Shop, Style, Shine: The Beginners Guide to Department 56 Villages
If Halloween is your season for twinkling lights, cosy nights and a touch of magical mischief, an illuminated village is the perfect way to bring it all to life at home. At Enesco UK, we are proud to offer beloved, beautifully detailed Department 56 villages — including Disney Pumpkintown and Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas villages. Two stunning collections that let you build a miniature world filled with character, colour, and a comforting glow.
Whether you are new to collecting, or you’re expanding a village you’ve curated over years, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know. We’ll share simple but effective styling ideas for small spaces, tips for building out a larger display, practical set-up advice, and creative ways to blend the playful charm of Pumpkintown with the gothic whimsy of Halloween Town.
What is an illuminated village?
An illuminated village is a curated scene featuring light-up buildings, figurines, trees, pathways, and accessories. Each piece in our village collections is hand-painted and designed to tell a story. You choose a theme (or mix themes), arrange your pieces to create a narrative, and use lighting, height, and texture to bring it all together. As a result, your home gets a magical focal point that delights guests and becomes a tradition you look forward to enhancing each year. 
Why choose Department 56 villages for Halloween?
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Quality you can count on: Department 56 designs are hand-crafted with rich paint finishes and thoughtful flourishes, often including lit windows, lanterns, and signs. Many pieces are engineered for easy set-up and safe indoor use.
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Buildable collections: Start with one or two light-up buildings and a figurine and add a new piece when you can. Your village becomes a living story you can re-tell in fresh ways every October.
Picking your Halloween village theme
Before you begin, think about the tone you want:
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Playful and pumpkin-bright: Choose Disney Pumpkintown for a friendly, family-first look. Think pumpkin-shaped houses, candy-colour accents and Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse in their Halloween best.
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Gothic and cinematic: The Nightmare Before Christmas range delivers an atmospheric, slightly spooky aesthetic. Expect crooked rooftops, swirling ironwork and Jack, Sally and Zero setting the mood.
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Best of both: Mix and match. Pair Pumpkintown’s cheerful glow with a shadowy corner of Halloween Town. The contrast is irresistible — and remarkably cohesive when you unify them with lighting and a consistent base.
A quick checklist before you start.
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Space: Mantel, console table, bookshelf, windowsill, coffee table, or a dedicated sideboard.
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Power: A nearby plug socket for adapters or battery boxes. Consider where cables will be hidden.
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Base: A runner, tray, or board to protect furniture and unify the scene.
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Height: Risers for dimension — think books, display risers, stacked boxes, or foam under a cloth.
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Lighting: Village lights plus optional fairy lights, tea lights (LED), or spotlights.
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Accessories: Trees, fences, mini pumpkins, fabric for ground, faux moss, and signage.
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Time: Decide if you’re creating a quick 10-minute scene or spending a cosy afternoon styling.
Want some ideas?
Pumpkintown is pure Halloween joy. Expect pumpkin-inspired houses and shops with glowing windows. Add themed accessories such as lampposts, pumpkin patches, and trick-or-treater figurines. Crafted with bold, cheerful colours — orange, black, white and candy brights — that pop in low light.
Our idea for building a Pumpkintown vignette would be to centre one signature lighted building like the Pumpkintown Carving Studio, on a short riser, then frame it with two lampposts and a handful of mini pumpkins. After that, add Mickey, Minnie, or friends in costume as figurines on a path leading to the door. Our favourites include Donald and Pluto’s Tussle and Mickey and Minnie’s Costume Fun.
The Nightmare Before Christmas town collection leans into mood and cinematic detail with crooked buildings, skeletal fences, spooky streetlamps, and characterful façades. Figurines of Jack Skellington, Sally, Zero and other favourites are perfect to stage iconic moments.
To make a Nightmare Before Christmas scene, use a dark base—black felt or charcoal fabric—over risers for hilly terrain. Then position a main building off-centre, like the Harlequin House, and add a narrow winding path of grey gravel. Place Jack and Sally in the foreground, with Zero leading the eye toward the door and finally add sparse twig trees and a subtle spotlight to deepen shadows. We even have an Oogie Boogie if you want to bring a villainous edge to your display.
Unsure of where to place your new village?
We have a few ideas that work with any space:
The Mantel Mini
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Pieces: 1 lighted building, 1–2 figurines, 2 trees, and a string of micro-LED lights.
