Vintage Papercraft Nativity Diorama

This extraordinary papercraft nativity scene was published in an Austrian magazine in 1958. The thing that makes it special is it includes not just a nativity scene, but also five other scenes from the Christmas story. Across the top of the model are Mary and Joseph inquiring at the inn, the Annunciation, and an angel appearing to the shepherds. Along the bottom of the model are the flight of the holy family into Egypt (I think), the nativity, and the three wise men. The JPG format template for the model may be downloaded from the AGK website. German language instructions are included as part of the download.

Other Christmas Papercraft:
Tiny Manger Scene
Santa's House
Easy Printable Nativity
Origami Angel
Snowy Cottage

Byzantine Synagogue Paper Model

This paper model is a recreation of the 4th century synagogue that once stood in the ancient city of Capernaum in Israel. Thousands of tourists visit the building every year, for underneath its ruins are the remains of a 1st century synagogue. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all report that Jesus taught in this older synagogue. This papercraft is offered free by the Reformed Church Apeldoorn South in the Netherlands and may be downloaded here. The build photo shown is a model similar to the download. The PDF template in the download, in my opinion, has better textures than those pictured!

Related Papercraft:

Priscilla and Aquila Tents
Tower of Babel Pop-up

Tower of Babel Ziggurat Pop-up

Some scholars associate the Tower of Babel in the Bible with the ancient city of Babylon. So it is no surprise this Tower of Babel paper pop-up was designed by Elod Beregszaszi to be in the form of a Babylonian ziggurat. A PDF template for the tower may be downloaded here.

Previous Paper Pop-ups:
St. Paul's Cathedral
M. C. Escher's Relativity
Masonic Trestle-Board
8-Bit Video Game Characters
Parthenon

Easy Papercraft Easter Story Diorama

The My Little House website produces a variety of paper models based on stories in the Bible. An appropriate model to build this time of year is their diorama of the Easter story. The diorama includes the risen Christ, Mary Magdalene, two angels, two Roman soldiers, the empty tomb, plus a variety of rocks and trees. A free printable PDF template for the diorama may be downloaded here. One of the accounts of Christ's resurrection is found in the Gospel According to Luke.

Other Easter Papercraft:

Bunny and Chick Paper Toys
Carrot Treat Boxes
Wonderland Egg Diorama
Polygonal Rabbit
Origami Egg Holders

Papercraft Tents

These papercraft tents were designed as a craft project for children to teach them about Priscilla and Aquila, a married couple mentioned in several books in the Christian New Testament. Priscilla and Aquila were tentmakers by trade. Three different tent models are available for download at the Jesus Without Words website. Not pictured is the "pup" style tent. These might be useful for miniature gaming, although they will probably need to be printed at a different scale if used for that purpose.

Other Papercraft Tents:
Circus Tent Gift Boxes
Medieval Tents
Vintage Orphan Annie Circus

Jonah and the Whale Paper Toy

Markus at Digitprop designed a Jonah and the whale paper toy for kids to build in a church class. I like how there is a place for Jonah to fit inside the whale's mouth. :) Jonah is thought to have lived in the 8th century BC. His story is told in the biblical book that bears his name. The easy-to-build, single page template for the toy may be downloaded here.

Other Bible Papercraft:

Vintage Nativity Diorama
4th Century Synagogue
Easy Easter Diorama

Tiny Papercraft Nativity Scene

I have a thing for small sized paper models, but this tiny papercraft nativity scene is beyond the limits of what I would ever attempt to build. I am impressed! Intended for use in doll houses, the nativity was designed and built by Elizabeth Plain at the doll house blog, Open House Miniatures. A template and instructions for this papercraft may be found here. Have yourself a merry, little Christmas. :)

Easy Papercraft Nativity Scene

I like the cartoonish simplicity of this papercraft nativity scene. The fact that two cats and a mouse are included with the animals makes me smile. I also am impressed by the shear number of pieces the set contains. The templates for the scene may be downloaded individually, in groups (such as shepherds and wise men), or as an all-in-one 50mb RAR file. Kudos to Didier at My Little House blog for his labor of love in creating this set.

Renaissance Crucifix Sundial Card Model

In the archives of the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg there is a Renaissance wood engraving that is thought to be the earliest paper model template ever created. The engraving was produced around 1529 by Georg Hartmann (1489 - 1564), a mathematician and designer of scientific instruments. When the template in the engraving is assembled it becomes a crucifix that also ingeniously functions as a sundial (the shadow in the photo on the right is at 11 o'clock).

There are numerous images on the crucifix. On the front is an engraving of the crucifixion of Christ that is very similar to a 1489 woodcut print by artist Albert Durer (1471 - 1528). Some sources suggest that Hartmann was a pupil of Durer's, which might explain the similarity. On the back of the crucifix is a bronze serpent on a cross and an image of Moses in reference to a miracle performed by Moses in Numbers 21:8-9. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ refers to Moses' miracle as a symbolic foreshadowing of his own crucifixion (John 3:14-15) thus explaining Hartmann's inclusion of the bronze serpent on the crucifix.

As far as I know there are no free papercraft templates of the crucifix, but reproductions may be purchased from several different European sources. One such source is here. Also on the same web page is a photo of the cross unfolded if you are curious.