My Display 2023- I again brought out the red candles for my display that includes all the buildings. It still mesmerizes everyone.
My display 2017 -
In 2020 I designed an additional base - the pentagon base to allow for longer, skinnier displays - especially for mantels. Here is the entire village on display.
I also setup a village in my sunroom on a table with candles as a backdrop. December 2017
My display 2016
Displays created by others......
Chris Locke sent me this photo of her beautiful interpretation of Tea Light Village. To create the lighted tiered layout she used an acrylic four tiered cupcake stand that she placed on an inexpensive spice cabinet turntable. She also used battery operated twinkle lights with a remote control (the battery package is under the bottom tier in the space provided by the turntable . She added some building details (e.g., window & door frames, dry embossed roofs, etc.), a small bridge by the gazebo and some trees of my own design. I have a Pazzle Inspiration cutting machine and software which I use for design and cutting. Wow! I love seeing the enhancement by others! 1/2018
I found this on my Facebook feed. It had been uploaded by Sandra Engelmann and shows a beautiful combination of Tea Light Village files with others all incorporated into a scene based on a wooden arch with electric candles. Very creative!
Rietek Houma recently shared with me this photo of her completed Tea Light Village. She did not only all the roofs in red but also certain etails. Look for the lobster on the lobster shack and the Barber Shop pole. Hunt for other red details. Beautifully done!
Here is a village completed by Sandy Cryer. She has added snow, wreaths and color to the trees. I love seeing little changes!
Susan Roland has the perfect mantle for Tea Light Village. She enhanced her by adding a festive touch - either a wreath or holly to each building. She said she needed to hide an outlet on the wall so she made the St Nick sky scene.
Here is another piece of furniture that works well as a show space for Tea Light Village. This one is crafted by Mary Lynnes.
Tea Light Village was used for the photograph on the cover of the 2019 Colmar Christmas Market in France.
Sandra Holms of Michigan created this lovely display in 2019. She used a white corner shelf for her multi-leveled presentation. She has artfully combined the Tea Light Village with files from other designers as well. The lacy details added to each shelf plus the snowflakes, white balls and pine cones tie it all together beautifully.
in 2019 Ruanda Gerritzen of The Netherlands placed her Tea Light Village into a perfectly sized antique cabinet she owned. It is gorgeous framed by the window panes.
Suzanne Hayes reduced the size of the houses in Tea Light village and added them to her holiday door wreath. The fairy lights really make this shine!
Elke Reinartz from Belgium sent me these photos of her recently completed Tea Light Village. I love seeing how others vary my presentation. There are a few notable things in this one.
Elke made all of the roofs red which I love. It just adds a level of contrast that helps define the buildings. If you check out my page of Tea Light Variations here you will see how others have incorporated color into their villages.
Also notice how she has arrange the hex bases. My village displays have been linear. She has taken the same files and arranged them in a circular motif- much more appropriate for the center of a table.
Elke also purchased some detail pieces. Her street lights and tiny people are all in plastic. They certainly bring a new liveliness to Tea Light Village.
She also made it with blue roofs.
Donna Comacho added color by making some of the trees green and adding little wreaths to each building. I love the Christmas touch.
This beautiful presentation was made by Bhong Bacolod of Saudi Arabia
It isn’t just for Christmas! Here is a stunning garland made from my tall house pattern and used in a halloween display. It is by Giovanni Fucci. https://www.instagram.com/northrupavenue/
Nelly Hilaire of Florida painted her buildings with a sand paint creating an entirely different effect. Also added was a burlap roof.
Carol Barlow of Australia combined the great and bows from Zig Zag Village with Tea Light Village to add a little more Christmas cheer. She also used colored card stock for the trees.
Check out the beautiful icicles added to all the roof lines in this village by Natascha Ehlers of Germany. She has added a lot of details for this scene.
Many have shared images of their Tea Light Village on a tiered cake stand. Susan Lanceley used card stock to make her own!.
Stephanie Pounds made her Tea Light Village in 2019 the centerpiece of a glass table. It is on the lazy susan and can turn for all to see. She used a large glitter on the roofs to add a beautiful additional sparkle.
Barbara Eslick shared her beautiful village. See what a stunning effect blue lights add to the village. 12/2017
Fran Mumford from Auckland, New Zealand cut her entire village out by hand. She used 1/2 the maple tree as a napkin accent as well. She sent me this description of the process:
Enlarge the templates slightly (by 10%) just to give a little more wiggle space for the very tiny windows
Reverse (mirror) the image so that I can print on the back of card stock and still have the door openings etc positioned on the correct side of the building.
Reduce the thickness and opacity of the dotted lines (to 0.5pt and 30%) so I can still see them to work with, but they don’t show through the cardstock when the tea light is lit
When cutting, I use a steel ruler for the roof edges, so they stay nice and straight and level - but scissors would work equally well if you cut carefully. For shorter edges, windows, flaps, rotunda etc I do those freehand with a scalpel. If you use a ruler for those, it’s too easy to overshoot on the windows and accidentally cut the “bar” that separates it from its neighbour. No-one will notice if one of the window panes isn’t exactly square, but they will if the hole is twice as big!
