Christmas crafting - A Christmas Village

That’s amazing! I don’t think I could make anything like that, you are very talented.

It’s lovely! Like a film set? What did you use to look like snow?

I din’t know how the first question mark got in there?

It looks wonderful! Well done, you must be very patient.
Yes I'd also like to know what did you use for snow?
You will need a new project for the new year now, how about a seaside cornish village?

Wow, that is a work of art, I would love to see it in person. Well done Happy, and thank you for letting us see it.

I love it, well done! You're in good company - Rod Stewart has been making a model railway for 26 years, he must have got his inspiration from you

That is lovely. We made some cut out cardboard houses, but nothing like that. You should be very proud of your village.

lemongrove

It’s lovely! Like a film set? What did you use to look like snow?

I covered the whole area first in modellers artificial grass of various colours, then artificial snow because I wanted the grass to show through here and there rather than looking solid white. It's applied over spray adhesive then a light spray of adhesive over the top to secure it. I had never realised there were so many different modelling materials available. I had a few disasters and almost gave up when I applied snow to some bushes and the snow turned green! But it was worth it in the end.

That is wonderful !
What a lovely way to spend time in the horrid year.

Looks so much more fun than jigsaws. Wonderful!

Oh it's brought back memories of when dh used to build his little model railway, I reckoned I wasn't interested in it (but couldn't keep my hands off it)

Wonder if there are many female model railway enthusiasts, it's always seemed a man's world. If I had room I would start myself. well don't it lovely.

It’s beautiful.
Your DGC will love it and will remember it, all their lives.

That’s gorgeous! You’re so clever!

It's fabulous!
And you say that it lights up!
How big is it Happy?

That is so lovely, would love to have something like that but havent the room.

What a wonderful project Happy. It looks fabulous.
How are you going ro store it, or so you have a railway room?
Well done.

FannyCarnforth it's about 5 feet by 4 feet. We have just dismantled it and packed it away till next year. I may even add an extension to it for next year as I have a few more Lilliput models that would look nice with it. Sadly our GC only saw photos and video of it this year because of the Covid restrictions. But even though we were 'home alone' we lit it up every evening and ran the train and it added to the Christmassy atmosphere.

I didn’t see this at the time - I love it! ❤️

My dad used to have a model railway set and in fact I read that model railway-ing as a hobby has had a big surge during the pandemic.

Also connected to miniature things, a friend of mine had five children. When it all got too much for her, she would retreat to her bedroom where she had the most beautiful dolls house, for which she crafted all the contents. It was definitely her happy place.

That's fantastic.

That is really amazing, such wonderful attention to detail. What fun you must have had building this! It reminds me of some of the displays I've seen at Christmas in various garden centres - we usually take our grandchildren to see them but of course, not this time sadly.

Well done, truly remarkable. What will you make next? Or will you just keep adding to this?

Thank you all so much for your lovely comments. I'll admit I'm very pleased with how it turned out but I hadn't expected it to appeal to other people as well.

I may add an extension to the layout for next year to be able to include a watermill and harbour and a few other models and some street lights up on the hill so the postman can see where he's going!

I also have a collection of (Lilliput) Victorian shops, about 15 in all - greengrocer, pharmacy, watchmakers, toy shop, dressmakers etc - all very detailed. So I thought I might create a simple 'High Street' layout along a shelf with cobbled road and pavement and just some people, vehicles and trees to bring it alive. A bit more fun than just displaying them in a cabinet.

That’s really lovely! It reminds me of a shop where I used to wait for the bus with my parents, you put a penny (old pence) into a slot in the window and a fairground started up, I was fascinated by the fairground attractions, sadly it was usually ‘out of order’ .
Yours will never be ‘OOO ‘and I’m sure your GCs will love it.