HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-12-22, Page 17•
Second Section
What makes their
miniatures special Is
the attention to detail.
And that's what
fascinates visitors
to their home.
i r
•
Building for Christmas
CENTRALIA - It's a familiar sight during the Christmas
season to find people busy decorating their homes and pre-
paring for holiday visitors. For Pat and Ron Morrison of
Centralia, the decorating and preparing includes eight spe-
cial houses ranging from a log cabin to a 12 -room manor.
It all began eight years ago when Morrison's husband
Ron bought her a model kit of a house as a Christmas
present.
"I had never done one before so it was a real challenge,"
she said.
Since then the pair have added their personal touch to kit
designs of a log cabin, general store, bakery, and five elab-
orate homes.
The biggest house is 53 1/2 inches high and 46 inches
wide. rem s are *o be confused with doll hous-
es.
"A doll houselou pray lTh,.these are collectibles," Mor-
rison Said.
What makes their miniatures special is the attention to
detail. And that's what fascinates visitors to their home.
"It doesn't matter how many times you look at the houses,
you will always find something you didn't see there be-
fore," Morrison said.
The general store forexample, is filled with hundreds of
tiny items such as lanterns, pictures, flour bins, breads and
baked goods. Everything you could image finding in a
real general store including an old fashion post office.
The houses are also filled with hundreds of little pieces
of furniture and accessories such as working music boxes,
flowers and pictures of the Morrison family. Even the
beds have tiny mattresses, pillows and sheets.
They buy a lot of the items from hobby shops across the
province and through specialty catalogues. But they also
make a good portion of the items.
"Before I throw anything away I think of how I could
use it for one of the houses," she said. "There are endless
liassibi iLics of what you carttnake with a piece of gestic
packaging."
Each miniature is constructed by using kit designs al-
though they made one home from a blueprint.
From the designs they build the wood frame then apply
stucco, shingles, windows and doors.
Two of the houses have wood siding and one is made
with pebbles gathered in Grand Bend.
Once the miniature is completed, they begin laying carpet
and wallpaper inside before setting up the furniture.
It is a painstaking process that takes about a year to com-
plete. And it's an expensive hobby.
Each miniature costs well over $1,500. "Everything in
the homes is catalogued and insured," Morrison said.
Building and decorating the homes has become more
than a hobby for the couple. "It's sort of an obsession," she
said.
And although they enjoy building the homes, Morrison
said they get a lot of pleasure watching people react to their
creations.
"I get a kick out of watching the expressions on the kids'
faces," she said.
That's why two years ago they decidedto open -their -
house to visitors during the Christmas season.
"I enjoy sharing our pleasure with others," she said. "It's
my Christmas before Christmas," she said.
Morrison)starts decorating her home and preparing the
miniatures for holiday visitors in early November. Two
rooms have been set aside in the Morrison home for the
displays and more than 75 people have come through so far
on a word of mouth basis.
And it's not just the children who enjoy the displays.
"It's fun to see adults, both men and women, exploring
the miniature homes," Morrison said.
"Someone will spot a little lantem or ice box and it will
bring back a flood of happy memories for them."
Morrison tries to furnish the homes with items that would
be found in that particular period. Through research she
learns what items would be appropriate for each miniature.
People arc so impressed by the homes than they have of-
fered to buy them from her. She has also had offers to dis-
play the miniatures in store windows.
But Morrison said the homes are not for sale. She also
said it would be too difficult to move the homes to differ-
ent window displays. Instead, she and her husband are sav-
ing the miniatures for their grandchildren.
"I will be passing them on to my grandchildren when
they get older," Morrison said.
Right now they are constructing a combination school
and church as well as another house. Both should be com-
pleted late next year. And in the future, Morrison said she
would like to construct an elaborate miniature haunted
house.
"The problem is we're running out of space in
our own home for all the miniatures," Morrison said.
Mon'/son proudly displays one of eight rtliniature homes she has decorated
for the holiday season. For the past two years, Morrison has held an
Open House so visitors can tour the displays.
( Photo and story by Catherine O'Brien, T -A staff