Christmas Villages

I first saw one of these at my aunt's beauty salon, inside the display window.  I could not have seen a better display of the warmth and coziness that accompanies cold winter nights.

Christmas villages usually contain a series of houses or buildings that make a village, including the post office, the general market, the church, and so on.  You can buy these sets anywhere, but the best part of making a village is choosing the houses and arranging them together as you see fit. Below, I compiled a few tips for arranging your very own Christmas Village.

Repeat Shapes and Textures

You don't need to purchase a set of houses for your Christmas village.  If you find houses at a flea market, for example, make sure you grab 2 or 3 of each style of house.  If there is only one, then, keep in mind the shape and texture of the house.  I won't go into detail about house building styles (victorian, alpine, etc).  But keep in mind what kind of houses you are collecting. Do they have brick?  Are they tall and stately or short and more of a square?  Do they have chimneys or store signs?

Repeat Colors and their Saturation

Think about what color palette you want to have.  If you pick more neutral colors, or even just a few colors, it makes it more likely that you can reuse your houses throughout the years.  

Vary the Size of Houses

While you want repetition in your collection, a little variation goes a long way in keeping your guests entertained.  If there are smaller houses, you can display them up above a higher surface, or behind the bigger houses, creating the illusion that they are farther away, without taking up much room.

Add People

While finding the right people can be hard, try simply cutting and pasting pictures into the windows of the houses.  This is one time when I would say that going to a hobby store is a good idea.  Hobby stores keep miniature people to add to models and they will very likely have them in the size you need.  Bring along a couple of houses so you know how the people will look standing next to them.  

Display houses at Different Levels

Add a couple of cake stands to elevate few houses here and there.  You may even want to make these houses the more rural of the bunch, since those would have probably not have been so close to the town square anyway.  

Face Houses in One Direction, or Two  

Remember  that this is a display, so although you'll want to make it realistic, it just isn't a good display if you, the viewer has to move around a lot.  Sure, add some houses facing a few degrees off the others, but, in general, try to make them all face within a 120 degree range.

Also, it better when there isn't much room between the houses.  This might make your display smaller if you have a few buildings, but it will make it that much more interesting to look at for longer periods of time.  If you don't think people will have enough room to see, try a linear arrangement to open things up a bit more.  Or, place your village on a round table with plenty of viewing space around it.  

Add plenty of Lights!

The best part of a Christmas village is seeing it lit up at night, dressed in Christmas cheer.  So, go for it!  Add some of the same decorations that you have around your house, including its very own dedicated string of lights and outlet.  

And finally, Personalize your Village

You have no idea how much of a hit it is when people find traces of themselves in your Christmas village.  

1. If you're going to buy little people at a hobby store, why not find little figurines who resembles the people in your life?  
2. Buy mini mail boxes and simply add a mailing label (yes, a simple mailing label) that reads "The Millers," "the Lees," and so on.  
3. Add the initials of each person in your family to miniature ornaments that will go on the village Christmas tree.
4. If you run out of time, or energy, you can always make a simple place card that can be displayed in front of each house or building.
5. Add toy cars that match the colors of family cars.  Sure, this may not fit in with your 1800's village, but who's really keeping track of that anyway?

Doing any of these, no matter how amateur it might look, will tell your guests, your family, that you are thinking of them and that your perfect world could never be perfect without them.

Enjoy putting together you village.  This year, I'll probably go a bit nontraditional.  I found these awesome pictures on Flickr, and I think I might make a few of the house ornaments above.  They will allow me to get the kiddies to help out with stuffing the sewn ornaments and hanging them up on the Christmas tree.  I'll let you know how they turn out!

Want to try a little something different for your Christmas village?  Check out my gallery on Flickr.  I've collected a few houses that might get your mind going.