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Christmas Villages

amc80

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
5,765
My husband and I would like to start collecting/building a Christmas village. We always look at them in stores but haven't pulled the trigger. Part of the problem is I'm not sure which brand to choose. And, once you choose a brand, do you have to only use that brand? Can you mix and match, or are they all on different scales? Thanks in advance! And pictures would be fun :)
 

lovebug1031

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Dec 18, 2008
Messages
348
amc80|1387819229|3579546 said:
My husband and I would like to start collecting/building a Christmas village. We always look at them in stores but haven't pulled the trigger. Part of the problem is I'm not sure which brand to choose. And, once you choose a brand, do you have to only use that brand? Can you mix and match, or are they all on different scales? Thanks in advance! And pictures would be fun :)


I don't have mine up this year since I'm moving middle of next month - but I have the Department 56 Christmas in the City village. I chose that one partly because my grandmother has many of the buildings that will eventually be passed down to me. I prefer the scale of them because they are a little larger. My mom however, doesn't quite seem to get (or care?) that I have specifically THAT village - so a few years ago she bought me a whole bunch of different house from a different brand they're much smaller - and to me not quite as nicely made. I put them up with my Dept 56 stuff, but we call it the ghetto! hah awful I know.

just my .02
 

amc80

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Jun 18, 2010
Messages
5,765
lovebug1031|1387823586|3579585 said:
I put them up with my Dept 56 stuff, but we call it the ghetto! hah awful I know.

Totally laughed out loud at this. So it sounds like the Dept 56 stuff is a bit bigger and other, random brands are smaller. I wonder if the other brands are all similarly sized?
 

Dee*Jay

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
14,505
My mom also had total disregard for the brand of our village buildings and would send us whatever caught her fancy from one year to the next. Finally, this year I begged her to stop sending this stuff to me. I didn't tell her I got rid of the whole shebang when I moved to KC last summer. I also didn't tell her that we stopped putting up the village at all the very first year we had The Demon because we were suspiciously losing villagers. That mystery was solved a few days later however when The Demon shat out an ice skater. We never did find the little girl caroler in the green coat or the wise men (yes, all three of them).
 

marcy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
25,489
I have no advice but I am anxious to see what people have. I have always thought having a Christmas village would be really neat! We have a mantle now and I notice Dept 56 has some Peanuts pieces (I am a major Snoopy fan).
 

packrat

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Dec 12, 2008
Messages
10,614
I've wanted to start one for a long time but put it off b/c the kids were little. Now we have a spot w/room to grow. One thing for sure I want is the red telephone booth and the guy w/the top hat and scarf. When I was little I watched Dr. Who all the time w/my mom and I had a recurring dream about my own TARDIS-a red telephone booth, so obviously not like the real TARDIS.
 

SignedMe

Rough_Rock
Joined
Dec 23, 2013
Messages
18
Before my Grandmother's health declined, she was an avid, ravenous collector of Christmas in the City by Department 56. Her "formal living room" was wall to wall year round, and when there was no more room there, she moved on to the basement. In the end, she had hundreds of houses and figurines and cotton snow and just about everything else one could have. It was beautiful, and I still think of it fondly -- all those little houses lit up and the ponds with skaters and flocked trees, it really was a functioning village and it really was a sight. Now that she's no longer living in her home, all of it is in a storage unit and someday we'll let it go to new homes piece by piece. But, when "it was," it was a treasure.
 

Gypsy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
40,225
We bought a village for my MIL. She used to put it out, I don't think she does anymore though.

DH loves it. I'll probably have him ask her for it. I like it. So do the cats. They play land of the Giant Cats. And it's cute.
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
24,299
I thought about collecting similar since I thought it would be fun for the boys to look at for Christmas. Or snow Globes? I have no clue, just something fun. I remember as a kid looking at villages and thinking it was magical :D
 

Indylady

Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 28, 2008
Messages
5,636
Dee*Jay|1387826660|3579606 said:
I also didn't tell her that we stopped putting up the village at all the very first year we had The Demon because we were suspiciously losing villagers. That mystery was solved a few days later however when The Demon shat out an ice skater. We never did find the little girl caroler in the green coat or the wise men (yes, all three of them).

HAHAHAHAHAHA. My puppy hasn't yet eaten anything too bad, but if he had access to a whole village of bite-sized/bitable figured I can bet they'd go missing too.
 

Catmom

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
11,543
I used to do a Christmas Village every year. My FIL did one also. We would have "Village Wars" each year to see who could come up with the coolest village. When he passed away Iit just hasn't been the same so I rarely put it up now. Mine was mainly Dept 56 but I would put in anything that caught my fancy. Here are some different versions.....

img_3131.jpg

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dsc01625.jpg
 

Sparklelu

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jul 2, 2010
Messages
1,036
My Christmas houses stay up year round on my plant shelf in my kitchen. They can be seen from the family room. I don't stick with a company but I try to stay with the same size houses. Kohls has a pretty nice line that are the same size as my original ones. crappy pic sorry.
Michaels has ones that are the same size too.
I also have a 35 house collection of Hallmark nostalgic shoppes and houses I only put out for Christmas

imageuploadedbytapatalkhd1387919796.jpg

imageuploadedbytapatalkhd1387919929.jpg

imageuploadedbytapatalkhd1387919960.jpg
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
24,299
I am sorry to hear about your FIL, those are beautiful Michelle!

Elisatech, very nice!!!
 

Skippy123

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
Messages
24,299
I am sorry to hear about your FIL, those are beautiful Michelle!

Elisatech, very nice!!!
 
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