Winter Village 2012

I collect the Dickens Village from Department 56, but since I got married and moved in with my husband I haven't put the Village up for lack of location.  This year my husband built me a table.  Here is my layout from 2012.

I started by putting a table cloth over the table and thumbtacking it to the wood.  Then we built up levels with styrofoam.  Layers and height is the key to making a beautiful village in a small space.  

I started with the tallest space, which is the windmill in the back corner.   Then I worked my way down.

Below the windmill I added the gin mill, with a working mill, and there I created the start of the river.  (If I had more space the river would have begun further above.  To make a river I laid down aluminum foil and then used blue party bags over the top.   

The River runs down past Abington Lockside Inn.   To make the lake I used a small odd shaped mirror and glued the blue cellophane paper over it and then glued on the pebbles on the outside to form a rock border.

It runs past the shipbuilder's shop and down to the iceskating rink below, another mirror which I left silver so that it appears to be frozen.

On the other side of the display I started with the School in the back.  Then we sloped the styrofoam to make a sledding hill.  How did I get the people to stay on the hill?  Hat pins.  Then below the school I added the homes.  

 Finally on the bottom layer I created the town, complete with a road and steps leading up to the Custom House.  The town ended up being two roads deep, so I raised the second road slightly so that you can see the buildings a little better.

Thats my 2012 Dickens Village, from Department 56.