Handmade Christmas decorations light up Carol Stream home

It started the year after his first daughter's birth, and at the time his wife thought it was a nice personal touch to the Christmas decorations. Now, 16 years later, come December the garage turns into a workshop and parades of families stream past the Rettberg home in Carol Stream to enjoy the winter wonderland.

Every year for the past 16, Paul Rettberg Jr. gets his Christmas spirit on and creates scenes of different characters, which his children Kayley, 16, and Ryan, 6, decide on. Starting with blank sheets of plywood, the Christmas stands are created by treating the wood, drawing the characters, cutting the characters, and treating them to endure the oftentimes harsh winter weather prior to mounting them in his (and his neighbor's) yards.

Though not an artist by trade, Paul says he has always enjoyed drawing and painting, and the Christmas stands provide him an annual excuse to put his artistic skills to the test.

What started as a simple scene of Frosty the Snowman in 1999 has now become a virtual wonderland of characters (over 30) celebrating the joy of Christmas.