Carved in the Holy Land: Olive Wood Christmas Decorations from Bethlehem Artisans

Olive wood has been carved in and around Bethlehem for more than a thousand years. The trees themselves — ancient, deeply rooted, producing fruit and wood across generations — are inseparable from Palestinian identity and from the landscape of the holy land. Nativity Bells, a Bethlehem workshop whose name carries the spirit of the city itself, has been part of this tradition for generations — carving the scenes and symbols that Bethlehem is known for across the world.

Every piece of olive wood from a Bethlehem workshop is carved from pruned branches. No trees are felled for production. The workshops use what the trees shed, and in doing so, connect their craft to the living landscape around them.

Bethlehem is the city of the nativity. To hold an olive wood nativity scene carved here — from wood grown in the hills around the city, by families whose workshops have been here for generations — is to hold something that is exactly what it says it is.

Holy Land Handicraft Cooperative

One of Bethlehem's oldest and most respected olive wood workshops, WFTO-certified, run on a cooperative model where the artisans have a stake in the business rather than simply a wage. Their range spans ornaments, nativity sets, angels, doves, stars, and tree decorations — all carved and finished by hand.

Gloria

Based in Beit Sahour, Gloria works with different artisans from the Bethlehem area. They also custom design some of our ornaments with us. Their nativity scenes, Holy Family sculptures, and figurines are carved from a single, unbroken piece of wood — not assembled from parts. To do this requires understanding the grain before the first cut, committing to shapes that cannot be undone, and working with the particular character of each piece of wood rather than against it. His range includes the Holy Family, Flight to Egypt, Woman at the Well, and the Last Supper. No two pieces are identical, because no two pieces of wood are identical.

→ Shop Our Holiday Collection here.

→ Shop Sculptures & Figurines here.