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Broken Houses - Throw it away or Use it?
Have you ever had a nice house in your village but something happened and it got broken? Well, next time this happens don't just take it and throw it way! These broken houses can often be used to make really exciting additions to your village. I once read a story written in a train magazine about a gentleman's train layout catching on fire. It burned a section of the layout including some of his train cars and a some buildings. What the gentleman did inspired me. He had taken and re-routed his train track around the damaged area. Then he took some fire, emt, and police figurines and placed in the area that had burnt. He then made the burned area look like a real train accident! He was able to take a major disaster and turn it into a great focus point in his train layout.
So the next time you have a house that breaks try one of these ideas. A real easy fix if it is just a corner or something on a wall section is to place something in front of the damaged area. This can be as simple as placing a tree or group of bushes around the area. Since landscaping can often times be overgrown or maybe a little mismanaged this can work for a lot of little oops.
Another fix if the damaged area is not where you can cover it with landscaping is do the old "FEMA blue tarp" patch. This is simply making the area look like it is being repaired due to a storm or car accident. With a little adding of figurines, damaged tree limps, crashed cars or other items this can be blended into the village and look intentional. Often it can become so real looking that it appears to have been made that way.
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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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