon to coordinate the colours of the fabric, wool and felt (if using).

Take three sheets of fabric in colours and patterns of your choice and cut out a square from each swatch. Take one square, fold it in half and cut a tiny snip in the centre. This will allow you to fit the clothes peg or skewer in later. Repeat with the remaining squares. If using the wooden clothes pegs, dab a little glue onto the fabric and pull it over the top of the peg. 

Wooden skewer

Allow to dry. If using a wooden skewer and bead, first glue the bead to the skewer, pushing the skewer into one of the holes in the bead. Leave to dry before pulling the fabric over the top of the bead.

When the glue has dried, draw eyes and a mouth with a black pen on the heads. Fashion crowns out of tin foil and glue these to the tops of each of the heads. Cut strips of ribbon and glue these around the shoulders of the kings for the collars of their robes.

If you like, create beards for your Three Wise Men with brown and black felt or with strips of brown and black wool. Glue them on over the mouth and leave to dry.