Who doesn’t love easy, inexpensive Christmas decor? The easiest way to update any decor is with paint. I bought a small plastic Christmas village set at the Dollar Tree. You may like the before, but I’m loving the painted Christmas village!
Dollar Tree Christmas Village Updated with Paint
So, what do you think? Do you like the original look of the Christmas Village, or the muted painted white?
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How to Paint a Dollar Store Christmas Village
Of course I used my favorite Super Finish Max paint sprayer, my small spray shelter, and the Homeright turntable for paint spraying. Get all my tips over on their site.
Typically I use the green nozzle (2.0 mm) for most of my furniture projects. But for this smaller project I used the small wrench to switch out for the blue nozzle (1.5 mm).
Small Shelter For Paint Spraying
The small spray shelter comes in a handy pouch with the directions attached.
The shelter literally just pops up into place. I like to clamp the back of the shelter onto my work table, using a scrap 2x4 to hold down the front. I opened the rear vent for airflow and ventilation. Be sure to check out the video on Amazon of how to close the shelter for storage!
Because my paint has a little age on it, I strained it in my reusable mesh paint strainer.
The spray shelter also works great for spray paint it you prefer to use that on your dollar tree Christmas Village.
Tape Small Pieces to Turntable
Before painting, I used a small piece of duct tape to secure the Christmas village building to the turntable. The tape was left in place for each of the remaining village pieces.
Using the turntable really makes this job quick and easy! NOTE: I started with the flow control dialed back and increased it slightly after I saw the width of my spray pattern.
After spraying a couple of the Christmas village pieces, you can see there is a small amount of over spray on the turntable, but very little on the bottom of the spray shelter itself. That is because of the flow control I chose.
I love the way the small plastic Christmas Village pieces turned out using my Super Finish Max paint sprayer.
Using Natural Elements with Christmas Village Decor
I had fun playing around with the Painted Christmas Village pieces. Can you believe they only cost $1 each? The bottle brush trees were one dollar for a large and a small one. (2 per package)
I had a large wooden slice from when I put up the DIY Picket Fence. I used one a few years ago to make a rolling plant stand. This large one was hanging out in the garage. You can buy your own large wooden rounds on Amazon.
Do you see the smaller limb pieces that the bottle brush trees are resting on?
Adding some greenery from the yard and some fake snow (epsom salt) finishes the look! In this photo you can get a better look at the small “stumps” the bottle brush trees are resting on.
As I said, I got all of these at the Dollar Tree, but you could easily paint a thrift store Christmas Village. Be sure to visit my friends at Homeright to see how easy this project is.
gail
related content:
Tree Branch & Log Project Ideas
Peppermint Platter Centerpiece Idea
Gail Wilson is the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. She is obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believes that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again, including herself!
Gail reinvented herself during a midlife crisis and has found purpose again. She hopes you will find new ideas for old things and pick up a few tools along the way.
BlissRanch
The all one color houses are so much more my taste than the ones I own. I'd paint mine except they are not the dollar store ones. I should sell them and I could purchase a whole town at Dollar Tree spraying 'em up!
Karolyn Love
Love this idea!! Thanks for sharing!
Robyn Wright
Thee are so cute! I'd like more information on what you do with the creamer bottle??
Gail Wilson
Robyn,
I use the creamer bottle and detergent bottles for storing my paint. I tend to hold onto paint for too long. The cans begin to rust. So I pour the paint into detergent bottles for large projects. When I need paint for smaller projects, I use the creamer bottles. This paint has been in that creamer bottle for more than a year. It's so handy, and so easy to pour.
You can see the detergent bottle storage here: https://www.myrepurposedlife.com/how-to-deal-with-rusted-paint-cans/
gail
Pat
Try your local thrift shop, especially this time of year they may have sets or individual pieces that have been donated.
Gail Wilson
Pat,
Yep, great idea! I did search for these at a thrift store and couldn't find anything small. Everything was very large. I was so happy when I found these small village pieces.
gail
Cheri
Your village turned out so pretty. Never would have thought of that! Of course, my local Dollar Tree doesn't have any village figures....it's a pitiful store! You are so talented...thanks for sharing your ideas with us:)
Gail Wilson
Cheri,
I'm so sorry your Dollar Tree didn't have the village.... we have three stores within 5 miles of me and they all had them. But I do find that some of those stores sell out of stuff before the others. I guess I'm really lucky to have them so close to me.
I appreciate your sweet comment.
gail