I first came across the Department 56 Christmas Village Houses at Disneyland in Anaheim some years ago and instantly fell in love with them and wanted to buy ALL of the Dept 56 Christmas range when I got home to Australia.
They are my most favorite, favorite, favorite type of Christmas decoration EVER!
Just quietly, I do have a few in my Christmas decorations collection but can we keep that secret? I love that they are miniature and that some of them have little lights on in some of the homes so it looks like some little Christmas elves are there busy getting ready for Christmas or that the villagers are merry making at Christmas time.
Something animated always delights me too and given that you are here looking at the Dept 56 range, I am sure you know what I mean.
If you are new to the Christmas village range of houses and accessories then you will be surprised at the joy these bring, in the setting up and admiring once your village is in place. There is another brand called Lemax that I came across that is also popular but today I’m just going to help you out with the Dept 56 Christmas range.
Dept 56 Ranges
Two times a year Dept 56 introduces new products so you can rest assured that you can grow your collection or series of Deptartment 56 Christmas village houses every year. Sometimes they retire items and if you have some of these, they become more collectible.
There are quite a few ranges to choose from in their series. Some of the Christmas village sets you can get are:
Dept 56 Villages:
- Christmas In The City
- Alpine Village Series
Dept 56 Series:
- North Pole Series
- The Original Snow Village
- Dickens’ Village Series
- Dickens’ A Christmas Carol
- Downton Abbey
- New England Village
They also have halloween themed series and heaps of wonderful accessories to complete your Dept 56 Christmas village displays.
Setting Up Your Christmas Village
Have a look around your house first and decide where you want to set up your village. A lot of people put them under the Christmas tree, set them up on a table or have a special cabinet they use just for the Christmas village setting.
It’s a good idea to get some fake snow to place around your Christmas display village. If you want to get a deal here for fake Christmas frosting.
If you have decided to collect a few then you can play around with the placement. If possible, put one Dept 56 House on a level up and create a path to it.
Make the village look neighborly by keeping the houses close together. As you grow your village, get some Dept 56 Accessories, such as trees and people.
You can be as creative as you like when setting up and that’s the fun of it. They don’t require you to put a lot of pieces together so assembly is easy while the enjoyment is in the design of your village.
Don’t forget to get your kids involved. They will love being part of the creation.