For the trees, clock face, round church window I did invest in a swivel cutting blade as it makes it easier to do the curved edges. I used a straight blade before I had that and found lots of tiny cuts were best, as too much pressure on the blade to bend it round a curve can cause the blade tip to snap off. Personally, I think anyone attempting to do this by hand would be coming into it with some experience behind them (and equipment) and be aware of safety measures to take - so I don’t think that need be of concern to you.
When assembling, I score along the fold lines first, to make it easier to form edges that are nice and crisp.
Nellie Hilaire has constructed the entire village cutting by hand. This is here stunning display. She has now purchased a cutting machine to help with the next one!
Joan Yuil of The Cotswolds in Gloucestershire England also cut the village files by hand. Here is her display shared in 2019. Note the black hex bases. This color change works well in this display.
Miles Dudley sent me this photo showing a beautiful combination of the Moose in Fir Trees and Covered Bridge files. He increased the size of the covered bridge to work with this gorgeous Christmas Eve table setting.
Tables setting by Miles Dudley using cutting files by 3dcuts.com
Judi Klock Russo of Illinois has been making the buildings each year as they were introduced. She was thrilled to get the hex bases for LEDs because turning the tea lights on and off became a hassle as the village grew.
ChiWei blogged about making her tea light village here. She added silver trees and pine cones to her display.
Kate Himmelsbach completed this mantel display using the Tea Light Village for the 2017 holiday. She shared it on the Silhouette Cameo FUN Project Facebook group.
Sam Madonia created a haunted version of Tea Light Village for Halloween.
Bilde Müller of My Creative Hide Out Blog just posted photos of her Tea Light Village using colored LED lights. They slowly change. And this is the first phot0 I have seen using the new (2107) hex boxes for wiring. There are a lot more photos on her blog.
Mary Cox made this beautiful 2017 village with the hex bases for her mom.
Here is a tiered display by Helen Rose from the UK with added snow and icicles.
Here is a Tea Light Village made by Wendy Lawson of the UK. I love how she used a ladder to help with the display.
Mary Groom of Western Australia made her tea light village and spent time making many trees in a variety of sizes. She added the picket fences in a unique way by wrapping them around the bases. She also noted that she used 3-4 coats of hair lacquer on a few of the more detailed areas (gazebo and rose arbor) to add more stiffness.
I found this image on the web without attribution to the creator but it is definitely Tea Light Village in a fireplace display! Very creative location.
Deb Goff recently shared her Tea Light Village in the Cricut Design Space Facebook group. She used color-changing tea lights and this is what she noted about them: "The tea lights I used were purchased from Amazon and they are color changing so it is a lot of fun to watch the village change colors in a very slow non blinking kind of way! It is very peaceful and serene," and she provided a link to the tea lights here.
Some crafters have done creative things with just one building. Here is a project made by Martina Phillip using the Tea Light Village Town Hall with a little train that runs. It is an advent calendar!
Nanda de Klerk-Sprenkels shared these photos with me of her version of the Tea Light Village. She spiced it up by adding glittered shingles to all of the roof tops for a little bling.
Kristen Calcagni Johnson has created a beautiful Tea Little Village on a mirror. She has a video of the village posted on her Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/kristen.c.johnson.1/videos/1253147454731596/
Gail Kretchman writes, "My daughter, grandson and I made a fun project out of your Christmas Village. " Many have been writing in that this projects works with kids. Nice job Gail, Cathi and Nicholas!
Kami LaRosh Bible added lanterns and a silver cone trees to her display of Tea Light Village
Marieke Lazarus from Austria shared her Advent Calendar made from the Tea Light Village files. She made a stunning display in black with multicolored windows. She displays it on her white piano.
Stephanie Scharsig made this version Tea Light Village recently to give to her grandmother on her 80th birthday.
Shani at Scrapbooks by Design made a Tea Light Village using textured card stock.
Maryann Jenkins of the blog IRock Paper and Scissors added snow to the roof in her Tea Light Village. She blogged about it here.
Margaret Cairns of The UK has taken an entirely different and creative approach to Tea Light Village. As the designer I saw them as simple with reduce detailed. She instead saw them as a canvas for much more. She hs created quite a fairy village with the same files.
Edith Baerten from Belgium has added battery operated string lights and some covering snow to a display of Tea Light Village houses. Notice the wonderful addition of sliced logs as bases.
Lydia from France added some wonderful color elements to her Tea Light Village
Terry Doyle from Canada increases the size of Tea Right Village by 190% and adds many little details. Here are a few of her buildings.
And from Kate's Paper Creations is a display on a mirrored surface. Beautiful!
Pam at Get Silvered did this display under a glass dome.
