Updated Tuesday 9th December 2008
Here we are, finally, in 2008 and
the snow village has become a serious project. After gathering
polystyrene foam from all sources possible, family and friends, work
and packaging from goods bought for home, it was time to figure out
where it could all be used.
Saturday 15th November it was time to start experimenting with village
pieces and the foam for placement. The village had to be
dismantled (yes, it was still up from last Christmas) and the patio
table returned to it's rightful place outside.
Gemma and Travis were to become my elves for the weekend.
We started with a trip to Clarke Rubber to purchase some sheets of foam
as these would be needed for mountains and bases. Once we got it
home it was time to work on the first part of the village, the North
Pole, which was to be set up at the top of the mountains, with the
village itself to meander its way down the mountain to finish with the
town centre. The problem with this is there is no where for the
mountains to descend to as the patio table has now resumed its original
function. A new bench will need to be made, but we can still work
on the North Pole in the meantime.
The first of the mountains was produced with the assistance of my elves and my new tools from the Hot Wire Foam Factory.
We got the first 2 mountain backdrops done before it was time for tea
and then a trip into Perth City to see the Christmas lights. No
pictures of the city lights though as it was a quick drive through
before home, a movie and bed.
Sunday morning dawns and after an early breakfast it was time to get to
work before it was time to go back to mum and dad. After much
discussion it was decided that the whole back wall needed a
revamp. Pictures moved, dolphin collection moved, TV needs to go
and the wall really needed painting a different colour so the village
would look better. A trip to Bunnings was in order to buy paint,
polyfilla and sandpaper for the revamp and a pack of batteries so Gemma
could take some photo's with her camera.
Time to get to the serious part of the job now. The North Pole
base needed some supports so it was a case of building and taking away
pieces of foam until the height was right. The buildings and
accessories were then placed on the base to work out where each piece
would sit and to see if they needed more height. Once the right
height was decided on, it was all dismantled and the supports glued
together. This was another fun job for the kids.
Day 2 came along two weeks later.
Armed with paint, rollers and brushes it was time to transform the
kitchen, well, not all the kitchen, just the half I was going to be
using. I knew that once that half was finished the rest would
need to follow sometime soon. Got a big job to finish first
though if I am to have the village ready for Christmas.
Day 3 was another weekend of a vist from Gem and Trav. Saturday
night didn't see any work done so it was a case of wait until Sunday
morning before getting stuck into the serious work. We did come
up with a name for the village though, which you will see in the
photo's of day 3.
My new bench was also made on Sunday afternoon, Matt and his
father-in-law, Rosco, turned my carport into a workshop and got stuck
into measuring, cutting and constructing the bench.
Day 4 sees me on my 1st day of a week's leave from work and having more
fun with my foam and hot wire tools. Once my knife arrives I'll
be able to complete the North Pole and continue on with the rest of the
village. Stay tuned for more.