Dollar Tree Christmas Village remake

Make A Dollar Tree Christmas Village Look Expensive

A Christmas Village is on the top of most people’s Christmas decoration list. There is something about these beautiful villages, it makes us feel cozy, festive, and warm. They are so popular that there are a number of Christmas movies that are all about them. (Silly Christmas movies, but fabulous for a night at home. Scroll to the bottom for links to the movies.)

The most popular Christmas village is Department 56. The average price of a house is over $70! So unless you are a hardcore Christmas lover these may be more than you want to spend.

I came up with a great way to update a Dollar Store Christmas Village in less than an hour! Plus it will cost your less than $10! Here is what you need:

Cobblestone Corner village pieces

I purchased all the Cobblestone Corner pieces I could find at Dollar Tree. I found 5 houses (4 pictured here) and a few accessories. Each piece is $1 and I spent $9 total on the entire village.

Get to your Dollar Tree quickly as these tend to sell out before November is over! (I was able to find them in mid October.)

Some high quality white acrylic paint

I reccomend the liquitex acrylic paint because it has a lot of body. Craft paint won’t create the same effect on these houses and will roll off of it without sanding. Spray Paint will give you a very shiny painted, flat look, chalk paint will make it flat as well, but would be my 2nd choice if you can’t find the liquitex.  You can find this at Michaels and on Amazon.

Large sponge brush and a few smaller ones

You will use a large sponge brush for the vast majority of this project. (I used mine for everything!)

Fake glitter snow

You can pick up a bag of Dollar Tree Fake Snow, but it isn’t my favorite. It is chunky, sold in an unsealable bag, and hard to vacuum up!

Aleene’s Glitter is my very favorite and will last you for years as a little bit goes a long way. Also it’s way easier to vacuum up!

Grab some tea lights that you can turn on and off easily

They will make your village glow at night just like the really expensive alternatives.

 

 

Instructions to remake your Dollar Store Christmas Village

1.Lightly coat your building with an uneven coat of white paint. 

This is so easy! Just dab some paint in a few places per side and wipe your brush back and forth. It will skim the building wall leaving an uneven coat of paint. (If you have ever white washed your brick home it is similar to doing a German schmear!) We want to tone down the bright colors don’t eliminate them!

We only want the “snow” to stick on the highpoint of the buildings like real snow would.

 

Watch how I apply the paint in this Video_1

2. Decide which way your snow is blowing.

I decided that there was a steady fall of snow while the wind was blowing from left to right.

I know that might sound over the top and a lot of work, but it creates beautiful realism in your makeover. It just meant that I added more paint to the left side of the buildings and the left side of any unusual features like turrets.

 

3. Add extra paint to areas that would trap the snow.

  • Take some extra paint and let it build up in corners, and rooftops.
  • Take a brush and allow the thick paint to puddle around the windowsills to created a snowy wind. Don’t add the glitter yet as it will weight down the paint and keep it from drying in drips.

You can watch to see exactly what I mean by clicking below.

Video of snow gathering

  • Give your Christmas trees a little bit of paint as well!

4. Let dry overnight

5. Add glitter snow

This step is totally optional depending on your taste. I don’t like a ton of glitter so I used it sparingly. I used some  Elmer’s glue and white acrylic mixed together to help the snow stick. I focused on the tops of buildings and a few window sills.

and tada……

I love this cozy little village and It was so much fun to create. It took me about an hour in total to do (minus drying time) and I made a village that I would pay $50+ for.

Here is the post office

The antique store

The house

The general store

and the church

Here are some closeups!

and another way to display your houses.

If you need more ideas on how to display your Christmas village check out my article!

I hope this helps you find a little bit of Christmas magic in your home this year! I know it put me in the holiday spirit!

 

+ posts