Beautiful Christmas Village Display

Christmas village is fun for adults and children to look at. It is also fun and exciting to build. You see, I'm a Christmas fanatic. I just love everything about the holiday season: the colder weather, the warmer clothes, baking goodies, entertaining and decorating the house. I recently started a new tradition of collecting Christmas items every year, starting with the blown glass Christmas ornaments.

Since we don't have a whole lot of storage space in our house, my husband got a little distressed over my new-found hobby. Well, I have found the perfect solution. I have started to build a miniature Christmas village. It all began a few years ago when someone gave me a Christmas village house as a gift. Liking it so much, I bought a few of my own. At first I displayed the houses throughout the living room and dining room areas. Then a couple of years ago I decided to place them all in one area to create a winter scene.

We have a large bay window in our foyer with a shelf that is 3 feet wide and 4 feet deep in this area. I grow herbs in this space during the summer, but in winter it doesn't get enough sunlight. I figured this would be a perfect place for my Christmas village. So the next thing I did was bought some Christmas village lights, and now I have a beautiful lighted Christmas village display. Since the display is out of the way, it does not take up counter space and it is easily stored in one plastic container. This is a great idea to have in any size home because it is so compact. All worked out wonderfully. Even my husband is impressed.

So, how did I start building it? First I place the fluffy white fabric on the shelf to create a look of snow for the scene. Next, I put blocks of wood under the cloth to create hills and valleys for the Christmas village display. My husband loves trains, so he contributed by purchasing a Christmas village train set. So far we have collected a church, general store, post office, school house, restaurant, and a few houses. Every year I buy something new for the miniature Christmas village decoration to help create the scene of a small town at the turn of the century.

Last year I decided to expand the collection and bought additional miniature people and Christmas village houses to add to the set, as well as lamp posts, ice skating rinks and a news stand. I also found a park set that has a bridge to place over a river, a gazebo and children making a snowman. This will create a new area in my Christmas village display. As our display grew a bit larger, I had to buy additional Christmas village lights.

I also have Christmas trees, a Santa Claus area and a manger scene. I put these items out when I set up the village the day after Thanksgiving and then I take them down after New Year, but leave the miniature Christmas village set up until the end of February. It's a long time I know, but that's basically when winter ends, and without the Christmas accessories, my Christmas village decoration is actually just a winter scene.

As my elegant lighted Christmas village display is located in the foyer, people who come visit look at it and marvel as they are removing their coats and boots. They say I bring in the magic of Christmas into the house. Many people actually love the Christmas village train which makes my husband very happy. Add the heavenly scent of our balsam Christmas tree, and you can't help but agree that the holiday season is truly the most wonderful time of the year!

Many families have a special holiday tradition. My sister started a cross stitch Christmas ornament tradition involving her entire family, while my husband and I collect German and glass Christmas ornaments. What about you? Do you do anything special for the holidays besides shopping? Starting a Christmas village collection is a fantastic idea that will last for many years to come, and is certainly a way to reduce holiday stress.