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How about a limited edition cross-over (one piece for each existing series) collection of musical buildings and accessories inspired by favorite christmas carols and songs? I think this would be incredibly popular. Here are my ideas for the tunes that should be represented for each series: Dickens' Village: "Good King Wenceslas" Christmas in the City: "Silver Bells" New England Village: "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" The Original Snow Village: " White Christmas " North Pole: "Rocking around the Christmas Tree" Alpine Village: "O Tannenbaum" Of course, every year, they could come out with a new set. If you're interested, here's a link to some Christmas music onsale from Amazon.com

There may be no corporate initiative to extend their brand, or no need exhibited by their passionate customer base for them to go beyond ceramic buildings, but being a public company, there is always a need to build revenue and growth. I came up with a few ideas: * More product placement in movies and television shows * A line of fictional books placed in the different village scenes * Paintings and prints of village displays * A set of collectible trading cards, one card for each building and accessory * Collectible houses for kids, maybe a plastic holiday village, to get them started * More new series ideas. See our poll on the sidebar. Some of these ideas were generated in a previous post on " creative ideas Department 56 should consider ". We also had a popular post on ideas for new Snow Village Halloween pieces .

These keywords represent what people have been searching for in relation to the Department 56 " Christmas In The City " series: Specific Buildings and Accessories: department 56 christmas in the city empire state building department 56 christmas in the city radio city department 56 christmas in the city radio city music hall department 56 christmas in the city town tree department 56 christmas in the city series coca cola department 56 christmas in the city harley department 56 christmas in the city grand central General Christmas in the City searches: department 56 christmas in the city department 56 christmas in the city series department 56 christmas in the city collection department 56 christmas in the city village department 56 and christmas in the city department 56 christmas in the city accessories new dept 56 christmas in the city department 56 christmas in the city sale department 56 retired christmas in the city ebay christmas in the city dept 56 christmas in the

Well, we weren't going to spend any more on village buildings until the fall. After all, we have committed to buying a ton of stuff at our favorite shop in Willimantic, CT. Like always, we heard of a sale and could not resist checking it out. I visited a store in Wethersfield, CT on Thursday while killing some time waiting for a dinner meeting. They had a rack with select D56 items at 40% off. The selections were definitely looked over. Not much left. The helpful woman behind the counter told me their parent store in Portland, CT had many more sale pieces, running their clearance sale until the end of August. I couldn't resist. We visited the store in Portland on Saturday. They had 50% off pieces under a large outdoor tent. Not the best environment to store ceramic buildings, but upon inspecting certain pieces, all looked well. There were more sale pieces outside along the front exterior of the shop. We were a bit dissapointed to see there were no Snow Village Halloween items

If you are anything like me, you want to create a fantastic village display, with incredibly detailed landscapes. You want to set it up in a room and leave it out all year long. When visitors arrive, they'll be awestruck by your dedication and craftsmanship you've used on your village set-up. In reality, our two bedroom condo is less than spacious, and every inch is preciously distributed to something which is required for any demonstration of civilized living. What do you do when you are as space challenged as we are? In my case, specifically, we'll set up multiple smaller vignettes. My wife's Original Snow Village Halloween display will morph into the Halloween Amusement Park (featuring many of the animated pieces, including the spinning pumpkins, the scaredy cat ferris wheel, swinging ghoulies, witch's ride, and more) and a new halloween vignette anchored by Jack's Pumpkin Carving Studio on one end and the Black Cat Diner on the other. Castle Blackstone ma

There is a custom search engine at TheFind.com which automatically finds Department 56 items for sale from all over the web. You can specify a price range, colors, or to display only sale items. Of course, TheFind also allows you to search for any other merchandise. TheFind.com also apparently includes Ebay items in its' searches, which makes it convenient. If it added Amazon and Craigslist, it would pretty much have a complete database of online dept 56 classifieds. Of course, you don't get the charm of a friendly shop owner who knows you by name, nor can you physically view all the brilliant displays like they have at your local retailer. Other helpful links from TheFind.com : Department 56 Halloween Items Department 56 Snow Village Items Department 56 Dickens Village Items Department 56 Christmas In The City Department 56 North Pole Christmas items on sale Halloween items on sale

The latest issue of Village D-Lights , a wonderful magazine of village collecting, display tips and product information, arrived in my mailbox yesterday. It's always well received in our home and stays out on our reading table for many weeks. Here is what you'll find in this (September/October) issue: * A feature article on the American Candle store. We'll definitely have to check out that store. They have some nice displays. I'll contact them for a featured post. * 15 years of the NCC - the National Council of Department 56 collectors . * City Lights expansion - a feature on one of the largest christmas store. * Schedule of Department 56 artist signings * A look at early modern architecture used in D56 buildings * Space saving vignette tips * Boo-tiful halloween displays * A display which (witch?) is to die for! There's also many regular sections of the magazine: reader submissions, letter from the editor, trivia, display ideas, hints and tips, and much more!

