There are many things to consider when planning a Christmas Village display, such as the size and complexity of the presentation. Creating a blueprint or layout will help establish a master plan to guide the arrangement of the entire Village.
Here are a couple of tips:
1.Study your Village buildings carefully. Some have detailed sides, porches, or doorways that you will want to feature.
2.Place the buildings on a piece of paper or poster board and trace the outline of their base. Make sure not to use a permanent marker in case you accidentally touch the buildings. Label each outline with the name of the corresponding Village piece. Consider the placement of your mountains, ponds, roadways and large accessories.
Skating Pond Ideas
What winter setting would be complete without a skating pond? This favorite activity inspires several ideas on how to construct the perfect pond.
Crystal Frost Pond
1.Spray a plain mirror tile with crystal frost. As additional coats of paint are applied, more facets will appear.
Frosted Plexiglas Skating Pond
1.Take a 12" x 12" (or desired size) piece of aluminum foil, shiny side up. Cover with a piece of crinkled waxed paper the same size.
2.Top it with a piece of frosted Plexiglas the same size. Use a Plexiglas cutter to cut a pond of any size or shape. Hot glue small pebbles around the edge to trim.
A River Runs Through It
Incorporate Villages into home decor all year long using unique seasonal displays. This challenging display vignette is a great way to prepare your home for Halloween or Thanksgiving.
To create a river, follow these steps:
1.The centerpiece of the display is a stream. Cut a .5" piece of foam board into the desired shape of a winding stream, making it wide enough to build banks on each side.
2.To create a gravel streambed, glue down sandpaper, being sure to cover the whole piece of foam board.
3.Next, build the banks of the stream using self-drying modeling clay. To create an interesting shoreline, dried flowers and an assortment of mosses and colored rocks may be pressed into the clay before it hardens.
Paths, Walkways and Sidewalks
From busy city sidewalks to the winding paths of the rural countryside, interesting paths, walkways and sidewalks add charm to Village displays.
Slate Paths
1.Draw a pattern on Styrofoam base. Hot glue miniature slate pieces closely together to fill the pattern.
2.Hot glue small pieces of reindeer moss between the slate.
Earth-tone Walkways
1.Draw a pattern on Styrofoam base. Spoon the earth-tone landscape material into place.
2.Finish the edges with a few delicate strokes of a small artist's paintbrush.
City Sidewalks
Paint foamcore pieces gray. Make sure the pieces are large enough to place several Village buildings on top of them.
2.Use the top of a ballpoint pen to make indentations every two inches for sidewalk cracks. Sprinkle salt in the cracks and along the base of the sidewalk.
Hand-Crafted Trees
A mixture of trees adds ambiance and a sense of realism to any display. Crafting trees yourself is half the fun of designing an attractive landscape. And, the basic materials needed can often be found right in your own backyard.
Materials Needed:
- Manzanita branches
- Wire cutter or coping saw
- White gesso paint
- Reindeer moss
- Snow flocking
- Hot glue gun
- Baking soda
- White spray paint
- Pastry bag and decorating tip
Village Real Plastic Snow or Village Fresh Fallen Snow
1.Clip manzanita branches using a wire cutter or coping saw. For a snowy, bare branch effect, simply add touches of white gesso paint.
2.Add foliage by spraying reindeer moss with snow flocking. Let it dry thoroughly.
3.Hot glue the moss to the manzanita branches.
4.Shape the moss with your fingers once the glue has set.
5.Accent the branches using white gesso paint.
6.For a different look, add more snow. Apply with a pastry bag and decorating tip.
7.Sprinkle baking soda over the gesso as a finishing touch.
8.Add a wintry look to
No comments:
Post a Comment