My Lil' Village

You all know about my weird Halloween Village. But do you know I do a Christmas one, too? In fact, the majority of the space in the party shed is dedicated to the two villages...the staging, the houses, the miniature people, the trees...a lot goes into making the villages year after year. It takes FOR-EVER to get it all set up--usually 5 hours or so total. I finally got it all in place for the Cookie Swap--here's how:

Start with a blank stage:

Add the staging:

Add the houses:

Add the shrubbery and little people:

View from the Left:

View from the Right:

The rest of the house was nice and festive too. Here you can see our lovely Nutcracker collection:

Our little tree, flanked by Mr and Mrs. Claus:

The Mr and Mrs again:

My fam's nativity. My rotten and evil sister used to fight with me about who got to put the 'Baby Jesus' into the manger every year. The Evil One always claimed that I had gotten to do it the year before, and I got gyped two years in a row. Our parents finally got fed up with our squabbling and made us sign a little note that outlined who got to put Jesus into the manger, and the other sibling would get to put it in the following year. During the year, however, she snuck down into the box, opened up the little bag and doctored the note. Like all other past bad deeds, she claims amnesia about this, but I CLEARLY REMEMBER. As an adult, I see the irony about fighting over Baby Jesus, and how this doesn't really keep with the "spirit of the season," so I am letting it go. It should be noted, however, that I am the one who ended up with the creche. She may have won the battle, but I obviously won the war.

Little Snowman mugs:

Please stop by with the kiddios and check out the village!