Are you a Christmas Village Collector?

[rie'smom]

My Halloween Village display. It comes down this week to make room for the Christmas Village display.

Love it!! Now I'm inspired to make the Halloween village.

 

[shasess]

DH wants to start collecting them (his mom has a huge collection) but I don't know where to begin.

 

[LuvDuke]

Love it!! Now I'm inspired to make the Halloween village.

THank you.

DH wants to start collecting them (his mom has a huge collection) but I don't know where to begin.

A great place to start a Christmas village is with a church.

For a Halloween village, a haunted house is usually a good starting point.

Fair warning: Villaging is a disease.

 

[perla75]

DH wants to start collecting them (his mom has a huge collection) but I don't know where to begin.

I'm very new at collecting villages. I come from a jewish family, so I've never even grown up with them. I'm in love with the winter themes. I fell in love with them during a visit to the Yankee Candle Factory main store in MA, where they sell and display the most beautiful villages. I got my ideas from there & then went on Ebay to choose my first one. I chose a school for my first building because I'm a teacher.

 

[sorul82?]

Whew! Finally got my village done.

Please note: the residents of my town are huge sports fans....bet you can't guess which teams. They haven't finished decorating their tree yet.

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Wow! That is so cool. I am impressed!

Teresa

 

[Denine]

I wish I had the money to start collecting. I have a very cheap village I bought when we were first married 17 years ago. It all came in 1 box for $25.
I saw the one's at Kohl's the other day, but I still couldn't get one. I haven't put up my "village" in a few years.

Love all the villages you have done. They are beautiful!

 

[sorul82?]

I haven't added anything to mine since 1997. My children take all my $$ now.

Although, I do think I picked up a few things 50% off at a store closing. I had the huge wedding chapel, but I can't find it. It may have been lost in a move.

 

[lovin diz]

I have a fairly, extensive collection of Dept. 56. I have several tables, set at different heights, to display my "villages". This is my DGDs favorite holiday tradition. We have a "story" behind each of our villages. I am particularly fond of the churches.

My grandmother and i did the same thing. I loved putting up the village with her; she has since passed away, and my grandfather gave me the village. It is my favorite christmas decoration!

 

[Briarmom]

We have Dept 56 Snow Village as well. I don't really like it. I wish we'd started with the North Pole village.
I'd love to post pics, but my dh put it up while I was in the States, and he didn't iron the cloth we use to cover the table. It REALLY looks like crap this year.

Here's a pic of the Halloween Village:

 

[WDWRocksMySocks]

Ooh, I love all the pictures of the different villages - very nice!

I just started collecting the Disney village pieces last year. Right now, I had the castle, Haunted Mansion, train station and the Emporium. I love them!!

 

[sorul82?]

We have Dept 56 Snow Village as well. I don't really like it. I wish we'd started with the North Pole village.
I'd love to post pics, but my dh put it up while I was in the States, and he didn't iron the cloth we use to cover the table. It REALLY looks like crap this year.

Here's a pic of the Halloween Village:

Looks nice!

Ooh, I love all the pictures of the different villages - very nice!

I just started collecting the Disney village pieces last year. Right now, I had the castle, Haunted Mansion, train station and the Emporium. I love them!!

Sounds great.

 

[juligrl]

I'm starting a Christmas Village Collection this year-decided to go with the Dept. 56 Original Snow Village.

I just purchased a school building (I'm a teacher) & plan to purchase 1 store, maybe a house, & an animated skating rink or animated sledding hill.

I would love to see photos of your Christmas village and/or some advice on getting started-ideas for "snow" (we have 2 cats so no loose snow), foundations, cheap places to buy buildings and accessories, setting up lighting, etc...

Thanks!

I love doing my Christmas village! I collect Lemax and have been acquiring one piece and one figurine a year since 1998 (I have also been gifted several other types of village pieces through the years, but I really prefer my Lemax stuff).

Last year, I scaled down my display because my youngest daughter was 1 and I didn't know how she'd be with my village. I also displayed it on my dining room buffet and china cabinet. My younger daughter never touched the village, she was perfect! This year "Christmas Tree Town" (my name for my village) is back in its rightful spot under the Christmas tree - hills and all.

I don't have enough LeMax pieces yet to be a purist with my town - this year I have an old Victorian Village restaurant and general store along with two smaller scale houses (set on a hillside so they look like they're in the distance), a Barburry Village Christmas Tree Lot, a store brand Outhouse, and the H.J. Heinz House that are not LeMax in my village. I also have a school that was one of the very first pieces I got (about 10 years old) in my village this year.

I have a ton of fun setting up my village each year and kids really enjoy looking at it. My daughters and all of their friends do the tummy-side tour of the village and they've all picked out the houses they "live" in. It's so much fun just to get down and imagine a story with them. I'll admit I do the same thing myself.

I haven't taken any pictures yet this year, but here are some from last year:
Set up on the china cabinet - the residential district:

Woodland setting:

Building a snowman for the snowman contest!

Playing Santa

The Heinz House (not Lemax) and a Lemax victorian:

Set up on the buffet - The business district: Note that the two end pieces ar not LeMax hence the really bad scale!

The church:

A busy town:

Not LeMax:

The people that own the laundromat also live above it and they are the ones setting up the Charlie Brown tree in the background:

Not LeMax:

 

[Denine]

What are the best villages? Dept 56, St. Nicholas Square? I have never heard of Lemax.

Why did you choose the brand you did?

 

[minniecarousel]

I have the Dept 56 North Pole swing - with Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I'd like to give it to my DDIL,who collects that particular series. DH just bought it for me last year & he'd rather I not give it away. We just liked how it looked. We bought it while on vacation.

Where could I go to buy Dept 56? Macy's didn't have anything. I don't have time to purchase through mail order.

 

[sorul82?]

I have the Dept 56 North Pole swing - with Minnie, Mickey, Donald and Goofy. I'd like to give it to my DDIL,who collects that particular series. DH just bought it for me last year & he'd rather I not give it away. We just liked how it looked. We bought it while on vacation.

Where could I go to buy Dept 56? Macy's didn't have anything. I don't have time to purchase through mail order.

www.department56.com has a store locator.

 

[castleview]

I'm having trouble finding the motivation to get mine up this year. I have North Pole. Dept. 56 made it easier to not buy when they started doing tons of trademark collaborations. Last count was 53 pieces and that's without buying any in three years.

 

[juligrl]

What are the best villages? Dept 56, St. Nicholas Square? I have never heard of Lemax.

Why did you choose the brand you did?

Lemax probably doesn't have the popularity of Dept. 56, but that's what I collect. I like their detailing and all their different sets (Vail Village, Caddington Village, Plymouth Corners and Harvest Crossing ones are my favorites). They also have an awesome spookytown Halloween collection.
Two Lemax sites I visit: http://www.lemaxcollection.com/ and http://www.lemax.org/.

 

[Denine]

Thanks for the info.

 

[mickeysgal]

What's the best village collection to collect? Well, Snowtown by Kurt Adler, of course. Certainly that's my opinion as that's the one I collect. It's been retired for years. This village is very whimsical and can only be found on Ebay. I have the entire collection - except for one. I swear I'll never find it. It's a Snowtown-inspired house made for Hershey. I know it exists, but I've yet to unearth one.