Halloween Villaging - Yes I am the Mayor

Halloween is the second most popular holiday right behind Christmas.  I think this is an interesting fact.
Christmas is supposed to be about God, depending on how you look at it and your personal belief system.
Halloween is supposed to be about the devil, depending on how you look at it and your personal belief system.

Kinda' like polar opposites if you ask me.  But I love them both equally for different reasons.

Anyway, this post is about villaging, specifically for Halloween, but there are villages for all sorts of holidays.

Villaging in case you don't know, is a hobby where different companies produce miniature houses, people, and landscaping for a certain focus (sometimes religious, holiday oriented, or promoting a movie or tv show.)

I have not yet purchased Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer set (though I want to) but it looks really cute and it's about $50.00 per piece.



The Village




"She thinks I'm cuteeeee"





"Let's be independent together"













So for Halloween there are numerous different villages you can focus on.  For the best quality, so far, Department 56 Snow Village Halloween is my go to collection.  The houses do get pricey sometimes retailing for about $150.00 per piece, but that's nothing on the secondary market.  Once a piece is retired and the only way to get it is on Ebay or somewhere else - the prices can sky rocket into the 1,000's.  It's pretty ridiculous and since I'm looking for a few older pieces, I have to shop a lot to find a decent price.

Lemax also offers Halloween villaging pieces, but the quality is much lower and the prices should be as well (though recently it seems their prices have gone up while the quality has stayed low.) 



courtesy of christmascentral.com



Having bought pieces from both collections, the difference is easy to see, but I mix and match them throughout my village.  Both companies have pieces that light up and make noise and are animated so there's something for everyone.

I have a tendency to collect miniature things (see Juicy Couture charms) and since I already love Halloween so much this was right up my alley.  I found out about it innocently enough.  I was online looking for some very small decorations I could use on a table top when I discovered Lemax headstones and coffins.  2 years later, my collection has grown to over 25 houses and countless pieces of landscaping and people.

Since I'm in between houses right now I cannot set up my collection all in one place but there is a plan.
In L.A. there is an artist that I have noticed that makes things out of styrofoam like cliffs, hills, and whole little landscapes to place your homes on top of.  She seems to be the most reasonably priced for commission and is the most talented in my opinion.  Her name is Nicole and she does this in addition to having a full time job and being a single mother.  I don't know how she does it, but I think it's amazing.  When I'm ready with my own house, I want to hire her to complete a large platform for my pieces.  Visit her photo website here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/56thandmain/

There's so many good photos on there I couldn't put them all up, but I'm really impressed and excited to speak with her on my project.
What I envision is a 3 tiered village scape with a small mountain range behind the lake.  I also need a bit of old buildings ruins and a shoreline (for the lake of course!)  I have a boat I need to display so that's why I need the lake.  I have it all planned out on paper and have been dreaming it up for years.  I am also working on a soundtrack for the village to show at night, as well as a large canvas backdrop for the wall behind my display space.  I'm working on a color organ (sound and light synced up) lightning and thunder effect to add some drama to my village.  It really will be like a small world of Halloween in my house.

I can't wait to have it all complete and show pictures when it's all done, but I have a long way to go - years before all the little problems are worked out : (