For Christmas this year we were on a bit of a budget so I decided to go the homemade route for my gift to my wife. Now normally when you think of homemade you're probably thinking macaroni glued to paper or something along that line but I knew this had to be a bit more than that to keep me out of the dog house. I settled on making a stable for her nativity set. I was going for a 10"x10" base and a 13" height. I liked the more square look than a pitch roof. Here's my initial plan:
I ran to Home Depot during my lunch and grabbed some Walnut stain and chalked paint. I started with some scrap 2x6 and started cutting pieces to size. I decided on a larger base to be able to fit more figurines. I used a staple gun and some brads and started putting it together. I stapled 4 columns of wood into place then added some horizontal cross pieces at the top of the columns. Next I added horizontal pieces asking the top and bottom of the columns so I could add vertical slats to the back enclosing the stable. Next I added a board to act as a roof. I then had a 1x8 board I cut into 2 x 16" lengths and connected with wood biscuits and wood glue. When dried u attached the stable to the base. 
I took it with me to work so I could stain and paint during my lunch break. I sanded it down then applied stain. Allowed it to dry then applied chalked paint. I sanded the edges for a distressed look and was satisfied with the result. Here's the finished product.
