So you have decided to take up the decades old tradition of displaying a Christmas village, but are not yet sure where the ideal location might be for your own display. Take a seat and rest easy, for you are about to hear of some of the many ways and places in which to show off your collection so you will be able to focus your time entirely on how to display your village rather than worrying about where.
Believe it or not, there are still millions of people who have never displayed a miniature Christmas village during the holidays. Hard to believe is it not? In fact, it might not be a stretch to say that the vast majority of Christmas celebrants were they to display a collectible village would probably look no further than the fireplace mantle as a possible display setting.
As someone who has planned, designed and displayed Harvest and Christmas villages in a wide variety of locations around the home in addition to businesses for over 40 years, I can reassure you that the home offers many, many wonderful locations to show off a collectible village. Here are but a few of the several to consider, including the old reliable fireplace mantel.
Mantel: The fireplace mantel is a very prominent location for displaying your village, as long as your collection is not too extensive and would force the overcrowding of your favorite pieces in to what can be a narrow and overall restricted space. Remember too that you do not have to display every single village piece you own just for the sake of bragging about the size of your collection. Overcrowding your collection will make it look cluttered and not festive at all.
If you do want to use your mantel, try terracing part of the display by elevating the height where you place a building or two. You can use a small book to raise the height of the pieces you have selected to highlight attention on. You will be giving a terraced and landscape like visual effect to your display, and make it much more interesting to look at. Tell yourself that anyone can line up their collectibles in a neat little row, but you refuse to settle for a dull and lifeless village display.
Under the tree: Your Christmas tree is a naturally scenic location to set up a display, as long as you do not have curious indoor pets that would end up trampling it in the way Godzilla often did to Japan, in the movies that is. The draping greenery from the tree blends nicely with the village scenery, and you will also have much more room to experiment with the placement of your village pieces. Envision the magical glow of lights coming from the tiny homes of your miniature hamlet and the fairytale appeal it will add to your tree setting. One caveat to placing your village under the tree is that you will need to place any gifts off to the side, or in another location so as not to block the view of your display.
Table top: Using a table to display your Christmas village is definitely one of the easier options, and for some of us, the only choice. There is usually ample room and it is elevated at a height that enables the smaller nuances of your display to be viewed much easier. Like the fireplace mantel, try terracing sections of your display to give it the kind of character and visual effect that I guarantee you most displays fail to deliver.
Garden window: Although I have never displayed a village in this setting, I would agree that it is a perfect location to build your village in a way that not only shows it off for viewing from the inside, but enables you to proudly display your creativity to outside viewers. It is very simple to place your village pieces in a way that show them off at varied angles. Think of the times you have seen some of the more professionally designed store window displays take advantage of that feature by presenting items to both store patrons already within the store, and those peering from the outside that the store owners hope will step inside.
Unused fireplace: When I was growing up, I could not understand why my parents decided to not use our fireplace and instead paint it a shade of white to match the interior walls of our home. So you think it strange as well. Thank you, now I do not feel so bad. I did discover early on however, that it is not uncommon to find owners of some older homes doing the same thing since they rarely use the fireplace, particularly in some of the warmer regions of the United States. Whether or not you have painted over the interior of your fireplace, you can still use it as a wonderful location to display your village. Just make sure to clean it well prior to setting up your display. Of course, you will have to avoid lighting a fire for awhile.
I do hope I have been able to shed some light on the many location possibilities for displaying your Harvest or Christmas village. Check out more of my articles for additional locations to display your collectible village.
Stephen Baird is an author, villagescape artisan, and founder-owner of the popular and well respected Christmas display firm Village Fantasies, designers of animated and life like Harvest and Christmas villages for commercial clients. If you are a business that would like to attract more foot traffic during the holidays, or you would just love to enjoy the artisan work of Stephen, please visit our site.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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