Department 56 Christmas village display 2010/2011/2012

[Iambeautifull2011]

we have watched over and over while we are decorating our tree and trying to put together a very small village. Absolutly amazing

[MiniBoy70]

My family has this thing called Lemax, it's like this but sold in Australia. We have A church, Pet Store, Toy Shop, Toy Factory and many other extras, but compared to you, we've got nothing.

Well Done!

[tvusercomp]

@MiniBoy70 I have some Lemax pieces in here actually, a few houses and some figures as well. I think a village of any size is a great thing actually and is still something. Well done for you too. :-)

[usernamevidio]

This is simply amazing.... I made my husband come watch it! I have a small (compared to this) Dept 56 Christmas in the City village, but it's not even close to this in design/detail. I'm very impressed with your work, thx for sharing this!

[missmary333]

O.M.G. You have every single stellar piece! The landmarks, bridges, major buildings-- everything! We've got a rather small by comparison, but much loved, collection. I would LOVE to see some close-up footage of each section. Please!

[tvusercomp]

@missmary333 Thanks Missmary, I think that every collection is precious and like you say, is beloved no matter if it is large or small. The best thing I have in the way of a close up, is the video response I made to this one, it is a closer panning of this village, only I took 10 minutes and more slowly and got in closer, so hopefully this will help you see it better and closer. :)

[McClain808]

WOW,you got to be kidding this is OUTSTANDING,this is way cool,this my friend is the BEST Christmas display I have ever seenin my life.This must take a good month to set up,you must have a sea can to store it all.Have you ever seen Road side America if not google it ,this put me in mind of it.

Thanks for posting it for all to share. Mark

[tvusercomp]

@McClain808 I normally have only 2 weeks with another person to set up, I will definately google them and see, thank you! :) I use about 55 of those plastic 55 Quart plastic bins to store everything and I thank you for appreciating it so much. :)

[babylover0990]

This is not just a village it is a city and by the looks of it, it is New York City (or why else would the Statue of Liberty be there?)!!!!!!!!!

so awesome! I hope to have a Christmas village someday, but I need more building and a place to set it up before that can happen!!!

thanks for sharing your New York City Village with us!!! :)

[tvusercomp]

@babylover0990 I have actually incorporated, as best as I know with my extremely limited knowledge, picies from the Snow Village (mostly in the beginning), CIC (after the SV), Dickens Village (after CIC) and then NEV at the end with one more table of CIC squeezed in at the end.. I am glad you like the vilage city and Yes indeed I tried to do NYC as best as I could. Your welcome! :-)

[silverchevy56]

where did you find the tram?

[tvusercomp]

@silverchevy56 It is a Dept 56 brand tram and I happened to find it at a Hallmark gift store that sold Dept 56. I am not sure, but it is probably retired now, but perhaps can be found somewhere online more than likely. Thank you for asking. :)

[Spankyshooter]

What do you use to make the water, like under the bridge?

[tvusercomp]

@Spankyshooter I use a water 'sheet' that just rolls out and you can cut it to accommodate where you want the water to go. I always look for the most authentic, and yet time saving methods to kame my village look as authentic as possible. I am sure if I had more time I could really make it look nicer, perhaps down the road I will do that. thank you for asking. :)

[tvusercomp]

Thanks for all the supportive and encouraging comments!

[urbanchristmas]

Excellent display...a really different look when you combine all the different Villages from Dept 56. I would have never thought of this:) Do you leave this up all year? You should with the amount of work you put in it!!!

[tvusercomp]

@urbanchristmas I wish I could leave it up, but someone else needs the space the rest of the time. :( If I could rent a space for cheap, I may think about having it up for longer.

[MissStacielynn]

Great Job, This is amazing!

[tvusercomp]

@MissStacielynn Thank you very much!!!!

[xbuckmulletx]

dude this is awesome!!!!!!!!

[tvusercomp]

@xbuckmulletx I'm glad you like it! I am going to be setting this up again this year....and am starting tomorrow in fact!

[TheOtherHacker]

this is awesome, we started a year ago (so when i was 14) and just will keep getting stuff over the years, we have this brick road like one you would lay down and put the pieces on top of, but we dont know what shape to put it and how to cut it. Any pointers because yours came out great. Thanks!

[tvusercomp]

@TheOtherHacker Thanks for the comments! To be quite honest, I use snow to cover many defects, and it usually turns out pretty good. After I spread the snow, I use a light breath and blow the snow away from the areas that I want the road to be seen, and then it looks like the road it just one seamless stretch!

[TheOtherHacker]

@tvusercomp yea we have snow, both like the fluffy kind and then just the specks, the specks are what we are going to put on the road, thanks so much for the suggestions

[madmiask]

Very beautiful work, congratulations.

[tvusercomp]

@madmiask Thank you very much!

[phillygal347]

What an amazing village! Fantastic job! (Sorry about deleting my other comments. Seems my remarks printed several times.)

[tvusercomp]

@phillygal347 Thank so much, I am glad you like it. I am not putting it up this year however, due to the work it takes and the limited time off from work I can get. I have a few helpers but it still takes a week if furious activity to put up and a few, more relaxed, weeks to take it down. It just occurred to me last year to take a video of it so that I can show people who have not seen it, however, it's quite another thing entirely to see it in person of course hehe!

[phillygal347]

@tvusercomp I understand the work involved in putting up a village. My husband and I have a permanent display in our basement and are redesigning one section now. We do it at our leisure as a hobby, so we've been working on it now since January. I admire anyone who puts up their village and takes it down each year. That has to be such a huge task, but the results are wonderful. I'm glad you did take a video, because now we can all admire your hard work! Your village is wonderful!

[tvusercomp]

@phillygal347 Ahh, so you guys are fellow addicts then? It is indeed very labor intensive, but the looks on the people's faces really makes it. I really and truly do not do it for myself. I'm glad you like it.

[phillygal347]

@tvusercomp Yes, we are, indeed, fellow addicts...lol. It's so nice to talk to someone who truly understands why we do, what we do. Isn't is heartwarming to see people smile and stare in amazement when they come to visit? It makes all the work so worthwhile. It would be great if everyone had this kind of passion in their lives.

[huguette1946]

c est magnifique j adore mais qu el boulot combien d heures pour cela,?

[tvusercomp]

Thank you for your comments! I am sorry that I don't speak french so I am using babel fish. I hope you understand it. It takes a week to set up with one other person helping me and then to take it down it requires two weeks.

Merci de vos commentaires ! Je suis désolé qu'I don' ; t parlent français ainsi j'emploie le babelfish. J'espère que vous le comprenez. Cela prend une semaine pour installer avec une autre personne m'aidant et le lui prendre alors vers le bas a besoin de deux semaines.

[tvusercomp]

hmm...I don't have an exact count but it's in the area of 175 lighted buildings, not including bridges and other non-lighted structures. I am still in the process of taking it down now. I have three tables done but have another 8 to go...

[Dutchmoniquepol]

This village is huge! How many buildings are in it?