Where to Display Your Village Collection

 Are you an avid village collector? Is your attic filled with tiny ceramic houses, trees, and ice skaters just waiting to be displayed for the holiday season? Are you running out of room for your tiny town?

Village collecting can become an obsession, and it's easy to end up with more buildings that you can display, especially when other Christmas items like presents and the tree are taking up much of your extra space. Here are a few tips on creative ways to display your village pieces:

Choose the Right Site: Don't feel like you have to put the entire village on the mantel if there's not enough space, or if it makes your village difficult to view properly. Try some of these popular alternatives:

• In a china cabinet
• On the floor under the Christmas tree
• Under a small tree on a side table
• On a window seat or sill of a bay window
• On a curio shelf set just under the ceiling
• On the front of book shelves or bookcases
• In a large roombox, or several stacked roomboxes
• On a sideboard
• On the hall table
• On top of the television
• On top of the kitchen cabinets
• On top of boocases or china cabinets
• As decorations on Christmas wreaths
• As a centerpiece on the dining table
• On a bench or trunk at the foot of the bed

Be creative! Put your display in an area where people will congregate. If your collection grows too large for a single display, do smaller groupings in several places.

Create Levels: It will be easier to view all your pieces if you vary the height of the surface on which they are displayed. This can be done with something as simple as old books, or you can create a display base out of styrofoam. For more information on creating an effective display, see my article on How to Display Your Village Collectibles.