[ti:Model Villages Are a Holiday Tradition] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Little model villages have long been part [00:03.96]of many American families' holiday decorating traditions. [00:09.04]The life-like model villages have small houses, [00:12.60]shops, people and snowy trees. [00:16.40]This season, American designers and creative people [00:21.12]give advice on how to create your own small winter villages. [00:25.88]Dayna Isom Johnson is an expert on the crafts site Etsy.com. [00:32.32]She said nostalgia [00:34.56]– pleasure in remembering something from the past [00:37.72]– is an important part of holiday decorations this year. [00:42.40]"So it's no surprise that tiny Christmas villages are trending," she added. [00:48.16]Trending means becoming popular. [00:51.68]"From...snowy layers to modern ceramics with clean lines, [00:56.08]families are putting their creative spin on this...tradition," she said. [01:01.56]Models of little villages from the 1800s [01:05.16]came to America with European immigrants. [01:08.40]They were popularized even more by F.W. Woolworth, [01:13.00]who sold very small, German-made cardboard houses. [01:18.12]In the 1970s and 1980s, ceramic houses became popular. [01:24.92]The company Department 56 [01:27.56]began making theirs in 1976 and still do today. [01:32.76]Robin Zachary has a large collection of objects [01:36.76]used to make model villages. [01:39.48]They include things like cardboard houses, matchbox cars, [01:44.32]bottlebrush trees and little people. [01:47.76]She likes to set up a model village [01:50.40]for the holidays in her New York City home. [01:54.52]She advises people interested in making their own villages [01:58.48]to consider model train shops. [02:01.00]"The scale is perfect for a holiday village..." she said. [02:05.88]Sarah Fishburne is the director of trend [02:08.80]and design for the company Home Depot. [02:12.04]She said it is a good idea to put small Christmas villages [02:16.52]on top of fireplaces or side tables. [02:20.32]"You could also place one on the floor surrounding your Christmas tree, [02:25.08]or distribute your pieces throughout a bookcase," she said. [02:30.16]If you are making a Christmas village yourself, Fishburne said, [02:34.52]get everybody in the family involved. [02:37.56]You can find sets of wood and cardboard small houses online. [02:42.72]You can add the paint and other decorative elements. [02:46.56]Some will fit nicely over a light to shine in the evenings. [02:52.12]Kelly Mandell is a blogger in Los Angeles. [02:55.64]She turned birdhouses into a modern holiday village [02:59.72]using special paint and a shiny material called glitter. [03:04.20]Snow and colorful trees added to the playful feeling. [03:09.40]You might even include village elements [03:11.76]into the branches of a wreath, Fishburne suggests. [03:16.12]Americans sometimes put circles of evergreen tree branches [03:20.60]called wreathes on their doors. [03:23.72]Beyond the traditional look, Fishburne recommends [03:27.20]creating something that shows your family's favorite activities. [03:31.84]Are you all ice skaters? Do you love to bake? [03:36.00]Is a visit to grandparents something you do during the holidays? [03:40.44]You could show these things in your model village [03:43.60]along with things that bring good memories. [03:46.56]Or you could take ideas from the places you have visited in your travels. [03:52.36]Fishburne said her family always brings home a little building [03:56.56]or other small object from a place they have traveled to. [04:01.56]Finally, if there's no space for a large village, [04:05.28]Zachary suggests a different kind of family craft project: a village painting. [04:11.80]"Why not have the kids draw and decorate houses, [04:15.32]then pin them up in a row on the wall? [04:18.36]Make sure they make some trees, [04:21.24]as well as any of your town's significant buildings," she says. [04:27.04]I'm John Russell. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM