As Tina Conley and her daughter, Kasey, paint the bodies of two wooden reindeer, husband David looks on with a great amount of pride. These two pieces will finish the last of the season's decorations.

The reindeer will be hung from a pine tree near the garage overlooking a yard filled with other creations that took just as much time. These wooden ornaments were each handcrafted by the Conley family.

When David Conley decided to decorate his house eight years ago, he never expected to make his own decorations.

"We decided we wanted to decorate so we bought some plastic ornaments. This is the first year totally away from plastic," said David.

The ornaments are crafted out of wood and hand painted. Various scenes portray a nativity, a snowman family, a group of toy soldiers and a large snowman made of garland. The newest addition to the decorations is Santa's Toyland of elves building this year's Christmas gifts.

A large star made of white lights can be seen from a distance, and a reindeer catching Santa as he falls off the roof is noticeable at the edge of the house. The wooden ornaments show great color and detail that bring each scene to life.

The Conleys began adding on to their decorations every year a little at a time. "I just wanted to decorate and it got into my system," said Conley.

The family, who lives at 2747 E. CR 225S, Warsaw, purchases patterns for the ornaments from the Winfield Collection in Michigan. "We use patterns or we design our own. Sometimes we make our own modifications to the patterns," he said.

Conley actually begins to work on each year's decorations the year before. The only time he doesn't work on the projects is during the summer, when he enjoys other interests, like boating.

Conley said it depends on each ornament for how much time is spent on it. "The big ones are easier, but the little ones get tedious," he said.

Ornaments such as the nativity pieces may take Conley only one hour to cut and paint, but large items like the toy soldiers take longer. "Some ornaments are made of more than one piece. I have to glue different items on to them. The soldiers probably took about four hours each," he said.

Conley uses a variety of tools to cut the pieces. For smaller ornaments, a scroll saw is used and a jigsaw is used on the large pieces. Conley draws the pattern onto the wood and then cuts out the ornament in about 45 minutes.

Conley's wife, Tina, and daughter, Kasey, also help with the projects. "Tina has an artistic ability. She freehands the design of the ornament onto the wood," explained David. Kasey helps paint the ornaments.

Most of the ornaments are painted with two coats of paint. No clear coating is used so they can fix the pieces if they are damaged.

While you may see some of Conley's ornaments around Warsaw, this isn't a full-time job. "I thought about going into business, but I don't want to ruin a good thing. It would become work instead of fun," he said.

You can definitely see the Conleys' house from afar, but other houses along the street are also decorated with lights and ornaments. "I think our decorations influence the neighbors to decorate," said Tina. "Most of them enjoy the decorations and we don't get any complaints."

The Conleys plan on keeping the decorations up until after Jan. 1. "I'll be honest - it's my biggest pleasure when people drive by to see the decorations," said David. [[In-content Ad]]