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Sand - Beaches, River banks, deserts, sandboxes ect.
Using sand in your village can be a work of art or just plain work. I personally find sand in my villages to be a big mess. But the truth is several of my villages have areas of sand that just need to be there or I would loose the whole scene. So I have searched to find the perfect sand. You would think that plain old sandbox sand would be the product of choice, guess again. Now some places it works nice but I have decided I like other options in most places. I will give you some of the ideas I have tried in different settings.
You can try some of the pre-made sand covered mats or cloths available from commercial suppliers. In most cases I was not impressed. I find them expensive, hard to work into the shapes I need, and extremely hard to store without damaging. Most of these products come in rolls inwhich you simple roll out and cut to shape. Be careful when cutting these as they often tear or loose the sand off of them. This exposes the paper or cloth and can be very unsightly. The paper backed products are fine if your making a flat piece but doesn't conform to 3-d landscaping well. The cloth products are better but tend to bunch up when folded or overlapped. The cloth backed versions are often more expensive. Also be aware that different scenes require different textured sand. The smaller the grains of sand the more nature it will look for things like beaches. Remeber that the sand can and will come loose from the backing and make a mess. The more the piece is used the more of the sand that will be lost.
A cheaper alternative to the pre-made mats or cloths is to use sheets of sandpaper. Sandpaper comes in a variety of grit sizes (sizes of the sand particles). Sandpaper can be purchased at most local hardware stores in a variety of sizes.
Next method is using real playsand. This method can be really messy. Loose sand will get scattered when being placed on the scene. The sand is also very likely to move around if a breeze or draft blows across the scene. One method to help reduce this is to put a thin layer of glue or adhesive down and pour the sand on it. This method allows the user to get a more nature appearance to the sand but yet make an attempt at holding it in place.
One more method that is very similar to using real sand is to purchase boxes of the fine grit material fed to small household birds. I like this method since the material is finer than most play sands. The grit comes in a variety of colors and textures. I use it much like the play sand method except that I can use a shaker container and get a more nature look to large areas. The finer the grain the easier it is to make sand dunes, sandy walkways, partially covered items in the sand, and yes even some sandboxes for the little kids playgrounds. This product stores well, sweeps up with a shopvac, and most of all is very inexpensive. Since the grit comes in boxes under a lb. I can purchase the quanity I want for the job I am doing.
Most people create sandy beaches along the water front. But don't forget the little sandy spots in fields, the sandy edge along the highways, childrens sandboxes in the yards and playgrounds, the sand along creeks and drainage ditches, and more. Sand is also great to fill in little areas around drains or basements of your houses. In my halloween villages I like to use "sand" to make creepy little paths to some of my caves, waterfalls, and houses. I have also take small wooden or plastic craft decorations and cover them with glue and sand. These make neat sand sculptures for on my beaches and sandlots. Adding a little sand castle to the beach can make an open beach area look used and popular. This same idea can be adapted to snow in my winter scenes.
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