The first sign of Christmas in our house is by far our favorite family tradition. My Cowboy & started a Department 56 Village shortly after we got married. I have to say My Cowboy was not really excited about the village but has come around and is usually the one who is the first to suggest we put it up. Every year right after Halloween we all start to itch to put up the village. This is a process and takes a lot of mental preparation! We have over 40 pieces and it takes a lot of walking up and down the stairs to bring up each individual box. Once the boxes are upstairs, the real works begins- we place each piece with love and a plan. You can't have the Real Plastic Snow Factory next to the Taffy Factory- who wants to risk the food safety issues there? The placement of the village is only half the battle. The lighting is the next challenge. My Cowboy takes the lighting very seriously, over the years we have developed a special system that appears as northern lights at night.
We all love the village and each of us have our favorite pieces. It is so important to us that we considered house plans with the village placement in mind. Our new house has plug-ins above the cabinets and it is the perfect place to display our collection. This is our second Christmas in the house and we continued to adjust our design but all agree this is a cool location to show off our North Pole Village.
Every year we break something- this year our first casualty was an unsuspecting elf that loads Santa's Sleigh. He was up on the ladder and a cupboard door shut a little too hard nocked him onto the counter (thousands of elf feet below). This time of year I have lots of crazy glue on hand, so we were able to fix him up and after spending some time at the Elf Clinic for some R&R he has returned to his station. Just in time for the busy season!
I'm sure I will continue to share pictures of the village throughout the Christmas season- I will also keep you updated on any more casualties that may occur with the elves. It's a busy season, although safety is important accidents do happen.
How cool!! My grandma had one of these.. I know she still has it, but I haven't seen it displayed in years.
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