Christmas In The Village

I’m back in business again – finally able to download photos from my camera to the computer! Did I find the ever-illusive, missing cord? No! A few of you asked why I didn’t just go out and buy another one. The answer is simple – the camera shops are in nearby communities so I couldn’t just ‘run’ down to the store to pick up a new cord. But, as I was on my way somewhere the other day I stopped at a camera shop to ask about a new one. No, they didn’t have cords. But they did introduce me to something I hadn’t heard of. I bought a card reader! My memory card slips into it and it plugs into a USB port on my computer and – viola! – photos download. Just like that! It seems some of you already knew about them but it was a new idea to me. Now I’m back in business and ready to share photos with you again. Here’s just a little peek at some of the decorations in our home. My Courier and Ives village is at home on my mantel. (You can see my ceramic tree across the room reflected in the mirror.)

These are just some of the pieces in the village collection. Tomorrow I will show you the rest. This is the ‘city’ – tomorrow I will show you the ‘country’. It’s in a more ‘rural’ setting – a ways from the city!

Several years ago I fell in love with this Courier and Ives village. I looked and looked, time after time, before I decided to jump in and start my collection. They were on sale at Jo-Ann Fabrics near the office where I worked at the time. I didn’t want to pay full price – and I didn’t. I used coupons that came in my mailer and I watched for sales that resulted in lower prices than I could get with my coupons. I gathered them one piece at a time. New pieces were issued the following year and I began my trek up and down the hill again to get more. Between sale times and coupon dates I spied out and planned my next purchase. Often, on the first day of a new sale or coupon, I would take my morning coffee break and quickly drive up the hill to be sure to get the next piece I wanted before they were all gone. Accessories were added but I wasn’t content to only have the pieces that came with the collection. I had to have more. Imagine my excitement when I discovered pieces the same size and scale at the Dollar Store! So, I added more and more little parts to the scenes.

When I started my village collection I displayed the ‘city’ portion on the top of our entertainment center. It was perfect! At the time our mantel was very narrow and rather plain. When we remodeled our fireplace (seen here) we didn’t plan the mantel width to accommodate the buildings but it worked out just right! When we moved to a larger television we found we needed a new entertainment center. We chose to purchase units that would accommodate a bigger screen in the future but we lost the surface above the television. Now, where would I put the village? Last year I was thrilled to find that my village fit on the mantel.

Last year I put a fleece-y fabric under the village but it wasn’t what I wanted. This year I started to do the same and had some thoughts about enhancing it a bit to improve on last year. When I began to put it all together it wasn’t what I wanted. I thought maybe I would purchase some white felt and cut the edge that hangs over to look like icicles, but that didn’t seem right, either. Then – suddenly – I had a thought. I remembered a beautiful piece of damask that I bought at a garage sale. It had a gorgeous crocheted edge. Someone had cut it and had made it into a valance and I was sure it would work. It was just perfect! It was the exact length as the mantel and the crochet design looked like snowdrifts gently falling down. Every time I look at it I smile – I’m so pleased with the way it turned out.

Sometimes I look at the village on the mantel and the reflection of the tree and decorations around the room and I just smile with contentment. I love the way it looks and I always feel sad when it’s time to put it away. Every year my sweetheart asks me to leave it up long after the tree and other decorations are stored safely away for another year. Then the Christmas village becomes a winter village! For just a bit more time we enjoy the little lights that shine from the windows and the busy people who come and go on my mantel. I wonder – do they see us here? Watching them and smiling? And loving every moment their little village graces our little home with their presence? Hmm. . .perhaps.