BELLVILLE — The soft and colorful glow of Christmas decorations have brought light and cheer to many neighborhoods this holiday season.
Strings of twinkling lights hang from trees and the occasional reindeer display dawns front lawns. However, some families have gotten even more creative with their displays.
On Huron Street, off of Main Street in Bellville, the Roberts family has transformed their modest blue house into “The Frozen House,” inspired by the popular 2013 Disney film.
The house catches your attention immediately, bright white lights sparkle in the bushes and line the exterior of the home. A seven-foot-tall plywood cutout of Sven, the friendly reindeer, sits on one side of the yard. Lights decorate his antlers and illuminate his goofy smile.
Near the front door, a cutout of everyone’s favorite snowman, Olaf, waves to cars passing by. Anna and Elsa are there too, mid-pose, their dresses intricately painted and decorated with glowing bulbs.
Each of the figures was drawn, cut-out and hand painted by Lindsay Roberts.
“It started out small,” Roberts says.
When the movie first came out four years ago, she made Olaf. Her two sons, Blaze, 7, and Ledger, 3, are big fans of the movie. Thrilled by the snowman their mom made, they started asking for more characters. Elsa joined the décor the following year. And this year, Roberts went all out by adding three new characters.
Roberts says some nights she’d be up until 1 a.m. sitting on her living room floor and painting — carefully making sure each color and detail was perfect.
In some ways, Roberts says working on the decorations was therapeutic, a welcome distraction from the everyday stresses of life. By day, Roberts works at the Mansfield Veterans Association and is working on getting her master’s degree in social work.
She has always been artistic and is always brainstorming new projects.
Now that the production is done (for this year at least), Roberts sits in the living room and watches as cars slow when they drive by. Occasionally one will stop and a child or family will run up and pose for a photo with their favorite character before dashing back to their warm cars.
It reminds of her of her own childhood, growing up in Bellville she and her family would pay visits to a house known as “Berry Land,” where massive mobile decorations took up the yard. Sparkly snowflakes, a moving Ferris wheel, the decorations she remembers were larger than life.
“There’s nothing quite like that anymore,” Roberts says and hopes that her Frozen House will help bring some of the holiday magic back to the community.
It seems that her goal is working, as the Frozen House has gained some recognition in the community. The display recently won a local Christmas lights contest.
“I didn’t even know Bellville was having a contest, I didn’t enter until the day it was due after the mayor personally messaged me, encouraging me to enter,” Roberts says.
But it doesn’t end there. After driving around with their moms looking at the lights in other neighborhoods, Roberts’ sons have lots of ideas.
Blaze Roberts dreams of Christmas lights that flicker and dance to music—songs from Frozen, of course. As for what characters will join the show next the family isn’t sure. However, with the release of Frozen 2 in 2019, they may have some new favorites. Or perhaps, the house will take on a new theme in the future.
“I’d love to do Star Wars … but my kids don’t like it. They’re too young I guess,” Roberts chuckles.
But it seems clear the Christmas decorations on Huron Street are becoming a family tradition. Even Roberts’ parents, who live down the road, got involved with helping install the characters.
Another house on Huron Street has giant plywood snowflakes in the yard, a recognizable Roberts creation. This project has helped her start making and selling more custom woodworking crafts. She uses the money to help pay for graduate school.
Roberts plans to leave the display up until New Year’s Day and encourages people to drive by or even pull over for a moment and get a picture. She and her family love seeing people enjoy the display and share in the wintery, holiday cheer.
“It’s a lot cheaper and closer than Disney World,” Roberts jokes.
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