A Bountiful and Happy Thanksgiving to All

From us at Village Fantasies, a belated but wonderful Happy Thanksgiving to all of you

Christmas Traditions-Give Your Family Something to Look Forward to With a New Tradition

Christmas Traditions-Give Your Family Something to Look Forward to With a New Tradition

Check out our new Christmas tradition article about adding some new flavor to your annual holiday festivities.

Shutdown of Yahoo Christmas Village Designer Group Leads Many to Tears

My apologies must go out to those who stuck with us on the Yahoo group known as Christmas Village Designers. We weren't able to keep up with the posts necessary for three different social arenas, that being Facebook, the Yahoo Group, and this blog. We made the difficult choice to eliminate the Yahoo group after notifying all the members. We hope that many of you alerted have arrived here safely and are enjoying what we feel is a much more useful and flexible site for displaying all that Village Fantasies has to offer.

Steve

Thanksgiving Music Anyone??

We were just wondering if anyone had any favorite background music that they liked to listen to during the Thanskgiving holiday.  We yearly hear the Christmas tunes playing over the airwaves, but why aren't there any recognizable Thanksgiving tunes?

Pipe in if You Dabble with Harvest Village Displays

Would love to hear back, with photos if possible, from anyone who does any harvest themed villages. I know I'm not the only one.

The Nostalgia of Elgin Park

For anyone who is nostalgic about our country's history like I am, you have to check out Michael's Smith's Elgin Park diorama photos.  His work is amazing.  As someone who appreciates skilled miniature replication, I am in awe of his talents, and eye for detailed imagery.

Michael and I are both cut from a similar cloth, in that we have a passion for seeing larger scale scenery in a smaller format.  The level he has mastered, is being able to replicate miniature vignettes of the 1930s to 50s using scale model cars and buildings typical of the day, and adding magnificently realistic photo backdrops to add a fullness and lifelike image to his work.  Except without the life. You'll notice there are no people in the photos.

Take a look at his use of shadowing and light grading. I'm a fan for life.

Welcome to Elgin Park

  

Christmas Village Design Ideas

Thought I'd share a photo of a prop I made for a village several years ago.  A trash can.  Very simply made from a tiny 35mm film canister. The size was perfect, and just had to paint it to get rid of the shiny plastic appearance. The latest early 19th Century New England Coastal Villagescape doesn't need that. I don't believe they used public trash bins back in those days.

Here is one of our handmade stairways just below.

Apple Pie in Time for the Traditional Harvest Feast of Thanksgiving

It's time to get that apple pie ordered from Oak Glen in time for our Thanksgiving feast. But whose is the best? That is the question.  Nonetheless, need to get one ordered.

A Salute to Our Veterans

Our salute goes out to all veterans, for those who sacrificed their lives and those who are willing to do so in the name of our freedoms and rights. Today, our flag waves boldly in the breeze.

Wave Boldly Old Glory

A Perfect Day at the Base of the San Bernardino Mountains

Linda and I spent an overdue birthday celebration up in Oak Glen, CA on Sunday.  The weather was perfect ,with the landscape awash in fall colors and a crisp breeze to remind us of the holidays about to arrive.  Here is some of the proof of that color.  Sorry about the blurry photo quality. My regular camera battery died, and the Blackberry photos, although they work in a pinch, just aren't as clear.  The reddish tree to the bottom right is a Japanese Maple, and one that does not do well in many areas of the Inland Empire, nor many other parts of Southern California. The cooler mountain climate of Oak Glen must do it well.

My beautiful Linda at Willowbrook Farm in Oak Glen

An Amazing Day in a Glorious Hillside Village

Linda and I spent a spectacular outing in one of our favorite locations today, the foothill apple village of Oak Glen here in Southern California at the base of the San Bernardino mountains.  I have been visiting Oak Glen with family since a young boy, and love it more with every adventure.  A great deal of my inspiration for our Villagescapes comes from visiting scenic locations like this.

Today, among our several stops of the day, was one to a new Bed and Breakfast that opened earlier this year, and the very first in Oak Glen, Serendipity Ranch Bed and Breakfast.   There we met the owners Bill and Nina, and were quick to tell them how happy we were to see their type of accomodations now being offered in Oak Glen.  The village atmosphere is perfect for their warm homestyle accomodations.  Surrounded by nature and wildlife in all its glory, we know we'll be back, and will pass the word on to family and friends.

I hope you check out their website, and pay them a visit for your own tour: Serendipity Ranch Bed and Breakfast