Thanks for sharing!

DIY White Christmas Village is such a simple project to unify mismatched houses and structures with spray paint for holiday decor.

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DIY White Christmas Village

Do you own a Christmas village or have you always wanted your own Christmas village?

Many years ago in the early 90s, I started a Dickens Christmas Village.

I only have 3 structures. I had visions of having this extensive collection to display each and every Christmas. For some reason, my desire to do this waned.

There was a period of time when I quit using it.

When Ashlyn was old enough, she'd creatively use it in our Christmas decorating.

We've used it on various tables through the years and under the actual Christmas tree on occasion.

In the last couple of years, I haven't dragged it out.

This year I decided that this was the year to get creative with it. I can't wait to share with you how I decided to display those 3 structures. I'm very pleased with it.

In the meantime, I've been loving the idea of the pretty white villages. Nothing elaborate or fancy.

Just the plain white houses to nestle among bottle brush trees.

You can find them in fun sets, but some can get quite pricey.

Recently, I was in our local Goodwill, when I spotted these three little houses.

One has a little hole in the roof, but that didn't stop me from giddily placing them in my cart. I will probably research some ways to patch it. For now….it's no big deal to me.

As soon as I saw these three little structures for .99 cents each, I envisioned a centerpiece for the dining room table.

With a can of white spray paint, I knew that my DIY Christmas village could come to life.

I even found 1 larger already white home in my local craft store marked 60% off. The votive candle houses came from Homegoods. All three new houses were a great size match for the thrift store houses.

Where to Find Village Pieces

• thrift store
• craft store
• dollar store like Dollar Tree
• Dollar General
• Target
• Amazon
• Walmart
• garage sales
• Facebook Marketplace
• eBay (more expensive)
• Etsy (more expensive)

Where to Display Little Christmas Village Houses in Your Holiday Decor

• the centerpiece of the dining table
• coffee table
• shelves
• under Christmas trees
• china cabinets
• secretary (hint, hint)
• mantel
• going up a staircase
• kitchen counter
• under a glass cloche

Gather your Supplies

• little Christmas house (the desired number for display)
• white paint (I prefer spray paint)
• drop cloth
• spray can nozzle
• Christmas Decor

I love a project that uses minimal craft supplies.

Simple Steps to Create a Christmas Village Display

Step 1

Chances are that your miniature Christmas village is rather dirty if you found it at a garage sale or at the thrift store.

Remove any light sources like cords and bulbs.

You will want to clean it well of all dirt and dust before painting.

I simply used some store-brand cleaning wipes.

Let the houses dry completely.

Step 2

You could certainly brush the houses with craft paint and a brush, but I find spray paint much quicker.

If you plan to start a collection, I highly recommend making note of the spray paint and color that you used. You'll want to maintain consistency. Not all white paints are the same.

The next step is to paint your house.

I recommend spraying several light coats as opposed to thick sprays. This will cause drips.

Check out my Instagram Reel on the process!

Make sure that on a couple of your earlier coats, you hold the house upside down with a gloved hand to spray from the bottom up. This will ensure that you have no unsprayed areas. Everything will be a nice white.

TIP: If you have any partially used cans of white spray paint, use those first. Then do your finish coat with the preferred white color.

Allow your houses to dry completely before moving back inside.

I chose to leave the light sources out of my houses. I will add real tealight candles when appropriate or battery-operated options.

Step 3

Have fun decorating your centerpiece!

I have a lot of color and pattern going on with the rug and the window treatments.

I decided to keep the table and tree fairly neutral using white, gold, and green.

I started by placing a winter white velvet table runner down the center.

I find that using individual floral pics works better for me than a long garland.

I placed 2 larger evergreen branches going down the center.

I then placed 4 glass candlesticks on either end.

To add a little color, I opted to use green candlesticks this year.

To give a little variation in heights, I added 2 mercury glass, pillar holders.

I placed the 2 white house votive holders on top of the pillar holders.

The larger house from the craft store anchored the center.

I then intermingled my three thrift store houses along the branches.

Fill in any bare areas with smaller greenery picks.

Muted gold and silver leaves add a bit of rustic elegance to the centerpiece.

A few scattered glass votive candles complete the look.

Spray paint is such a wonderful way of unifying mismatched decor for the holiday season!

None of these houses go together. Left as is, the look doesn't feel special.

When all painted white, it gives a winter wonderland feel to the space for very little money.

If you desire a little extra sparkle, you could add battery-operated fairy lights. If electric works, these are a fabulous option.

The beauty of this DIY white Christmas village is that you can make it any size you desire! A small little collection would be lovely in a small apartment space or even on a bathroom counter. Go all out and create a winter wonderland mantel.

Do you notice a couple of other houses that jumped in the mix?

I literally bought these yesterday. They are nicer quality and much larger with detail. I paid $12.50 for each of them. See if you can spot them in the dining room. I'm now on the hunt for a couple of larger pieces to go with them.

Don't worry, my original Dickens Village pieces will never be painted. I kind of want to get a few more of them. Wow, they've gone up a lot in price since I started collecting them over 20 years ago.

Do you have any pieces that you'd like to paint?

Stay tuned! I will be using this woodland look for a Thanksgiving Tablescape. After Thanksgiving, I'll be adding a bit of holiday color with Christmas tablescapes with the same centerpiece.

Here are a few already white Christmas Village options for the ready-to-go look!

• Tabletop Set with trees
• Set of 3 White Houses
• Individual Houses
• Individual and sets (love these!)

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Thanks for sharing!