JnD  Hobby & Crafts

Department 56 Collection

We have been Dept56 collectors for over 8 years now. We collect mainly Dickens Village, with a few Christmas in the City added in. Our first year in 2003 we had about 20 Dickens Village houses, along with a few Lemax, JoAnn's etc.,  in a 12 x 3 display. By 2006 our display had grown to 68 houses in a 22 ft. long display, totaling about 68sq ft. Last years display had over 80 Department 56 houses!

2003                                2004

2005                                2006

The 2006 display also had a working train and a trolley, 2 skating rinks, a real live water fountain and a water park with rowboats in real water. We strive to make our displays lifelike, rather than a store look-alike display, and this has led us to make a lot of our own accessories, including roads, walls, courtyards, sidewalks, trees, statues, mountains and even some people.

       2007                                        2008          

2009                                       2010  

Over the past several years we have also started using metal toy soldiers in our displays, mainly from the Wm. Britain's Company in Great Britain. These highly detailed metal soldiers are a wonderful addition and add a touch of the pomp and ceremony which is such a part of England's history.