My Putz Village

In the Village, We Can Build a Snowman!

"Putzes" were described to me by mom as glitter houses .She said she remembered families would set landscape and community around the Christmas tree, with the stable and baby Jesus in the center. . In her own home, she would make a putz village with little fake trees and "frozen lake" made of aluminum foil or small mirrors. Once she used blue paper and put a clear glass over it, which is what I did for my own village this year. In years past , I marveled over the scene of lakes and snow with these beautiful little houses with glowing lights inside.Mom usually placed hers on the lamp table in the front window area of the living room. One year I remember it being under the tree, always a traditional thing for her to have out...just as her own mom had done . Building "scenes" such as this was once traditional to many families. I was thrilled to see that stores like Bergner's and Farm& Fleet had putz houses for sale this year..the old fashioned , glittery card board kind!! . I bought some and brought them home to build a village! My grandson , Jeremy , helped me arrange them and a family's old tradition was restarted. It has always interested me to learn to make these houses and even more so, to collect the old ones like my grandma might have used. However, with small grandchildren, I decided to not go that route this year, and let them enjoy helping with ones that weren't of such great value.

From what mom always said , Putz in Germany meant to keep working..like to putz around with a project until you are satisfied with it. A holiday display as this would be something families would work on and putter with until Christmas Eve came...to this day collectors call those glittered houses "putzes". I see some nice ones on Ebay , along with the animals, but really can't afford those..so this is Jeremy's and my version of a putz village.