Christmas Village

One of my favorite Christmas memories as a child was watching and staring at my Uncle Durwood's Christmas tree. He had a train going around it and inside the track were figurines and scenic nick knacks they had bought on vacations and other travels. I loved that tree, and I vowed to have one of my own someday. But I started collecting buildings and figurines and it was only a few years before I had a Christmas Village that I was proud of and that has become a tradition in my family.

My Village base is made of pressed wood. I'm not sure a base is absolutely necessary, but I do think it gives a stable base to the train tracks and provides the means to get electrical chords out of the way. My board is just a standard sheet from the home improvement store, which happened to perfectly fit the space I wanted. You might need to make it smaller to fit your space.

I've cut my board in half and joined with hinges. I might make the feet larger some day. This is just a base layer of white for the whole village. I usually replace this layer of felt every two years.

On the board I next place a stand. The stand provides the tunnel for the train to go through, and creates visual variety. The stand is also made of pressed wood. Simply cut two pieces of wood (mine are approximately 2 feet by 8 inches) and cut notches in the center of each. This allows them to be joined together as an X and is a very stable base. Whatever size you decide for your stand, the higher you make it, the wider it should be. Tall and skinny is a recipe for disaster. The first couple of years I had my village the stand was used for the Christmas tree, and the village sprawled out below. Lately though, the tree has been next to the stand and this has allowed me to create more interesting layouts.

Step 4: Place and Decorate Your Tree

Once the stand is in place it is time to place and decorate your tree. Don't do anything else until it's decorated,replica van cleef magic alhambra earrings, and don't forget the put the star or angel on top. It's very difficult to put it on later once the village is finished.

Step 5: Laying the Track

Now I lay the train track. I don't always lay the track all the way around at this point, but I at least lay it in the tunnel (under the stand) and behind the tree. The rest can be done later. My train is a Lionel Pennsylvania Flyer. I've added 8 sections of straight track to what comes in the standard Lionel package. This makes it fit the standard piece of plywood very well in a standard square oval.

I use legal books as my village risers. The risers allow me to create hills and valleys for the buildings to be on or in front of. Cinder blocks, bricks, boxes, or anything could be used for the risers. The legal books I use are decorative books on our shelves the rest of the year. Now I generally get it right the first time because I can usually imagine it in my head correctly first. I don't change the layout every year. I'll keep the same layout for two years and then change it.

After you have your risers where you think you like them, start placing your buildings. Here you are testing your layout to see how it looks. You may have to switch out books because they make certain buildings too high or too low. You may end up moving books because it just doesn't look like you visualized. This is your testing phase and it's the time to make your major changes. Once you lay down your cover felt, it's difficult to move books around and make design changes.

Step 8: Cover Felt and Replacing of Buildings

After you have the placements right, take everything off the risers and lay down your cover felt. The cover felt will be the main floor of the village that people will actually see. It will help you make the hills and valleys out of the risers and it will help hide the electrical cords. Avoid hard edges. After it looks how you want it start laying the cords. Cut the cover felt and snake the lighting cords underneath to your power strip. I've switched to the multi light cords verses the single light chords that come in with the buildings. This allows me to light more buildings with fewer outlets, and allows fewer cuts in the cover felt,replica van cleef lotus earrings, but does hinder building placement as the lights are a set distance apart.

Step 9: Figurines and Finishing

Last is placing the figurines and scenery. I have 4 or 5 different kinds of trees that I've collected over the years. In my opinion the people are best when they are slightly noticed, verse jumping out at you. Fake snow. The little bags of snow sold at craft stores. I resisted paying for the snow for a couple of years, and then one year I broke down and bought some. What a difference it makes!! The fake snow is like the magic you sprinkle on at the end. A thin sprinkling is all that is needed, but put it everywhere; on the buildings, on the people, trees, etc. I've been a fan of the site and all the wonderful things everyone posts. Merry Christmas!

Here a link to my 2011 Village video. I have been trying to figure out how to have the villages at different levels without spending money. The books are a wonderful idea,fake van cleef earrings. Thank you.

It all looks so lovely. Check this out for display ideas, mountains, backdrops, etc. There are pages and pages of very detailed explanations about how to display and make Christmas villages. i get the loose stuff, not sheets. then I just fluff it up.

one thing i add to my village is a small pond i just use a CD and place a tree in the middle with fake snow arround it

I used to set my village up on a large banquet table. Since moving half way across Canada into a smaller home,replica van cleef arpels alhambra earrings, I didn think I ever be able to have my village set up again. Thanks to you, I be buying what I need and next year I have my village set up and my family will be able to enjoy looking at it again.

Thanks Mach! I did this instructable before Christmas 2008. Each year it just gets better because I collect more buildings and more trees and more people!

Looks great! Our Holiday village is one of our favorite traditions, thank you for the good tips on the instructions, i can wait to try it.

• The least expensive copy Van Cleefbracelets You should never forget
• The most cheap imitation Van Cleef and Arpelsnecklace jewelry Really do not forget
• The cheaper imitation Van Cleef and Arpelscuff bracelet Really don't miss out on
• The least expensive replica Van Cleef and Arpelsbangle Do not neglect
• The least expensive copy Van Cleef & Arpelsbracele