My Little Corner of the Net

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Christmas Village 2013 - The New House

Since we moved into the new house earlier this year, I have been racking my brain trying to figure out where we were going to set up the Christmas tree, the Christmas village, and how we were going to do the outside Christmas lights.




As the new miniature room was finished, and we were moving the miniatures from the garage, I saw the sheets of plywood that I have used under my village in previous years.  I had been going back and forth between setting up the village upstairs in the new studio, or finding a more public place for it.  It doesn't help matters that our living room is octagon shaped with traffic coming and going from 4 sides. Then it hit me! 


 I could move the couch out a couple of feet from the window, and wind it around the back.  Kind of like a window display.  I decided to add a dramatic slope down to the floor on the kitchen side so that my little nieces and nephews could enjoy the view too.


First step, drag all of the boxes out of the garage and pull the foam inserts out.



I stacked to empty plastic tubs under the sheet of plywood to give it the desired height.



Here is the view from the other side



I cut a piece of foam core to fit the oddly shaped corner of the octagon shaped living room and I traced around the curve of our sectional.
I supported it with 3 smaller plastic tubs left over from our move.


I had my son 'strength-test' the new base.





The next step was building up areas with the pieces of foam and creating the sloping mountain down to the lower level.  I think adding a lot of variety in the terrain makes the village more interesting.



We did a preliminary layout of the village and moved the foam around until everything looked just about right.  Keep in mind, we are going to cover the rest of the area with fabric batting and fake snow to smooth out the ups and downs.

 I won't go into the lighting this year, but you can see details of how I light the village by clicking on my post from last year here.




Here is the "skyline" from across the room


Here is the skyline including our Christmas tree and its reflection.




I added some snow flakes hanging from the ceiling this year.  My son loving calls them "apocalyptic" snow flakes because they are so large in relationship to the scale of the people and buildings.





I hope you enjoy the village as much as we do each year!  


To see the 2015 village click HERE

36 comments:

  1. WOW! That is quite a collection. Your display is beautiful! So is what I can see of your Christmas tree.

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  2. Dear Troy,
    What a wonderful collection.
    Hugs Dorien

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  3. Troy, I LOVE your Christmas village!!! I am so glad you show it each year! What an engineering feat... but really spectacular results!!! The new location and "skyline" are really magical! Wish I could pop over to your house to see it in RL!
    Happy Holidays to you!!!

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  4. Great idea Troy, it looks wonderful!

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  5. Hi Troy, your Cristmas Village is so Beautiful and amazing in all the details. The new location this year is wonderful as a skyline in front of the windows! And the Christmas tree is gorgeous!
    Hugs
    Kikka

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  6. Wonderful display Troy! It looks great in that location and I like how you have it coming down around the corner.
    It was the Christmas village displays I saw in the US and our local garden centre which started my journey into the world of miniatures!

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  7. Hello Troy,
    The village is gorgeous and that is the perfect spot for it. You really do a fantastic job each and every year. I love your villages and look forward to your Christmas village posts.
    Big hug,
    Giac

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  8. Hi Troy,
    Your village is enchanting! All the best for the new year in your new home.
    Philip

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  9. There is nothing that brings childhood memories back to me more than sitting and gazing at illuminated Christmas decorations. How magical they still are. Just beautiful Tony!

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  10. Oh my goodness! This is gorgeous, I can't wait to see it in real life! Good job!

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  11. Hi Troy
    your village is wonderful I thought my sister in law had the market cornered on those little houses but you have her beat

    Marisa ;)

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  12. Absolutely lovely, Troy! What a beautiful display. It makes your first Christmas in your new home very special.
    Susan

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  13. I like the way you have displayed the Christmas Village, Troy, you've done a great job! And your Christmas tree is beautiful! We have to wait until tomorrow, because my son celebrates his birthday now with a lot of friends, there is no room for the tree yet ;)!!
    Kind regards, Ilona
    PS Thank you for your comment on my post of today!

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  14. Wow!! With all the lights the village really comes alive! Really nice settings too! Well done. I'm impressed!

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  15. Wauw dat is erg mooie kerstdorpje met kleine lichtjes. Erg leuk om achter bank.
    Mijn moeder heeft ook veel kersthuisjes. Ik heb een bergen voor kersthuisjes van krant gemaakt met behanglijm (papermache) .

    En een gelukkig nieuwjaar en creatieve 2014!
    Lisette

    Wow that's very nice Christmas village with tiny lights. Very nice rear bench.
    My mother also has many Christmas houses. I have a mountain of Christmas houses made ​​of newspaper with wallpaper glue (paper mache).

    And a happy New Year and creative 2014!
    Lisette

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  16. You have totally inspired me!!
    Heading to the craft store with list in hand first thing in the morning!!

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  17. I love this! I adore how your Tudor buildings glow, what brand are they?

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    1. The brand is called Village Square and was sold by a department store called Mervyn's. They have gone out of business but you can still find pieces on ebay.

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  18. Very inspiring. Wish I had run across this link before Dec. I never set up my village the same way twice. I love by your ideas.

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  19. When would you like to come over and help me set up mine?

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    1. I would love to help. Let me know where and when and be sure to stock up on snacks!

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  20. Thank you so much for sharing this GREAT idea! I have a large Village I hand painted over fourteen years ago when I was single. My family has yet to see it and now I can't wait until Christmas to use your fantastic idea to share it with them!
    Thank you again and Merry Christmas!!!

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  21. WOW amazing feat of space planning.. My question, before I start to re-create something like this... do you have a re-packaging plan? I would never be able to get the stryrofoam back into the correct boxes

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    1. Actually yes. I wrote the name of the building on each piece of styrofoam and I have saved all of the original boxes .

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  22. Looks absolutely amazing! Cant buy these very readily here in UK.

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  23. Beautiful. Your name is Troy so you must be a guy. I am glad you do not suffer from the horrible Christmas village allergy that my husband does. Yors looks wonderful.

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    1. Yes I am a guy, and while I do have a few allergies, Christmas Villages are not one of them ;)

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  24. lovely .. and thanks for sharing

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  25. I absolutely love how you've displayed your houses. I know that is a ton of work. Gives me lots of ideas for mine. I have several new pieces that I bought about 5 years ago that I have never gotten out of the box due to surgeries around Christmas, etc. Thanks for the pictures, follow Okie!!

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  26. Thanks for posting this. I actually found something that works. I just put a string of those battery operated christmas lights or fairy lights in each house. Has a timer too. Works great.

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  27. This is amazing! I learned so much from your process and feel inspired! I had to laugh at your "apocalyptic" stars. I am a retired teacher, and when I do a village, my snow is always abnormally deep. When people comment, I say, "What can I say...I'm a teacher, and I loved long, consecutive periods of snow days!"

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  28. Just wanted to thank you for the insight into the "bumpy" natural looking landscape, using staggered foam cores. I couldn't get how people achieved this look. Can't wait to try it!

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  29. I love the way you have your set up for the village. You have some really great ideas. I have been setting mine up for 20 years, but you have given me hints to make it easier. Thank you. I love your site.

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  30. Hello Troy! What an amazing Xmas village!!! I like so much your display and lighting! Great work!!! Happy Christmas to you!
    Thank you also for your comment on my post!

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