Running some keyword research on Google, I have gathered a list of the most frequently searched "Dickens Village" terms. Charles Dickens himself may not be proud of this post, as it is short on commentary or dialogue, but I believe it's intriguing stuff nonetheless. All lists are sorted in order of search volume. First, we'll start off with the individual item list: dickens village big ben dickens village brick abbey dickens village buckingham palace dickens village hospital for sick children dickens village london gin distillery dickens village london skating club dickens village mill dickens village norman church dickens village victoria station dickens village tower of london dickens village train station Specific subsets of Dickens' Village: department 56 dickens village christmas carol dickens village a christmas carol dickens village 12 days of christmas dickens village christmas carol twelve days of dickens village Strange Searches for Dickens' Village

I surveyed both the Original Department 56 Group on Yahoo! and the Building New Worlds social network, asking them what their favorite Department 56 Halloween pieces were. Answers could include Original Snow Village Halloween, Sleepy Hollow, or All Hallows Eve series. I received back a flurry of wide ranging answers: - Grimsly Manor - 6 votes - "I like it mainly because it's not modern, it has that classic old haunted house feel to it!", "I like Grimsly because of the sound effects first and then the look of the piece. Just a great feel to it. The accessories are lots of fun too!", "I like the grimsly manor because of the great effects that it has the goes soo well with the house. i love the architecture of the house.", "Grimsly Manor is one piece I like that I have yet to buy.", "I just bought Grimsly Manor the other day, I have put it off sooo many times before because of the price but I finally caved-LOL! It has been out since '

Collectibles Today has been in business since 1973. They guarantee their collectible products for 365 days. Founded in 1973 by J. Roderick MacArthur was instrumental in defining the present day collectibles market. Headquarters is in Niles, Illinois. We've purchased some Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer ornaments and Thomas Kinkade ornaments from Collectibles Today . Shipments are always on time, billing is always correct, and there were no customer service issues. Can't really ask for much more. Granted, you don't get the personalized and friendly service you would get from a local independent christmas or holiday collectible shop, but for quick deadline shopping, you can't argue with the convenience. Find Department 56 Halloween sales well, today! LOL

I am not sure if it's related or not, but a few hours after I posted about which stores were helpful and which were not (my question was "When do you put out your halloween and christmas decorations and are you going to carry any Department 56 this year?"), I got an actual phone call from a customer service rep @ Lowe's. He told me they weren't carrying any halloween supplies but ALL of their christmas supplies, gadgets, decorations, artificial trees, etc., would be up by the end of September." I was floored by getting an actual call back. Last year they carried several Department 56 buildings (Rudolph, I believe) and ornaments. Now, I'll gladly include this link to Lowe's .

I thought I had a great idea for a post - I was going to call and email all of the big department and craft stores and ask them for the specific dates which they set up their holiday merchandise. I would also ask if they're going to carry any Department 56 items. Sounded like something that my blog audience would appreciate the scoop on. I figured the stores would be excited to reach out to a niche audience. I was wrong. Thus, only the stores which attempted to provide me with decent responses get hyperlinked: Jo-Ann Fabrics : "Thank you for your email regarding the Halloween and Christmas merchandise. The Halloween and Christmas fabrics should already be out in the stores with more arriving throughout the upcoming months. It appears the Halloween items should be out in the stores within the next 2 weeks. Christmas should start merchandising at the beginning of October. We look forward to another opportunity to be of service to you are JoAnn Fabric and Craft Stores." CV

Suncoast Southern Regional Gathering 2007 The 13th Southern Regional Department 56 Collectors Gathering will be held Aug. 23-26, 2007 at the Hilton Clearwater Beach Resort. Contact 727-796-7606 for more info. 2008 NCC National D56 Convention Dept 56 is playing a big part in this event, sponsored by the National Council of Dept 56 Clubs. June 2008 in Bloomington, MN.

Critter Hut I found this online store, an Ebay store, actually, while browsing the Yahoo! Group and it had a few Department 56 listings for sale. Sale items include the Amish Family Set of 3 from the Heritage Village collection, Send in the Clown Snow Village, Skating Pond of Heritage Village, Village Pine Cone Trees, Little Women Literary Classics' March Residence, Stoney Brook Town Hall from New England Village, Buck's County Horse Barn and Countdown to Christmas Headquarters from the North Pole series. Some of the items start @ 99 cents! Replacements.com This site seems to have some ok deals on Department 56 pieces. The link above will bring you to some items from the Snow Village Halloween collection that are on sale.

