WE ALL KNOW JUST HOW EXPENSIVE THE HOLIDAYS CAN GET. SAVE MONEY ON YOUR DECORATING WITH THIS ADORABLE AND EASY DIY CHRISTMAS VILLAGE! IT’S A DOLLAR STORE MAKEOVER!
I’ve always wanted to create an easy DIY Christmas Village to use in my holiday decorating. I’ve had the supplies for what seems like forever! But this year, with moving into a new home, it seemed like it was finally time.
Of course, I’m trying to make use of everything I had last year, but because I have way more areas to dress up, I feel like my decorations aren’t stretching as far as I’d like. Naturally, I went digging through my stash and found some treasures. I decided to finally start AND finish a project that I’ve been thinking about for several years. I’m really not sure why it’s taken this long to get this project done, but here it is!
What You’ll Need
So like I said, pretty much everything I used for this project I had in my stash and came from either the dollar store, Michael’s or Amazon. But I’m certain you can find ALL of it for cheap!
Here’s the list of items that I used:
- Ceramic Village pieces – you can use as few or as many as you’d like!
- Paint – I used this Krylon Chalky Finish Spray Paint in Classic White
, but you could also use craft paint if you like.
- Mod Podge
or white glue
- Glitter – what’s a Christmas craft without glitter?!
- Decorator snow – I used a combination of loose and “blanket” snow.
- Tray – this is totally optional, but I wanted to be able to move my village from place to place with ease.
, but you could also use craft paint if you like.
or white glue 
What You’ll Do
I started by painting my pieces with a Classic White Chalky Finish Spray Paint. Here’s a tip for you – if you live somewhere cold and you don’t have a well-ventilated HEATED space to paint, consider using craft paint. I paint any project in our garage, which is NOT heated. The spray paint recommends use in a particular temperature range, and we are colder than that! I gave the pieces two coats of paint and then brought them inside to my craft room to dry. With the window open, the fumes are gone, but it’s cold!!
If you’re happy with the coverage, you’re set. I found a few spots where some colour was showing, but I actually really liked it. The colour gave the pieces a little depth, so I left them alone. You can always give it another coat, or use craft paint to touch up smaller spots.
Once the paint is dry, apply Modpodge to the roofs of all the buildings, one at a time. I started out with just the roofs and decided to add a little more to window ledges and a couple of trees. While the Modpodge is wet, shake your glitter onto the house and shake off any excess.
I used a flexible cutting mat under my buildings so that I could pour the excess glitter back into the jar.
Want to see an updated version of this village? You can watch my YouTube video here:
Displaying Your Christmas Village
After you’re finished getting glitter throughout your entire house, it’s time to build your village! Have some fun with it. I used a tray that I bought at the dollar store last summer – it’s hot pink inside the tray, but the edges are white, so it worked perfectly. I added some small blocks of floral foam, wrapped in white paper, to add different heights. Some silver bottle brush trees that I’ve had for years rounded out the village. Do you remember Zellers? That’s how long I’ve had these trees! I think they add some really nice sparkle, for sure.
Once I was happy with the layout, I added some snow covering. I used both “blanket snow” and sprinkle snow. I love how it just glitters!
The most important thing is to arrange your village to suit your space. You can easily go vertical by adding blocks under a white cloth or blanket snow. You can also spread the village out along a mantle. There is no right or wrong way to display a Christmas village. As long as you are enjoying it, you’ve done it right!
I played with my village in several spots before I settle on the perfect location and I guarantee that next year, it will be somewhere different. And who knows? I might even add more pieces. I’ll be keeping an eye out all year long for village pieces that I can makeover and display.
For some other easy Christmas inspiration, be sure to check out these posts:
Free Printable Double-Sided Gift Tags for Christmas
How to Make Personalized Advent Calendars
Happy decorating!
Want to remember this? Save “Easy DIY Christmas Village: How to Make Your Own Holiday Decor” to your favourite Pinterest boards!
