Laying Out Styrofoam.                 

Since we have used this basic setup before I could just lay out the styrofoam again to match the shape of the table.  We use florist pins to hold the individual pieces tightly together.  2 or 3 on the short sides and 3 to 5 on the longs sides.  For the base that is 1 inch thick I cut the florist pins to just less than an inch so they go all the way in.  For the 2 inch thick styrofoam we use the full size pins that are about 1 3/4 inches long. Don't worry to much if there are dents and old cuts for old wiring to much.  I just make sure that the outer edges are crisp and undamaged.  The rest will be mostly covered with houses, streets, trees and snow.

Last year we put in an HO scale train and the right side covered about 1/3 of the track allowing for houses over the track that would not have been possible if the entire track was exposed.  We decided not to incorporate the train this year because we had bought some new houses and were not confident we could get them all in without compromising on design.

Base Layer

Upper Layer Right

Upper Layer Left

Uncut & Cut Florist Pins

Staging Styrofoam.          

Now that the table is built we will start to lay the base.  Here is all the styrofoam that forms the base.  It is fairly expensive for this size setup but it can be reused year after year.  We use the 1 inch thick 12 X 36 inch sheets.  We do not advise cutting corners by using the cheep styrofoam used for shipping and packing. We tried it some but we had trouble cutting it and making it look finished.  It also made a huge mess with all the styrofoam balls that came off while cutting.  When we need more support because we are building a second level we use the 2 inch thick sheets.

Styrofoam ready to be laid.

 

Table Assembly.  

Table assembled and ready for Styrofoam base.  We cut it to fit the wall and softened the corners to allow traffic to pass a little better.  Notice the 6 added legs come close to matching the donor table.

Whole Table

Right side

Left Side

Legs of donor table almost match added legs

Table & Space for the Christmas in the City Village.       

Getting started with setting up Dept 56 villages. We start with the Christmas in the City.
 First step get out the pieces to our custom built 16 foot table.

Legs and side skirts

Table Top

Location and Donor Table