[Freebuild] Embervale Advent Calendar 2025 - Winter Village

[zoth33]

Great idea for the puppet show.  That red dragon piece from the D&D CMF is so useful.  The scene looks great.  And as usual the minifigs look fantastic.  

[Aurore]

@zoth33 Thank you so much! I've been willing to build a puppet theatre ever since I stumbled upon the Eowyn microfig...

[Aurore]

Day 22. Market square - part II

Alrune - “This corner of the square always smells faintly of cinnamon and cloves this time of year.”
Dresghar - “A conspiracy by the bakers to make us all sentimental. Resistance is futile, darling!”

Spoiler

 

[Aurore]

Day 23. Choir of villagers

Dresghar - “Nothing says ‘Solstice spirit’ quite like a choir of villagers singing heartily in the freezing cold.”
Alrune - “Indeed. The only thing more piercing than the winter wind is their enthusiasm for the high notes.”

Spoiler

 

[GeoBrick]

Except for the character's outfits, we may have witnessed the most coloured contribution to this year's Advent build in the form of the puppet show. 
I never thought of using a 1x1 quarter tile with that cone (29175) piece on the same level. Always reckoned this needed to be a stud apart from other pieces.

[Aurore]

@GeoBrick Thank you so much! The puppet theatre is already ready for Carnival in a few months...
 

[Aurore]

Day 24. Gingerbread village

Alrune - "This rendition of my little town misses a properly ominous aura."
Evrart - "Admit it, my Lady: you love it that way!"

 

And so finishes this year's Advent Calendar!
It has been such a pleasure to share it with you all - thank you so much for your comments and feedback. I wish you all a beautiful Christmas and end of year festivities!

[N-4K0]

Thank you Aurore for another December with a fun advent calendar to follow  

Merry Xmas!

[Kai NRG]

I love the little puppet theater!  Really nice use of those prefab purple cone parts, and whatever that tree-printing behind is, that looks great too.  Really fills out the third scene well.  And then such good combinations on the carolers, and the miniature city is the perfect way to crown it all, adorable little houses and castle!  Thanks for adding a little more cheer to the season, I've thoroughly enjoyed following along!

[Yperio_Bricks]

What a beautiful advent calendar - so many detailed builds and magnificent minifigures  If I have to pick an favorite, it has to be the scene with the potion peddler and puppeteer. But I love all the scenes. So good! Thank you for having us as guests on this wonderful journey @Aurore!

 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Yperio_Bricks

[Grover]

Gorgeous!  I always love seeing your advent calendars.  They are a great way for me to slow down a bit and enjoy the season, so thank you for that magic!  As usual, your minifig coombos are spectacular. I think your eye for color is unmatched.  I have a lot of torsos etc. but would never think to combine them like you do.  And the scenes are fantastic. You do a great job angling the builds in such a way that they look organic, and your detail is amazing particularly on such a small build.

I am curious, how do you build these? Do you plan the whole thing out with sketches first, or start with an idea like the choir, then invent around it to build the whole scene?   The dock feels very cohesive like you designed it together, for instance, but maybe it was separate ideas?  I always love seeing how people design things.

Thank you so much again for such a wonderful build and what has become a beautiful tradition here!

[Seagull King of Vaughan]

I was too busy to comment on the builds daily, but my favourites were 1, 2, 6, and 16. Love the minifigures as well, every one.

My favourite finished build would have to be the pier. It’s inspired me to revive my own dock build that I dropped due to other work.

Thank you again for this advent project!

[Khorne]

Another series of beautiful builds! It's so fun to follow along each year. Too bad they don't all fit together like in previous editions, but each build is just great by itself. The combinations on the figures are all top notch! I also really like how you did the potion salesman's cart and the usage of the microfigures as puppets for the puppetmaster.

[The Stad]

Another year, another fantastic Advent Calendar from @Aurore!  Like so many others, I look forward to this all year long, and you never fail to impress.  Your minifig combos are always great, but I really appreciate how detailed and imaginative all of your little builds are, and the running commentary from Alrune, Dresghar, and Evrart adds so much crucial flavor.  I hope we get to someday see why Alrune's cursed compass is pointing at her castle!

[mrcp6d]

Another fantastic series @Aurore!  Stellar minifig combos and clean builds once again!  Love all your outdoor structures and carts in this year's effort in particular.  Lots of good ideas to take inspiration from!

[T-86(swebrickLUG)]

Thanks @Aurore for putting on an awesome show with the calender! Some really sweet minifigs and a great cohesiveness to everything. My favourite part was the potion peddler! Take care!

[Aurore]

@N-4K0, @Kai NRG, @Yperio_Bricks, @Grover, @Seagull King of Vaughan, @Khorne, @The Stad, @mrcp6d & @T-86(swebrickLUG) - Thank you so much to all for the great feedback! 

@Grover Indeed, I initially built the dock scene as a small, unqiue vignette. For each of the other scenes, I had one main idea (resp. the tavern stall, the puppet theatre and the gingerbread village) and then expanded the vignette around it.

[LordDan]

Lovely series of builds, it's always great to see your tradition continue each year! The small buildings and carts really stand out in how detailed and intricate they are, I especially like how well the barrels fit in the mulled cider stand, and the tavern courtyard scene in general is excellent!

[Grover]

On 1/13/2026 at 10:44 AM, Aurore said:

Indeed, I initially built the dock scene as a small, unqiue vignette. For each of the other scenes, I had one main idea (resp. the tavern stall, the puppet theatre and the gingerbread village) and then expanded the vignette around it.

Thank you!  It's always fascinating to see how others think about their builds and what inspires them.