Are you all decorated for the holidays? Can you imagine having the vision to arrange a village that is this intricate? Look at how the icy steps lead your eye from the children building a snowman at the bottom right, up past the Christmas carolers, on to the church and its nativity scene and then all the way up to the grand building that overlooks the city. The display is enormous - this is just one section that I framed and photographed. I just love it!
My friend's Aunt Pam is the artist extraordinaire that created this masterpiece. She and I see beauty in so many of the same things and when it comes to decorating for Christmas, she is a kindred spirit.
For more than twenty years, Pam has been collecting buildings, townspeople, trees and ice rinks (many by Department 56) with the sole purpose of delighting the eye. A display like this is meant to be seen and I am grateful that Pam allowed me to photograph it so that I could show you. My picture above captures only one tenth of her display, which runs the entire length of her living room and is a multilevel masterpiece.
Now take a moment and study this second picture - the scene from a different angle. If you look way to the top you will see the same grand building and the church just below it to the right...See? That is the same area shown in the first photograph, just from farther away. Now do you get a sense of the scale of her work? I could stand here for hours and let my mind wander. This is a different kind of story-telling, don't you think? Where your mind is allowed to wander through each vignette, gleaning what it can from the visual clues.
In my mind, I walk around this magical little town. I skate on the frozen pond and then buy hot chocolate in the candy store. I always climb the steps to the greenhouse and walk inside to smell the humid air scented with potting soil. I always have fun and I never want to leave.
Sometimes stories are best left in your imagination - you can add to them and change things around every time your mind wanders around a Christmas village. Thank you, Pam, for inspiring us all.
#gifttoall #holidayinspiration #christmasvillage
All season I tried to think of a better way to display my new collection vintage Japanese Putz houses, than interspersed with my coffee table books. You'll remember that I bought them at an antique show in November and did a little renovation on them. These stiff paper houses were made in Japan in the 1950's.
Initially I couldn't resist how the colors of the books on the bakers rack echoed the houses themselves, so I tucked one here and one there, telling myself that they looked like a Swiss village.
I had a collection of teeny-tiny people, those made to replicate a model train community, and I used putty to make them stand at the front door or sit on the porch of a few of the homes. Cute, eh?
I know that my Putz village display is non-traditional, but I love it. The village looks happy to me and I'm not certain that I would find the same joy if I found a setting that looked more realistic. What do you think?
I am enjoying a quiet snowy morning. There are snow flurries outside and a considerable marshmallow snowstorm has come to my little village indoors. Can you see the skaters on my mirror pond? They are hoping for a big mug of cocoa this afternoon. Merry Christmas!
Is this the week you start decorating for the holidays? Can you imagine having the vision to arrange a village that is this intricate? Look at how the icy steps lead your eye from the children building a snowman at the bottom right, up past the Christmas carolers, on to the church and its nativity scene and then all the way up to the grand building that overlooks the city. The display is enormous - this is just one section that I framed and photographed. I just love it!
My friend's Aunt Pam is the artist extraordinaire that created this masterpiece. She and I see beauty in so many of the same things and when it comes to decorating for Christmas, she is a kindred spirit.
For more than twenty years, Pam has been collecting buildings, townspeople, trees and ice rinks (many by Department 56) with the sole purpose of delighting the eye. A display like this is meant to be seen and I am grateful that Pam allowed me to photograph it so that I could show you. My picture above captures only one tenth of her display, which runs the entire length of her living room and is a multilevel masterpiece.
Now take a moment and study this second picture - the scene from a different angle. If you look way to the top you will see the same grand building and the church just below it to the right...See? That is the same area shown in the first photograph, just from farther away. Now do you get a sense of the scale of her work? I could stand here for hours and let my mind wander. This is a different kind of story-telling, don't you think? Where your mind is allowed to wander through each vignette, gleaning what it can from the visual clues.
In my mind, I walk around this magical little town. I skate on the frozen pond and then buy hot chocolate in the candy store. I always climb the steps to the greenhouse and walk inside to smell the humid air scented with potting soil. I always have fun and I never want to leave.
Sometimes stories are best left in your imagination - you can add to them and change things around every time your mind wanders around a Christmas village. Thank you, Pam, for inspiring us all.
I had the most wonderful time making this little village with my tween niece. I picked her up after school, gave her a snack and offered her the option of "working on a project" with me since she didn't have much homework.
I had built two of the buildings that morning, so she could see where we were headed and as I started to fold and bend and glue the paper kit, she munched on her snack. It wasn't long before she was completely entranced and ready to help me expand the town. We cooed over the pastel barn; we congratulated ourselves when we figured out how to make the bell hang (from sewing thread) in the church bell tower. It was so much fun.
I would say our best moment was when, after fumbling with tree construction, we gave in and read the directions and realized that the tree branches were supposed to be held aloft and apart on cinnamon stick trunks. Thank heaven I have a well-stocked pantry! I pulled out a jar of cinnamon sticks and the trees went together quickly. What I liked about this moment was that it showed her that whoever planned this darling paper village was creative and willing to do something ridiculous in the name of making it cute. A cinnamon stick is the perfect trunk. It looks like wood, is the right scale and it smells wonderful.
I can imagine that the person who designed this village had to stand behind this idea in a corporate office somewhere. "But cinnamon sticks aren't a household item," they would tell her. "It's too much to ask of the crafter to buy additional items." etc. But the designer persevered and they were right.
If it's cute, it is always worth the effort.
Do you want to make a darling village like this? It is a Swell Noel Village Kit that you can order online. Make a little magic after school.
Can you believe your eyes? It's Santa and his reindeer flying in from the right! A blur of delight!
I made a new friend at Dana & Lance's party - Lance's Aunt Pam is a kindred spirit! We were invited to her home to see her Christmas decorations and when I rounded the corner and saw this display I was speechless. She has built a Christmas Village display in her living room that is worthy of a museum. The photo above captures about one fifth of the display! It runs the entire length of the room and is a multilevel masterpiece.
Gondolas slowly advance across a wire in mid-air taking passengers up to the ski resort. Small children make snow angels (moving their arms and legs!) while their older brothers play hockey nearby. I could have looked at this display forever - each tree, shopper and building were so thoughtfully placed that this village looks as "real" as Frosty when he wears his magic hat.
Pam has been collecting buildings (many are made by Department 56) for twenty years now and she says she is still not done! This artist extraordinaire has the magic touch and I am so grateful that she was willing to let me share her vision of Christmas with you! This is delight.