# 1: White Christmas / Bing Crosby # 2: Please come home for Christmas / Eagles # 3: Santa Baby / Reverend Run All-Stars # 4: Christmas time is here / Vince Guaraldi Orchestra # 5: Carol of the bells / George Winston # 6: Little Drummer Boy / Bing Crosby and David Bowie # 7: Christmas Day / Dido # 8: Baby please come home / U2 # 9: Jingle Bell Rock / Randy Travis # 10: Do they know it's Christmas / Band Aid Also, click here to access a handy Christmas Carol Lyrics page Carols include: O Come, All Ye Faithful It Came Upon the Midnight Clear O little town of Bethlehem Hark! The Herald Angels Sing The First Noel Silent Night What Child Is This? God Rest You Merry Gentlemen Angels We Have Heard on High Away in a Manger The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting...) The Little Drummer Boy O Holy Night O Come All Ye Faithful Away in a Manger Go Tell It On The Mountain I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day I Saw Three Ships Do You Hear What I Hear? Here We Come A-Wassailing We Wish You A Merry

One of my fellow Dept56 collectors was kind enough to let me know about 3 shops she's been to in Florida (west coast): Roberts Christmas World , Clearwater. Skip's Florist and Christmas House in Holiday, FL. She said this is one of her favorites. There is also Victorian Village , Tampa. I will add these to the Google Map of Recommended Department56 shops next week after I return from Chicago. I'm going on business but I'm definitely going to try and find a D56 shop out there as well. I guess there is an actual Department 56 brand retail store nearby.

The web has delivered many new ways to shop. There are literally hundreds of shopping engines, which are basically search engines that have indexed thousands of stores and can compare pricing easily. I've researched quite a few, searched for Department 56 products, and found some interesting results: Kaboodle.com - claims that "shopping is more fun with friends" and encourages users to discover new things from people with similar taste and style, recommend and discuss your favorite products and stores, and that you can simplify your life with wish lists and shopping lists. The above link finds multiple Department 56 matches. ShopWiki - here I found the "Mill Creek Crossing" from New England Village. In a great example of why these sites work so well, you can see at one shopping destination, it's about half the price as on the other store. Compare, compare, compare! Crowdstorm.com - Many of these newer shopping engines use reviews and recommendations from

I try to tailor my content based on the search queries being conducted which lead people to this blog. The majority of the searches from the last ten days are halloween based, so I'm going to try and focus on more halloween posts, pictures, displays, tips and I'll try and link to more halloween sales at specific shops and online stores. Here is a sampling (about 1/4) of the keyword traffic we received recently. Note the large number of "Harry Potter"-related d56 searches - seems to be big demand for a village series that doesn't even exist! "halloween light displays" "snow village halloween: black cat diner" "dept 56 mill retired" "DEPT 56 UP UP AND AWAY WITCH" "department56" "making a village ideas department 56" "dept 56 all hallows eve" "halloween houses department 56 for 2007" "DEPT 56 HALLOWEEN VILLAGE ACCESSORY SET OF 22" "dept 56 haunted mansion" department 5

Department 56 introduced a second village series in 1986, the New England Village. This village also included "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". Not unlike Dickens' Village "All Hallows Eve" series, this subset fits in well with the halloween theme. While I am still searching for an authoritative collectors' checklist of pieces for this specific subset (as well as for All Hallows' Eve), here is a list of pieces that are readily available online: Sleepy Hollow Church (pictured above) Sleepy Hollow Ice Harvester Ice Cart Sleepy Hollow School Van Tassel Manor Sleepy Hollow Sleepy Hollow Ichabod Crane Cottage Sleepy Hollow Characters

Now you can share your favorite blog post with your friends and colleagues through Instant Messenger (AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, MSN, etc.) or text message to their cell phone. See the little green icon in the top right hand of this post? Click it, and once the menu opens, you can send someone a copy of the post. Let me know if you notice any load time issues with this new script. If it makes the blog load too slow, I'll remove it. Rich

VillageObsession.com has a nice pictorial of a display they've constructed for "All Hallows Eve". If you click on the picture or link you will see several other views of this beautiful halloween layout. All Hallows' Eve is a special collection from the Dickens Village series. "Hallows' Eve" is the night before All Saints Day (Halloween), when the spirits and ghosts of the past would walk among the living. The tradition of wearing ghosts and costumes was to scare away the demons and ghosts which were walking the earth. Buildings are in this series are very Victorian-gothic. Had trouble finding a complete history list of all the pieces from this subset. What I did find however are the following: - Jack O the Lantern -All Saints Church -Theatre Of The Macabre -Barleycorn Manor -Horse Drawn Hearse -Begging For Soul Cakes -Masquerading On All Hallows Eve -Mordecai Mould Undertaker -The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Anyone who might know o

