#AMonthofFaves Reppin’ the Holidays [Christmas Villages and Handmade Ornament Traditions]

We love the holiday season and really enjoy decking our homes out to make them feel festive. Today we’re sharing the things that really make it feel like Christmas at our houses…

Christmas Traditions

❧ Kim – In 1985 (I was 4) my mom and aunts started exchanging handmade ornaments. Each of us girl cousins looked forward to joining in on the exchange once we turned 12. You can imagine how many of them I have now after 20+ years of participating with around 10 other women. About 5 or so years ago, the aunts and other cousins dropped out of the tradition and now it’s just my mom and sisters that I still exchange with.

Here are a few of the ornaments we’ve made over the years…

I made this leather Christmas tree this year.

I don’t know how many more years we’ll continue this tradition but it’s been fun to see my collection of ornaments grow and grow and it’s been fun to come up with a new ornament to make and exchange each year (which is a whole lot easier now that Pinterest is around!)

❧ Tanya – Two years ago when I moved from NY to Illinois, one of the things that got left behind was my Christmas Village pieces. They were all packed up in a box and sadly left in the attic. I hadn’t realized how important a part of our family’s Christmas tradition until the next Christmas rolled around a few months later and my husband insisted that we just go ahead, get a few pieces and start over.

Now that it’s Christmas 2017, we are in a new house, I’ve added a few pieces to my new collection and it’s all set up.

The Village is currently set up on our 2 – 32 inch high Wooddale Two Door Mirrored Storage Cabinets (from Target) that are in between the living room and dining room. I put a white plank on top to bridge the gap between the two dressers and covered that with white batting. The length of the Village setup is 69 inches.

Below the cabinets looked rather empty so I put a small Nativity feature I found at the thrift store a few weeks ago into a crate lined with white batting.

The village itself has 2 rows of buildings with a brick walkway running along the length in the middle. There’s a small bridge that separates the more “commercial” right side, from the residential side (left).

So – from left to right … it starts with a little park, which has a few people walking around, and  an arbor that leads to the brick street and houses on both sides. One of the houses has a trailer, there’s people walking on the road, sitting outside, kids building snowmen, and of course, lots of evergreen trees.

Continuing down to the street to the right, we come upon a small Christmas tree shop in front of the Candy Store. The candy Store is right beside the School … how convenient and I know the kids love that 😁

In front of the school is the bridge, and to the right of the school is a Ferris Wheel … yes – Candy store on one side and a Ferris Wheel on the other – lucky kids!

In front and beside the Ferris Wheel, there are 2 more Christmas Tree shops … because – why not?! And in this Christmas Village, there are still horse drawn carriages – look closely and you should be able to see one on the road below.

To finish out the village, beside the Christmas Shop, there is a Sweet Shop, a Hotel, and a Bakery. In front, there’s a Church, a Train Station and a Fire Station.

The Christmas Village is a combination of pieces from Walmart, Home Dept, Big Lots and a few thrift store finds. I’ve already found more pieces this year, and will make it even bigger next year!

What are some things that you do every holiday season? How do you make it feel festive at your home? If you’re participating in #AMonthofFaves – add your blog post (or social media link) to the linky below.