How to Make Christmas Village Crafts
Christmas village pieces can be costly. You can have the Christmas village you envision at a fraction of the cost if you make many of the fixtures yourself. Street lamps, skating ponds, park benches, trees, building frames and street signs are just a few of the things you can make. Dig through your craft supplies, haul out those bits of broken toys, grab the mirrored compacts that lost their hinges months ago and get started. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Polymer clay
- Nonstick cookie sheet
- Small twigs 1/4-inch diameter or less
- Cotton batting
- Carpenter's glue
- 1-inch diameter clay pots
- Spanish moss
- Green spray paint
- White flocked paint
- Mini glass Christmas ornaments with wire hangers
- Coffee table, window seat or plywood sheet, 2 feet by 4 feet
- Small, medium and large mirrors
- Balsa wood
- Hot melt glue gun
- Clear hot melt glue sticks
- Small artist's brush
- Newspaper, tissue roll tubes and paper towel tubes
- Acrylic paints
- Artist's utility knife
- Carpenter's pencil
Instructions
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Roll red and white polymer clay into two separate, straight, 1/8-inch diameter, 6-inch-long canes. Pinch them together at the top, and twist. Pinch them together again at the bottom. Roll until you have one smooth red and white cane. Use them to make fences and line walkways in your Christmas village scene.
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Roll brown polymer clay into 1/8-inch diameter, 6-inch-long canes. Press until the sides of the cane are flat and about 1/4-inch wide. Cut into 4-inch lengths. These are boards for making sleds, benches and picnic tables.
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3
Place all clay items on a nonstick cookie sheet. Bake all polymer clay items at 270 degrees Fahrenheit for 16 to 19 minutes.
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Cut small, 1/4-inch diameter, well-branched twigs into 6-, 8- and 10-inch pieces. Wrap the bottom of each twig in a 1-inch diameter ball of cotton batting. Apply carpenter's glue to the inside of 1-inch diameter clay pots. Push cotton-covered twig into each pot and allow glue to dry. Place Spanish moss around twig inside the clay pot to cover the cotton.
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5
Use a small artist's brush to apply carpenter's glue to each "branch" of the twig pots. Drape Spanish moss in the branches and allow to dry. Spray paint green and allow to dry. Repeat with white flocking. Hang with mini Christmas ornaments and place throughout your Christmas Village.
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6
Arrange crumpled newspaper, tissue roll tubes and paper towel tubes on your coffee table or window seat to make raised areas. Cover with cotton batting. Scrunch batting to create snowbanks.
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Lay a large mirror off to one side of the scene you are building. Pull apart a second piece of cotton batting and drape it around the edges of the mirror to create a pond shape. Sprinkle with pulled cotton batting. Repeat with a smaller mirror in a different corner of the scene.
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Apply a bead of clear hot melt glue along the edges of squares of balsa wood. Push the squares together to form a cube or rectangular solid. These are your building frames. Allow the hot melt glue to set. Paint and decorate as desired. Place throughout your Christmas village.
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Tips & Warnings
The commercial websites listed in Resources are for photo examples and additional ideas and are not intended as endorsements of any product.
