Christmas Miniature Villages
Decorating for the holidays is the the way most families kick off the season, hauling out boxes of lights, ornaments and treasures. Deciding where they go is part of the fun!
Christmas miniature villages
are a wonderful decorating investment
to add to your collection. With new pieces to choose from every year, it's
hard not to get hooked.
Department 56 Christmas Villages
Department 56 Villages are the standard in village decorating. There are seven village series to choose from. Read more about them here.
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Thomas Kinkade Lighted Christmas Villages
Although not Department 56, Thomas Kinkade Christmas villages are in the spirit of the Original Snow Village. The pieces are in signature Kincaid style, and work well with the atmosphere and character of classic Department 56 series.
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Kinkade Christmas Villages
Hawthorn Christmas Villages
Hawthorn Christmas villages feature a large selection of table top trees, Christmas trains and sports villages.
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Villages from Hawthorne
Introduction to Department 56 Villages
It’s easy to get hooked on Department 56 snow village buildings, but deciding which piece from the hundreds of buildings available in the catalog is a much harder question. Where to begin?
First think about the decorating theme of your holiday decorations. Are you more traditional, whimsical, or child oriented? Do you want your decorations to reflect where you live today, where your ancestors or family originated, or do you want to show nostalgia for times past?
To help you, here’s a quick review of the snow village series available from Department 56.
Original Snow Village
Dept 56 Original
Snow Village is Christmas in small town America.
You’ll find mission style houses, main street shops, bungalows, and filling
stations. If the idea of Main Street USA small town traditions and values appeals to you, then perhaps you are an Original Snow Village
collector at heart.
The Department 56 Snow Village Collection, or the Original Snow Village, was the first Christmas miniature village series introduced by a fledgling Department 56 company in 1976. The series consisted of six lighted ceramic buildings.
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Now, almost 30 years later, some of those first village buildings which sold for $15 to $25, can be found online for over $850!
North Pole Series
This is the place where you’ll find Santa, Mrs.
Clause, the reindeer, and of course all the elves getting ready for
Christmas.
Santa's North Pole is a where you’ll find the factories and workshops where the toys and candies are made for kids of all ages.
Santa Clause, Mrs. Clause and all the elves work hard at the North Pole throughout the year to prepare for Christmas. They also love to play hard too and Department 56 has created some new places for elves, Santa and the gang to hang out, work and play.
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I mean, where else can you find a Hot Chocolate Tower with a cheerful elf offering warm creamy hot chocolate for only 15 cents a mug!
Dickens Village
This series celebrates 19th century Victorian England at the time of Charles Dickens and features famous London landmarks such as Tower Bridge and Westminster Abbey and an English pub or two. The series also includes special edition buildings and coordinating accessories that bring to mind stories such as A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist.
The buildings in the Dickens Village series are perfect for creating small tabletop displays or large winter “scenes”. Locate your display on a side table, side board bookcase, or mantel. Use just one building or several, and then accessorize with the Dickensian figurines, frosted trees, and miniature string lights.
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Christmas in the City
If
your heritage isn’t small town America, how about the big city?
Christmas in the City is all about cityscapes from the country’s big cities, featuring restaurants, businesses, ballparks, and street vendors.
You’ll also find Radio City Music Hall, Wrigley Field, and the Empire State Building.
Christmas in the City first appeared in 1987 and since then has featured urban store fronts, residences, and city landmarks all decorated for Christmas.
In this collection of village buildings you’ll find the familiar names of popular brands like Coca-cola, and Budweiser, and landmarks such as the Empire State Building, and St. Paul Cathedral.
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New England Village
New England Christmas village series tells the story of Colonial America. Like the Dickens Village, which celebrates Victorian Christmas traditions of 18th century England, the New England Village celebrates American traditions and communities in the history-rich regions around Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
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If you love the history of this time period, then you’ll love the village buildings in this series. You’ll find charming New England cottages, mills and taverns, farmhouses, one room steeple churches, and many other colonial buildings.
The coordinating village accessories for this Christmas village series are figurines in colonial costume, horse-drawn sleighs and carriages,
Alpine Village
Welcome to Old World Bavaria! The Alpine Village series from Department 56 appeals to those who want to create a Christmas village with European style.
The buildings are carefully designed to represent the snow-loving towns and hamlets found in Bavaria, Switzerland and Austria. You’ll find charming gingerbread style cottages and inns, beer houses, and brightly colored chalets. Gentlemen in lederhosen and ladies in dirndl skirts strolling through town.
More Resources
Also see our pages on... [ Dickens Villages ] [ Christmas Village Accessories ]
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