I received an email from a reader asking me to post about his product, Magic Water™ . I asked him to send me some testimonials from customers who've used his product and he obliged. Magic Water™ can be used for creating ice scenery for village displays. The owner, Dave Williams, said sales spike over the holiday season, mainly from many Department 56 villagers. On the website, the product's origin states that "Magic Water™ came about as the result of a long search for the ideal water modeling resin. One that would not yellow, shrink, crack or bubble when you put debris into it. Also one that was user friendly, not needing to be heated or layered and had ample working time before setting up. Magic Water™ sets up in as little as 12 hours and not more than 24 depending on the atmospheric conditions. Each carton of Magic Water™ contains enough resin, 18 ounces, to make any average sized project, depending on your scale. It comes complete with a multi page color booklet and ins

Note: I have not yet purchased anything from this company yet, but I can't seem to resist posting about this charming, Rhode Island-based ceramic village manufacturer. MyLittleTown features regional and recognizable creations for village displays. My Little Town offers limited edition and hand painted buildings of New England Icons. Some examples of product include: Trademarks and well known icons such as Denny's, Dunkin' Donuts, White Castle Hamburgers and Benny's Home & Auto, Autocrat Coffee, Haven Bros., Del's Lemonade Stand, and the Roger Williams Park Zoo gate. They also have many buildings which are local to Rhode Island. They also produce a set of christmas ornaments, some of which are a miniature version of their buildings. Prices seem to range from $49 to $89 (for the Dunkin' Donuts). I have not yet determined if there is an aftermarket. I'll research Ebay and such. Now I can't get the song "My Little Town" out of my head. Words

Believe it or not, there are other types of holiday displays...many people are very creative and spare no expense in creating their elaborate light displays. One store I've found is Christmas Done Bright, out of Tennesse. Founded as a family business in 1992, they offer many different lines of light displays and types of products, including outdoor christmas Lights, animated christmas light displays, lighted christmas decorations, christmas lawn ornaments, holiday yard art with lights, lighted halloween yard decorations and more. They hand make each lawn ornament using steel frames with enamel paint. If you are looking for more environmentally friendly light displays, how about some solar powered displays? I did a search and found the following options: Solar Illuminations Taylor Gifts Amazon.com Silicon Solar It is also nice to visit some professionally designed Christmas Light Displays. I know of one in Springfield, Massachusetts called " Bright Nights " which is very

In determining which series to give to each family member, I didn't have a good feel for Alpine Village . I didn't know much about the series. I turned to the knowledgeable folk over at the Yahoo! Group for advice and information on specific pieces. They were more than happy to oblige (thanks!) "Among the current buildings, the "Christmas House" and "Glass Ornament Factory," plus the accessory "Alpine Santa" make a nice grouping. (The accessory itself would be a nice gift to Santa collectors in general!)" "For anyone who brews their own beer, or who truly enjoys imported or other premium beers (as opposed to a guy who just drinks commercial beers like Budweiser because they're cheap and taste doesn't really matter), or for someone who collects fancy beer steins, the "Wolfsteiner Brewery" and accessory set "The Brew Master" might be appropriate." "Also for those beer brewers/drinkers, the r

Every now and then it's fun to just create new ideas, and with Halloween approaching, I thought it would be fun to come up with a few new buildings and accessories for Snow Village Halloween, so here goes: * "Smoky Bones Crematorium" (my wife actually came up with this idea - most likely the best one!): this building would have a few animated features: smoke coming out of the chimney, and a casket being pulled into one of the doors. The casket would slide in and out, slowly. * "Dead Letter Office" - would feature an eerie abandoned post office with a strangely lit window scene sneaking a peak at piles of unopened letters. This would be complimented by an accessory called "Skeletal Delivery" featuring a broken down mail truck and a skeleton postal worker. * "Haunted Trolley Museum" - this would be a larger scene with 3 or 4 abandoned trolley cars, spooky lighting, ravens, scattered trolley parts, and tires. The accessory would be a abandoned t

If you have the task of optimizing your shop's e-commerce store website for search engine traffic, I thought it might be useful to you to look at what people are searching for in the last month. You can optimize your pages for these keyword terms, and as long as you have good supporting traffic and relevant links, you should see a decent bump in organic (free) traffic from the search engines by October: department 56 halloween - of course, the more generic terms are most frequent. Obviously, they will also be more competitive and more difficult to win. department 56 halloween sale department 56 halloween village department 56 snow village halloween department 56 glitterville halloween - I'm not familiar with glitterville, have to research that line. Next up are some actual individual item keywords: department 56 halloween carousel department 56 haunted mansion department 56 halloween water tower department 56 peanuts halloween department 56 holloween - misspellings are frequent