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How to Make a Halloween Village

Halloween Villages are collectible figurines with a spooky, All-Hallows-Eve theme. Each piece of a given village contributes something to the overall atmosphere: a series of haunted houses, a cemetery and creepy figures such as vampires and werewolves among others. Many Halloween Villages are based on movies or pop culture---there's a Tim Burton's "The Nightmare Before Christmas" collection, for example, and a set based on Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"---but you can also build unique villages by selecting pieces that complement each other and arranging them in a pleasing fashion. Specifics vary according to personal taste, but a few pointers apply regardless.

Things You'll Need

Sealable Plastic Container
Black sheet
Power cords (optional)

Instructions

- 1
  Decide on an overall theme for your Halloween Village. The pieces work best if they're of a similar genre, which means placing a scary Dracula's castle next to Winnie-the-Pooh's "Haunted Acre Wood" won't work very well. A specific theme will help narrow down your options. Maybe you want a kid-friendly village, featuring jolly spooks and happy haunted houses, or a Gothic town focusing on vampires. Pick a theme and stick with it.
- 2
  Determine how much space you want to use. You don't want your village to look cluttered: nice, evenly spaced buildings work best. If you want to place them on a bookshelf or mantle, make sure each piece can be clearly seen. If you want to place them on a tabletop, you can cluster them a little closer together, but they should still look natural, not stacked on top of each other.
- 3
  Select buildings that fit together to create a coherent whole. Avoid repetition---use no more than one haunted castle, for example, while making sure your Halloween-style houses don't look too similar---but otherwise try to keep a consistent style. Pay particular attention to color scheme and the architectural style of each piece. Mixing and matching different pieces is fine so long as they all appear to belong together.
- 4
  Prepare a landscape for your village by turning a few plastic containers bottom-side up and placing a black cloth over them. This gives you different levels to display the figurines prominently without them appearing to be too close together.
- 5
  Arrange your buildings in a natural-seeming order. If you have a large centerpiece, place it in the middle of the display and position the other pieces around it. Fashion your Halloween Village as if it were a real town, with a central square, or along a Main Street.
- 6
  Position the smaller figures. In many cases, figures come with specific buildings, but do not be afraid to place them elsewhere in your village if you feel they look better somewhere else. This makes the village feel more organic as opposed to a collection of uninvolved pieces.
- 7
  Illuminate your Halloween Village (if necessary). Some Halloween Village pieces include electric lights, in which case they need ready access to a power source. Make sure all of the cables have clear access to the electrical outlet.

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