Thursday, December 18, 2008



The $10 Snow Village



I started with 5 messily painted little village houses I found at WM for $1. I've seen these garish knock off Christmas houses at everywhere this year. Even thrift stores, garage sales and drug stores. I decided to do an all white snow village but the possibilities are endless. How about a pastel pink or blue glittered village for a little girls room? So cute!

To do this project you will need:

Village houses and trees
1 can of grey primer
1 can of flat white or off white paint
small bottle of acrylic white pearl paint (found in the craft paint section)
glitter fine clear or white
Glass glitter such as diamond dust
Faux snow flake
glue to adhere glitter (I used marthas brand)


Prime all pieces let dry, spray each house white and let dry over night. As soon as the paint is nice and cured you can glitter each piece. I dry brushed my houses with some pearl paint before I used the glitter for a little extra depth. Apply the glue in sections and sprinkle with glitter. I did the fine stuff first and then went back with the diamond dust in some sections. Spritz with a watered down aging solution if you want a vintage look. (aging solution can be as simple as burnt umber acrylic paint and water in a spritz bottle, Tattered Angles has a line of glitter mist that have pigments and sparkle. Very cool stuff.) Seal with clear sealant if desired.



The Church was a experiment with aging solution. Now that it is finished I kind of like the vintage looked of it. I will probably go back in and try to duplicate the look with the other pieces. First I need to buy back ups in case the aging project goes awry.

I arranged my snow village in cloches but of course villages look wonderful anywhere and they don't need to cost a fortune to be a lovely addition to your holiday decor.



16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this idea!! How clever! I love little houses but you're right -- some of them are so garish! I can't wait to try this!

the undomesticated wife said...

Fantastic! They are much cuter than the "regular" ones. I think the solid color makes them much more serene!

Valarie Lea said...

I love the all white theme!

Jo said...

Oh, your village is beautiful! I have one silver and white house that has some chips, so it needs a facelift. I may just try painting it and finding it some friends to make a village ;-)

cherry said...

JUSt Gorgeous! Several years back when you couldn't find the houses easily (with out costing a fortune) I made them from paper mache bird houses. Merry Christmas, cherry

AJ said...

Love how you gave them a makeover and displayed them under a cloche!

Heathahlee said...

Those are so pretty in the cloches!

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Hi, Aimee, welcome back! Your house looks SO pretty & I do love that little white snow village you've made under the cloche. Love it!

LuLu said...

Early this morning I stumbled across your blog. Really enjoyed it. I grew up in San Juan Capistrano. Yep thats right. WOW I was amazed to see the Mission I love so much on your blog. Spent so much time there. Church and activities. My husband is in the military, when we married I had to move away but it was so nice to reconnect so unexpectedly this morning.
Have a Merry Christmas

Laura said...

Wonderful blog you have here!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! It's so beautiful.

Brenda said...

You took tacky little WM house and made them GORGEOUS!

Donna Lynn said...

Hi There,
Looks like you have been a long time in between blog posts just like me! Hope all is well in your corner of the world, hope to hear from you again soon, I enjoy your blog so much!
XO,
Donna Lynn

Sonya --Dime Store Thrift said...

I found your blog and keep waiting for updates...do you have a different blog you are posting on now?
Sonya

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Amanda @geekdetails said...

This is too cute! I'm totally picking up some village things at the thrift store tomorrow and painting them.

Where do you get your cloches at? I've tried finding them and I'm doing horribly...