The Inspiration for a Christmas Village
These whimsical wood Christmas village houses were so much fun to make. This was a simple scrap wood project that came from a moment of necessity. In the end, however, it actually helped to inspire the creation of an Etsy shop to finally sell one of my artistic creations.
Occasionally, inspiration for creative endeavors comes from unusual places or events. In this particular case, my wooden Christmas houses came from another time.
Several years ago, I ran across an entire lighted ceramic Christmas village at our local Kohl’s department store while shopping for my mother-in-law. And each piece was on sale! So, I called my husband to let him know what I’d found and to get his opinion. He thought it was a fine idea. At that time, she had her entire yard lit up with lighted Christmas cut-outs and animated blow-ups. So, we figured she could bring some of the festivity inside with this miniature village. It was so much fun for the entire family to sit around and watch her open each wrapped house, church, Main Street store, etc.
Truth be known, I was in love with the set myself, but there was no way on earth I would ever find the room to store so many boxes. The space it would require to display the whole little town properly was out of the question, too.
The Creative Catalyst
Fast forward a good decade…and here I was helping my granddaughters come up with something they could give their elementary school teachers and assistants as inexpensive Christmas gifts. Since I love to paint and create things (as do my granddaughters, Cam and Had), we brainstormed countless ideas until we settled on “tiny houses with snow on them.” Cam declared that her teachers could keep the “tiny houses” on their desks for everyone to look at. She added that they could take them home for the Christmas holiday break to enjoy them with their families on their fireplace mantels “right above their Christmas stockings.”
Figuring It Out
Now we had to come up with a plan for these little gems. Construction paper and cardboard seemed a bit “cheap” and temporary. Modeling clay or plaster-of-Paris would likely have turned into a messy headache. And carving was definitely not Nana’s forte. So, into the craft room/playroom we marched. After a while, with a dozen once-meticulously-organized storage containers strewn across the floor, we surrendered…for the time being anyway. The project was somewhat urgent. The gifts would be needed in just a couple days for their classroom Christmas parties. However, my daughter had just gotten off work and was on her way over to pick up the children and take them home for the night.
It was at this point that I remembered having seen some scraps of wood in the barn. Earlier in the day my husband had been trimming some 2 x 4’s and 1 x 4’s on the miter saw for a project of his own. So, I asked him if he had any extra pieces of those. He said he’d tossed several small pieces onto his “burn pile.” Turns out…these bits and chunks of wood were perfect!
Since, my grandbabies were leaving and wouldn’t be able to help, they instructed me to “just make them look Christmas-y and snowy.” So I did.
From Scrap Wood to Christmas Village Houses
I selected wood blocks that were from 2.5 inches to 8.5 inches tall. I painted a set for each teacher with red, green, and cream-colored, snow-topped houses. According to both granddaughters, the gifts were well received. I was kind of partial to them, myself. So, I used the remaining wood blocks to create my own little Christmas village. I even, more recently, painted sets to include in my Etsy shop. The whole project, as it seems, turned into something fun and artistic to do with my spare time.
All of these wooden Christmas village houses began with either a white or a cream-colored base coat of acrylic paint. I then decided on the final colors for each house and brushed on those coats of red, green, and cream. Some of them received a coat of black paint on their slanted tops for roofs. Others had thin chips or triangles of wood glued on for roofs which were also painted black. Then I added windows and doors.
A Touch of Bling
I painted white drifts of snow along the ground, in windowsills, atop doors, and on roofs. A touch of glitter gave the snow a bit of bling. Finally, I added snow laden trees, shrubs, or snowmen for a festive feel in the village. I even created some teeny wire wreaths to attach to a couple doors.
For my own set I painted some with campers and some with larger snowy-limbed evergreen trees. None of them look perfect. They all have their flaws. They were fun to create, though. And they create a fun little story to have on display at Christmastime.
