DIY Painted Christmas Village

Transform your old Christmas village or a thrift store village with this DIY Painted Christmas Village makeover. Plus add a little something extra to make them really shine.

Get more DIY Farmhouse Christmas Decor ideas here!

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I remember staring at and playing with the Christmas village under our tree as a little kid.

But it was always something we shouldn’t touch because they were glass.

So, I’ve been wanting to get my own Christmas village for my little family, but I really wanted them to be something that my kids could pick up and play with if they wanted to.

Enter these little Christmas village houses from the dollar tree!

They definitely look cheesy at the store, but with a little bit of paint and extra sparkle, they sure do shine now!

Table of Contents

DIY Painted Christmas Village

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Supplies Needed:

Dollar Tree Christmas Village Buildings
White Spray Primer
White Spray Paint
Fusion Mineral Paint’s Embossing Paste – Pearl
Table Salt
Paint Brush

How to Paint a Christmas Village

Prime and Paint the Houses
Add Embellishments
Decorate!

Step One: Prime and Paint the Houses

Prime:

First, prime the houses with a primer that will stick to plastic.

I don’t trust paints that say that they are paint and primer in one, or that the paint sticks to plastic.

So I gave the houses all a couple of coats of primer first.

(Spoiler alert: the paint sticks really well to the houses since I primed them first!)

I let the primer dry for about a half hour, but no longer than an hour – according to the directions on the can.

Paint:

Then I painted a couple of coats of the white spray paint onto the houses.

Once again I let it dry for about a half hour before painting the next coat.

Then I let the paint dry for a day or so to really let it dry before I did more to them.

painted christmas village vs embellished christmas village — Left – Spray Painted Village House
Right – Painted and Embellished Village

Step Two: Add Embellishments

Embossing Paste:

First I brushed a little bit of pearl embossing paste onto the houses.

I really like how the paste added a little bit more texture to the houses, but it also added a nice pearl effect to the houses.

Salt:

Right after I finished brushing the paste on, I sprinkled a little bit of regular table salt onto the rooftops and anywhere that snow would naturally collect on a house.

I love that the salt looks like snow, and it’s super cheap (and you probably already have it in your home!)