How to Make Mini Christmas Village Setups
Building a homemade miniature Christmas village is a holiday craft that the whole family can engage in with materials found around the house. Snow, trees, buildings, village squares, ponds, trains and figurines populate your miniature to make a realistic Christmas scene in a small town. Give each family member a task, create your scene, then place it by the tree or display it on the mantel before Christmas Day.
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Things You'll Need
- Craft foam board
- Scissors
- Craft glue
- Cardboard platform
- Glue gesso
- Small empty cardboard boxes
- Excess cardboard
- Patterned paper (brick, log, cobblestone)
- Paint
- Paintbrushes
- Fake snow
- Twigs
- Leaves
- Craft decorations (jewels, glitter, beads)
- Figurines
Instructions
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1
Build a craft foam platform for your village. Rather than keeping your platform plain and flat, cut up pieces of foam board into triangles, rectangles and squares. Piece and glue them together to create layers in your village.
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2
Position your craft foam layers onto a flat piece of cardboard, building the base for your village. Pour glue gesso over the base, a thick, white paint glue that will dry to appear like snow. Let the gesso gather thicker in certain areas. Let it dry completely, creating the appearance of soft, fresh snow.
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3
Gather as many empty cardboard boxes as you can find – cereal boxes, cookie boxes, cracker boxes, pasta boxes and cylindrical oatmeal boxes, for example. Cut holes and squares to resemble doors and windows. Attach multiple aluminum foil boxes and cut window holes to create the body of a train. Fashion details, such as the roof of a building or the wheels of a train, out of cardboard.
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4
Design the pieces to your houses, buildings and trains. Cut out brick or log-patterned paper and paste it onto buildings. Paint details, such as the roof of a house or the parts of your train. Cut a Christmas tree shape out of cardboard. Paint the tree green and glue jewels to it as ornaments. Stand your tree up in the village square. Attach the rest of your pieces with craft glue. Let them dry completely.
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5
Cut out strips of cobblestone-patterned paper. You can also print these out from background or clipart websites that allow free downloads. Glue the patterned paper to the flat parts of your platform. Sprinkle fake snow, twigs and leaves across the ground. Populate your village with small figurines if desired.
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Tips & Warnings
Really make your village come to life by including details. Leave a light on in the windows of a house; position figurines as if they're interacting with one another; attach jewels and glitter to items to make them sparkle. Imagine your dream Christmas and make it come to life.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Hemera Technologies/PhotoObjects.net/Getty Images
