Vinylmation Village 2010!

[ohhector]

My mother used to do the christmas village under the tree since I was young. She stopped maybe 5 years ago. I am on my own now and was putting up my christmas tree when I decided to make an attempt to bring back the christmas village tradition.

I purchased the two bigger buildings you see, and already had the photo one. The Vinylmations are mine, as are 80% of the green trees. The rest (various trinkets, bridge, ALL of the lighted items, snow blanket) were passed down from my mom. The monorail however, was just purchased on my last trip to Disney specifically for this purpose

I did this all in one night, so it's a little sloppy...I made many mistake but have already learned from them. Any tips/suggestions you might want to give, will be greatly appreciate. I love constructive criticism!

Overview of the village.

Tree and village

My tribute to the Wilderness Lodge! Complete with bikes and added "security!" Annnnd the monorail actually stops at MY lodge

 

[ohhector]

I thought Carousel of Progress man made a good One-hour-photo developer.

Even birds can skate!

Osbourne is hanging out at David's Fort.

Overview of the east side of the village.



You can see the whole set and comment on photos at my flickr album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohhector/sets/72157625542251444/

 

[ohhector]

Astro Orbiter was a pain to get to stay down...he kept knocking the tree over! Def needs to go on a astro-diet.

As Lyle Lanley once sung....Monorail....monorail....Monoraaaaaaaaail!

This was the vinylmation that started it all for me.

Tree hugger.


You can see the whole set and comment on photos at my flickr album: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohhector/sets/72157625542251444/

 

[becanya]

That is so cool! I LOVE it. Great job.:sohappy:

 

[foreverbelle]

What a cool idea, glad to see your carrying on your mother's tradition even if it has been modified just a bit.

 

[snowpony]

What a cute display!

I wish I could make something like that...unfortunately we have to deal with 3 cats who thing anything near or on the the Christmas tree is a cat toy. :ROFLOL:

 

[DisneyPumpkin]

Looks great! Monorail is a nice touch. Are the rumors true that there's a FL expansion planned? Can't wait to see it in a couple of years.

 

[daliseurat]

Terrific! Love the commentary as well. It's a story just waiting to be told and retold.

 

[ABigBrassBand]

Wow, this looks great, you have inspired me to make a display of vinylmation, lol

 

[ohhector]

Thank you all for the kind words!

I had initially planned to do a Playmobil themed village earlier in the year but then once I got the Vinylmations, those took over.

 

[bgraham34]

that was pretty cool, good idea.

 

[MissM]

Very neat! I like the more traditional look with the Vinylmation mixed in. It makes it a lot of fun.

I totally want your "Wilderness Lodge" building though! :lol:

 

[WDW-Crazy]

So cool! Looks like they're selling monorail teal now. They were selling red (along with a few lime ones) when I was there back in September. I'm wondering what color they'll have next September when I go back. I didn't get another monorail set this past time since I bought the Contemporary add-on.

But anyways, I love your display. That tree with the colored lights looks like the one I have, as well as some of those small lamppost lights with the multi-lanterns on them. I'm assuming they're all Lemax pieces? I also love your tribute to the Wilderness Lodge!

 

[CP_alum08]

What a cute display!

I wish I could make something like that...unfortunately we have to deal with 3 cats who thing anything near or on the the Christmas tree is a cat toy. :ROFLOL:

Ha! We have 2...same thing with them. We end up putting some 'toys' (ornaments) close to the bottom in hopes they will play with those rather than climb the tree :ROFLOL:

OP - very fun idea. My goal for next year is to have the monorail set and have that going around the tree.

 

[Tiggerish]

Not to hijack the thread (sorry, ohhector!), but I give you Catzilla:

There is nothing Disney about our village (yet), but I would point out the total absence of ornaments from the lower branches of our tree. We don't hang any ornaments on about the lowest 8 inches of any of our trees (we put up five trees, and one of them is a Disney tree).

Our two kitties seem to be content with curling up underneath the trees, but we don't take any chances!

 

[Phonedave]

Nice job (on both)

Most years I set up a village, this year I don't think I will. Mine is not Disney, it's all Dept 56 (mostly New England Village series, with some Dicken's thrown in there as well). I have been setting it up for 14+ years now, and add to it most years.

One suggestion. Get rid of those snow 'blankets'. The are horrible to work with, nothing stands straight on them, and they fluff up too high. Assemble the whole thing on a solid base - I use while foam core and then styrofoam blocks to build in height. Fix any small things down with either tacky wax or break out the hot glue gun. Then when all is in place, use the shredded snow.


This is not the best example, because in this setup I used larger flake snow. I was not really happy with it. The finer stuff is better.

Of course if you are doing this on ground level under a tree, then the blanket may be your only option unless you want to be cleaning up snow all day long.

-dave