by 2Eklectik

Created on: October 13, 2010

The Department 56 North Pole Series is made up of a variety of beautifully crafted lighted porcelain buildings and factories, accurately detailed, highly whimsical accessories, lots of elves, and of course Santa and Mrs. Claus. So instead of just sitting them on a table, why not display them so they look their best. Here are a few tips I've learned over the years that help make our display as much a part of Christmas as our Tree.

One - Select a sturdy table. Not only are these buildings and accessories beautiful, but they are family memories that can be passed on to your children (my kids have already claimed their favorites, and they're only 8). So protect your memories, and your investment, and make sure your village sits on a sturdy table, or other platform that is not easily knocked over.

Two – Make sure you have plenty of space. Your village should not be crowded together as they are still on the shelf in the store. These beautifully detailed buildings should be seen and admired from all sides. This is especially important when they are lit up. If they are too close together, their charm will be lost.

Three – Start with a fresh blanket of snow. Remember, it's the North Pole so there had better be a lot of snow. By putting a layer of blanket snow down first, it not only covers your table top, but also provides an appropriate setting for your winter village. As an added bonus, once you decide where your buildings will be placed, you can hide the cords under the snow blanket (simply cut a slit in the blanket and feed the cord/light through). Also, if you decide to use a string of lights to add ambiance to your village (see tip#5), a final layer of buffalo snow will help to hide the lights. Buffalo snow, unlike the blanket snow, is very fluffy and gives the village the look of being covered in freshly fallen snow.

Four – Spread out your accessories. This is a village, where everyone (elves included) has something to do and somewhere to go. To make it as realistic as possible, don't have everyone congregated in a single area. Place people near and around every building and make sure to spread them evenly through out the village.

Five – Add some light. Only the buildings and factories are internally lit, so if you want to see your elves and other accessories, provide some additional ambient lighting. The most common way is to use street lamps, but I like to run a string or two of white (non-blinking) lights through out the village. When covered with buffalo snow and lit up, it seems as though the snow glistens.

Although these are the tips I use for setting up my Department 56 North Pole Series village, you can use them to make a memorable display with any Department 56 lighted village series.

Learn more about this author, 2Eklectik.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.