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How to do Christmas Village Displays

Christmas village displays are an exciting part of the holidays that every generation care share in, even kids. However, setting up a Christmas village can turn into a daunting & expensive task. Here is how to do it cheap & easy.

Step 1: Collect over time. Whether you make your pieces or buy them, just add one new building every year. This not only cuts down on cost but helps form a Christmas tradition.

Step 2: Use what you already have. Find quilt batting for snow. Have your kid's raid their toy chest for anything miniature. If you have a toy train around, set it up around the tree with the Christmas village around it.

Step 3: Personalize. There is no right or wrong way to make a Christmas village display. You can set up the village in a quirky place.

How to Build a Miniature Christmas Village

Evolving primarily from yuletide traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch, miniature Christmas villages have become a staple for many families.

Step1: Peruse catalogs and online sites like onechristmasplace.com catalogue that feature Christmas villages for inspiration. Then, lay out a rough sketch of what the soon-to-be-constructed village should look like.

Step 2: Create a foundation using Styrofoam. Many families save the boxes that high-tech appliances such as televisions and computers were shipped in, including the Styrofoam.

Step 3: Spread out plenty of newspaper and place the assembled village platform in the center.

Step 4: Purchase an inexpensive bucket of gesso at any local craft or hobby store. Typically used as a primer for painting, it is one of the best materials to create a realistic winter wonderland. Pour it over the Styrofoam, feeling free to let dollops gather thicker in some places than others. Let it dry and create an ice-cream-like surface of freshly fallen snow.		  
How to Build A Christmas Village

Building a Christmas Village is really quite fun. You will be starting out with a flat clean board.
Step 1: draw your town on the board. You will be able to use empty boxes for your houses and buildings.
Strata mold is excellent to mix and use to sculpture your roadways and terrains. It will need to dry on your board for twenty four hours before proceeding to the next step. The next step is to glue down all of your houses and buildings. You may use cotton or strata mold for your rooftops for the snow affect. Please allow it the drying time. You can also place your small cars and little toy people into your village. I recommend gluing them down. The last step is placing your lights into your village. Many of the choices and ideals that you have will add to and personalize your Christmas Village!

Step 2: Images of a Christmas Village!Mark off the village with a permanent marker, and place your houses and roads where you would like them to go.

Step 3: An example of the lights in a village at night!Prepare your houses by painting them and adding any pipe cleaners for window ceil and frames. Allow drying time. While the houses are drying , you can use the ice pick to shape your terrain and roads. You should mix your stratamold according to the directions on the container. Please allow twenty four hours drying time. You may then glue down all your houses and finish painting your roads or terrain.
The last step is light placement in your village.
  How to light up Christmas Village buildings

If you have a bunch of porcelain Christmas Village buildings, but have lost (or never had) their bulbs, you can buy extra bulbs with fixtures sold by the stores that carry the buildings. A cheaper and more creative way is to use strings of Christmas Tree lights.


Step 1: You would probably want to start by arranging the buildings first. Select a string of white lights, set to be on constantly.

Step 2: Run a string of lights from building to building, by inserting one or more lights into each building. Let the amount of light you want in each building determine the number of bulbs that you insert in it. (I like my buildings to glow.

Step 3: As you string the lights from building to building, several of them would be left between buildings. Position those so you can light up desired areas between the buildings. You can hide them behind accessories, like trees and figurines. If you use strings with WHITE wire, the wire will be "lost" in whatever you use for snow. Alternatively, you can use bulb covers, sold at craft stores, to darken bulbs that you do not want seen.

 How to make a Christmas Village economically
Step 1: After Christmas, start going to yard and church sales. People will start getting rid of Christmas items. You can buy large houses and churches for as little as $2.00 each. People and animals - .10 cents. If possible, try to get the lighting that goes with each house, shop or church. Sometimes you can get a whole set that consists of 5 or 6 buildings.

Step 2: Carry a list of what you want in your village. When you find a piece, check it off. You will need to buy at least 7 houses, church, retail shops to make the village complete. Other items to make a Christmas scene such as trees, bridges, lights, and fence may be found tucked in the bottom of a box or basket. Watch for rolls or bags of white filling that can be used as snow.

Step 3: Be careful with what you buy. Do you want a "large" Christmas Village or a "small" one. Some buildings are bigger than others so make sure you buy the size you have decided to have in your village. A small Nativity that are all connected together. A small mirror for an ice pond.

Step 4: Christmas Village with Christmas tree. When you have collected all the items that you want in your village, find a small table, desk or any area that is flat to set your village up on. Try to have an electrical outlet nearby. Use small boxes or bowls under the "snow" to make a hill or valley.

Step 5: Set the houses to the back and build your display around them coming forward with people, animals, trees, ice pond, nativity scene etc. Plug it in and see your beautiful display.


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