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How: Lay a narrow black or orange runner across the mantel. Place your lighted building slightly off-centre. Flank with two trees. Weave the micro-LEDs around the base, tucking the battery pack behind a photo frame. Add one figurine to the left, one to the right. Done in 10 minutes.
The Bookshelf Box
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Pieces: 1 small lit piece or accessory, 1 figurine, faux cobweb, and a paper moon.
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How: Clear one shelf cube. Drape a thin layer of faux cobweb across the back. Place your piece slightly forward, then tape a paper moon to the back wall. Add a figurine and three mini pumpkins. Closed, contained, and safe from wagging tails.
The Coffee Table Tray
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Pieces: 1 medium building, 1 figurine, 1–2 lampposts, moss or felt, and a sign.
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How: Line a tray with black felt. Add a low riser in the back-left corner and place your lit building there. Put the figurine on the 'front path.' Add a small signpost or lamppost and scatter a pinch of moss. Because it’s on a tray, you can lift and move it easily.
The Window Glow
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Pieces: 1 lighted building, fairy lights, paper bats.
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How: Place your building on the sill with fairy lights framing the window. Stick black paper bats on the glass leading up from the village to the moon. Magic from inside and out.
Lucky enough to be able to have a larger display? Our tips and tricks below will help you create an eye-catching and exciting scene that is sure to get people talking.
If you have a sideboard, bay window or a dedicated table, here is a step-by-step approach that keeps things neat, safe, and eye-catching.
1. Map your story.
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Decide the narrative: 'Trick-or-treating through Pumpkintown,' 'A stroll through Halloween Town,' or a crossover where the two worlds share a border.
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Sketch a simple plan with one to three focal points.
2. Build your base
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Protect your surface with a cloth or runner.
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Add risers to create hills and steps. Foam blocks stacked books or purpose-made risers all work. Cover with fabric, felt, moss or paper to hide edges.
3. Place your focal buildings
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Set your largest or most detailed buildings first, slightly off-centre for a natural look.
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Angle façades toward the viewer so windows and doors are visible.
4. Create paths and gathering places
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Use gravel, sand, cork crumbs, felt strips or ribbon to mark paths.
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Leave open 'plazas' where characters gather — great spots for figurines.
5. Add supporting characters and accessories
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Place figurines along the paths or near doorways.
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Add lampposts, fences, pumpkins, benches, and trees to frame scenes without cluttering them.
6. Layer lighting
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Plug in and test each building as you place it. Tuck cords behind risers or under fabric.
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Add a string of micro-LEDs along paths or in trees. If mixing cool white and warm white, use one temperature per zone.
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Consider a small spotlight to highlight your main building and add depth.
7. Finish with atmosphere
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Insert a few paper bats on the wall behind, place a moon cut-out, or lean a framed Halloween print behind the scenes.
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Complement the colour theme with repeated accents: three pops of orange for Pumpkintown; three silver/charcoal moments for Halloween Town.
8. Stand back and edit
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Check cable visibility from different angles and secure anything wobbly with museum putty and if needed, remove an item or two to create breathing room.
Want to get the whole family involved and crafting?
Why not hand-make some of the backgrounds and accessories? Spend a couple of hours or even an afternoon making paper moons and bats, painting mini “Pumpkintown” or “Halloween Town” signs or by cutting up some felt and making your own home-made paths. To make your scenes even more immersive, why not hide a small speaker so you can play your own spooky soundtrack!
1. Centre bridge: Create a path from grey felt strips sprinkled with a bit of gravel. Add a signpost or mini arch to show the 'border'.
2. Finishing touches: Paper bats rise from left to right, ending near a paper moon in the top-right corner. Place three mini pumpkins near the bridge to unify both sides.
3. Cable tidy: Run cords down the back and secure with soft ties. Label adapters.
4. Test, dim the room lights, and enjoy.
To make it even more fun and part of your new holiday tradition, why not hide favourite characters? Play 'I Spy'? Or decorate with their favourite trick or treats?
Inspired to create your own village display? Explore our latest Department 56 illuminated villages, including Disney Pumpkintown and Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. You will find detailed product descriptions, measurements, and compatible accessories, plus new releases, and limited editions. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about fresh arrivals, restocks and seasonal styling ideas.
Top tip: If you love a particular character or building, don’t wait — popular pieces often sell out before Halloween. Starting early also gives you time to plan your layout and accessories.
We cannot wait to see what you create with Disney Pumpkintown, The Nightmare Before Christmas and the wider world of Department 56. If you share your display on social, tag us (enescogiftuk) so we can be inspired by your imagination — and happy haunting!