Landscaping Terrain

Well-planned town displays have walking paths and roads connecting each section of the display, but not everyone setups their display with a clear plan in mind (including me). A carefully designed terrain is one of those elements that you get a lot of bang for your buck because there so many options for materials to use. The sky is the limit! 

TIP: Use multiple types of paths and roads to differentiate each area of your town (shopping district, residential, city hall, etc). A small change to the material used can make a big difference. I like combining colored sand with small pebbles then switching the color combinations.  

Reusable Foam Terrain

If you reuse the foam display base for different holidays, you probably won't want to carve all of your walking paths into the foam, unless storage space isn't a concern. I don't have a lot of storage space, so ensuring the foam is reusable is something I pay attention to.  

To include walking paths, I place a thin piece of foam board on top of a base piece of foam. that way I can decorate it to my heart's content, swap it out, or toss it if I mess it up. I've purchased most of the foam board at the dollar store, so it is inexpensive if I screw it up.

Gravel Terrain Tutorial 

Materials

• Foamboard
• Various types of glue- Spray adhesive, hot glue, and white glue
• Sand vase filler (multiple colors) 
• Small pebble vase filler 
• Ground Coffee 
• Potting soil
• Dried moss

Instructions 

1. Using a pencil, lightly trace where your paths will b, where you want rugged terrain, and general areas (such as a city square, forest, river, etc.)
2. Paint foamboard with a neutral color (grey is my preference), add white or black to the paint to create the various sections. Let dry.
3. In a well-ventilated area, apply spray-on adhesive (according to manufacturer instructions)  to a section of the painted foam 
4. For a pathway- sprinkle sand vase filler onto the tacky adhesive. Let dry before lightly brushing off excess sand (brush off over a large sheet of paper, so the excess sand can be reused)
5. Apply spray-on adhesive to the same section, according to manufacturer's instructions and sprinkle on ground coffee or potting soil in the sparse spots. Let dry and brush off excess.
6. Using hot glue, glue small pebbles to the edges of the section. (group 3-4 pebbles for rockier terrain)
7. Using white glue, add additional coffee, sand, or soil to any sparse spots

Purchased Cobblestone Brick Paths

Another option for walkways is to purchase premade cobblestone or brick paths. They can be purchased for $6-$15 per roll depending upon brand and place of purchase.

I found that these can be difficult to work with and they didn't have the right look for my village. Their original package has them rolled up so they didn't want to lay flat when I added them to my village and I had to use small stones to hold down the edges of the path.

DIY Cobblestone Path

You can carve a cobblestone pattern into foam and then paint it to look like cobblestone. It looks really neat but does take some artistic talent to make it actually look like cobblestone. 

The basic concept is: 

1. Roughen up the foam using a jagged rock or the edge of a tool to create an uneven surface 
2. Indent the foam into the shape of cobblestones. You can purchase a cobblestone rolling pin, but you can also use a hot knife, pencil, or screwdriver to indent the shape of cobblestone.
3. Paint cobblestones using brown & grey acrylic paint
4.  Use watered down brown acrylic paint to wet paint the stones and grout 

See the attached video found on Youtube on how to do these.