1) Carving Quality
The Bannoura family has been following the ancient tradition of wood carving passed by many generations so we ensure top quality olive wood handicrafts for our customers.
Over time, our skill has been improved upon and passed down from father to son for many generations with each generation adding new stylistic ideas and new means to improve the crafting until we reached where we are now: masterly finesse.
2) Olive Wood’s Quality
All of our olive wood items are made of authentic olive trees from Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. The olive wood used to carve our statues is made from locally grown olive wood trees.
Our olive wood is dried up for at least one year before it is used for carving. However, the aging process can take many years especially for larger carvings.
3) Statues Quality
Our olive wood products are coated with soft, clear, lacquer-based sealing wax to keep them intact during shipping and handling in order to ensure their longevity and to give them a hint of shine.
4) Texture
Part of the attraction of olive wood is the unique texture and visual appearance of the wood itself. Therefore, no two items are exactly alike. Absolute copies and duplicates of catalog images are impossible.
5) Community
Bethlehem Handicrafts is a Christian organization which supports the families in Bethlehem who carve unique crafts from genuine olive wood such as religious statues, crosses, nativity sets, kitchen utensils, and much more.
Every item bought makes a change to better into the lives of the Christian artisans in Bethlehem. It also helps us advance the socioeconomic development within the Christian community in the Holy Land and preserves the existence of the olive wood artisan trade in Palestine.
6) Nature
No living healthy trees are ever dug up for carving. The industry nowadays is already facing many challenges because of the tens of thousands of olive trees that are constantly being destroyed or uprooted by the Separation Wall and settlement infrastructure.
Therefore, all of our statues are carved of the branches that are pruned which helps olive trees in numerous ways like extending their productive life. Dead or diseased trees are also used for larger carvings.
7) Faith
Like the roots of the olive tree, we seek to hold strong to our Faith and spread our branches as we grow throughout the world. As a Christian organization, we love bringing beautiful Christian items into people's lives and homes.
“We are proud to be considered part of the living Christian heritage of the Holy Land. Our local Christians go back to Christ’s time. We are the first believers of the Lord.” – George Bannoura, a co-owner of the family business.
8) Shipping
Bethlehem Handicrafts provides FREE shipping on orders above $40. We make an effort to ship within two business days once you place an order.
9) Customized Orders
Bethlehem Handicrafts is able to take customized orders for your family, church, business or a special event. There is nothing quite like having your own customized olive wood items.
Particular Saints or devotional scenes, an engraved passage from the Bible or a particular animal or decorative scene can be made especially just for you. A customized olive wood gift will be treasured by family, friends, parishioners or loved ones for years to come.
Just send us your idea with as many details as possible and we will give you an estimate on cost and an estimated time of completion. Remember that larger and heavier items will cost more for shipping.
We specialize in religious symbols and figurines but are ready to work on any number of other ideas and designs.
10) Wholesale
You can become a retailer of our products with an access to our wholesale prices that are exclusively available for our partners. Get in contact with us through wholesale@bethlehemhandicrafts.com to discuss rates, shipping, etc.
We, the Bethlehem Handicrafts’ team, are so proud to put the Holy Land in your hand by giving you a variety of the best and the most outstanding original Bethlehem’s olive wood carvings with the best quality made in the Holy Land.
