Miniature Christmas village under glass: houses, layout and light

A miniature Christmas village fits in a glass dome 20 cm across. Eight 3 cm houses make a street, a little moss becomes snow or a meadow, and the glass keeps the dust off. The secret is simple: few pieces, a winding street, and an empty space in the middle for the village square.

Which glass for the village

There are three options. Each one gives a different scene.

• A two-part dome. You set the village in the open lower part, by hand. Then you close it with the upper part. This is the easiest choice for a whole street.
• A tall, slim bell jar. It shows off one or two houses, with a plant. It is a village reduced to its finest house.
• A bottle that is already planted. You add the houses with tweezers, between the plants. The guide to the Christmas terrarium shows how.

If you are unsure which glass to pick, our guide to the decorative glass bell jar compares our models.

Choose the houses

The white houses with brown roofs

Eight winter houses, with white walls and brown roofs, and a curl of smoke on each chimney. The set has four models, each one twice. They are about 3 cm tall.

Our "chimney village" set has the same description: eight white houses with brown roofs, in four models that appear twice. Its product page gives 1 to 3 cm. If you want a longer street, you can combine the two sets.

The gingerbread village

Ten pieces, 2 to 3.5 cm tall: gingerbread houses, fir trees and a Santa. The colors are bright. This is the choice for a cheerful, colorful scene.

The houses that glow at night

Two church-shaped houses, in icy blue and icy green, about 4 to 5 cm tall, and eight snowflakes about 1 cm across. The whole set glows in the dark. By day, they are houses in cool tones. At night, the scene glows softly.

Draw the village plan

A village reads like a real street. Before you place the pieces, do a trial run on the table, next to the glass.

1. Draw a curved street, from front to back. A straight line looks flat.
2. Place the tallest houses at the back, the lowest at the front. The scene gains depth.
3. Leave an empty square in the middle. A fir tree or a single character is enough there.
4. Turn the fronts of the houses forward, or towards the street. A house seen from the back breaks the scene.
5. Keep space near the glass. A piece pressed against the glass holds water from the condensation.

Leave room. University extension services recommend keeping decorations to scale and not cluttering the space. A street of five well-placed houses is better than eight houses packed together.

The dome or the bell jar

The two-part dome

Our round dome is 20 cm in diameter and 20 cm tall, for about 4 liters. It is made of recycled glass. Its two parts fit into each other: it has no lid and no narrow neck.

This is the most practical glass for a village. You place the moss, the plants and the houses in the lower part, by hand. Then you close it with the upper part.

With living plants, plan for a refill of substrate layers in sizes S and M and one or two terrarium plants. Two low plants at the back become the village trees. The houses go in front.

The egg-shaped bell jar

This recycled glass bell jar is 25.5 cm tall and 12 cm in diameter. It comes empty and without a lid. Its product page plans it for a single plant, with light substrate layers.

Here the village becomes a hamlet: one plant, one house, one fir tree. According to Iowa State University, a bell jar creates the same environment as a terrarium: treat it as one. The height of the bell jar leaves air above the scene. To close it, you need a cork lid bought separately: our guide to the terrarium cork lid explains how to choose one. The manufacturer does not give the diameter of the opening: measure it when it arrives.

With or without living plants

With plants, the glass becomes a terrarium. It needs indirect light, never direct sun, and a spot away from heating. The Penn State and Mississippi State guides recommend decorations that do not mind humidity, such as glass, ceramic or plastic. Clean each house before you place it.

Without plants, the village is a decoration under glass. It needs no water and no light. A cushion of preserved moss can make the ground. It is not alive and needs no watering.

Make the village glow at night

The manufacturer of the glow-in-the-dark set recommends placing the figurines in full light for several hours, a whole day if possible. They then glow softly in complete darkness.

If the village is planted, charge the houses before you place them. Do not put the terrarium in the sun to recharge them: direct sun heats the glass. The guide to the glow-in-the-dark terrarium explains the effect.

Put the village away

After the holidays, take out the pieces with tweezers, one by one. Rinse them in clean water if needed and dry them. Store them in a closed box.

These are decorative objects, not toys. The pieces are small. Health Canada advises against objects with small parts for children under 3: an object that fits through a toilet paper roll is too small for them.

In short

1. Choose the glass for the scene: a dome for a street, a bell jar for a hamlet.
2. Draw a curved street, with the tall houses at the back.
3. Leave an empty square in the middle and space near the glass.
4. With plants, keep the glass in indirect light, away from heating.
5. Charge the glow-in-the-dark houses before you place them, never in the sun.
6. Store the pieces somewhere dry, out of reach of children under 3.

Sources

• Creating a Closed Terrarium, Penn State Extension
• How to Design a Closed-System Terrarium, Mississippi State University Extension
• How to Create and Care for a Terrarium, Iowa State University Extension
• Toy safety tips, Health Canada
• Manufacturer data sheets (contents and size of the house sets, glow-in-the-dark effect, dimensions and closure of the dome and the bell jar)