The Gress House Holiday Light Spectacular

08/22/2025

Today’s before and after touch ups! 🐧

These penguins have been driving me crazy for YEARS! The orange had faded terribly (and unevenly!) and I simply couldn’t display them one more year like this.

It also always drove me crazy that the one penguin didn’t have his face painted, something that I never noticed when I bought it nearly 15/20 years ago… Today, I corrected that by adding the black to the sides of his face.

Trying to refurbish as many pieces as I can before Christmas! Santa’s Workshop is open for business!

08/21/2025

A quick little refresh project…Tweety was faded to almost white. A quick spray and he’s good as new! Now I want to hunt for a large birdcage!

08/15/2025

It’s still Summer…but my mind is HERE! ☀️😎🎄🎅🏻

64 likes, 3 comments. “It’s still Summer but my brain wants Christmas…who’s with me?!”

08/14/2025

Today’s blow mold score! Beyond THRILLED to add more of the General Foam light bulbs to our display and of course, you can never have enough lollipops or candy canes! The cute little snowman will get a paint refresh soon in some fun colors! Stay tuned!

07/24/2025

Before and after paint stripping! The blow mold restorations continue with the Clauses! 🎅🏻🤶🏻

It truly took FOREVER to remove all of the old craft paint that previous owners used. Days of scrubbing, multiple Mr. Clean sponges, and sore hands…but they’re done! 🤣

Now the FUN part…PAINTING! (And no, I will NOT be using craft paint 😡🤣👏🏻)

Who can guess Mr. and Mrs. C’s new looks?! I wanted to do something a little non-traditional… 💚❤️ Drop your guesses below! 👇🏻

07/20/2025

Working on some restoration projects to bring some of these classic blow molds back to life! Let’s face it…too many faded pieces in a display doesn’t look spectacular.

Krylon Fusion, electrical tape, and Crayola Model Magic clay have been my best friends haha.

This piece was trial and error. I chose to start with this bear because it was in rough shape and I have so many of them (heaven forbid I really messed up 🤣) I now know some tips and tricks for other pieces that need to be redone!

While he’s not perfect, he sure looks much better than he did! I bought the color for around his nose…but I am a little too scared to try that! Haha.

Let me know what you think! Let’s see…I have about 7 more bears and 22 peppermints to do 🤣

07/14/2025

Some of our recent blow mold finds! 🎅🏻🎄⛄️

A special shout out to a fellow Beacher who was moving and donated the large snowman to us! One I did not have in my collection! ⛄️⛄️ In absolute mint condition! THANK YOU!

We also went to the blow mold auction this weekend and found some incredible pieces! Crossed the “Babushka” snow lady off my wishlist as well as two more European blow molds. ⛄️🎅🏻 Paid up for those pieces, but it was certainly worth it! 😍

My wonderful aunt got me two more Santa teddies that need some TLC…We will be able to add even more helper names out in our yard this season!

07/11/2025

Another patriotic repaint done inspired by a few I have seen refinished ❤️🇺🇸💙

This one was a fun challenge, for sure! I purchased this bear that was on his last leg…Pretty cracked and beat up, I figured it would be a good project piece to try out. I’m happy with the end result and while he is not perfect, I think he has a few more seasons left in him! 🐻‍❄️🇺🇸

I have so many repaints and touchups to do before this Christmas and I am having a ball bringing them back to life!

Let me know what you think!

07/05/2025

Happy 4th of July! ❤️🇺🇸💙

07/02/2025

A fun little repaint project just in time for the 4th! 🇺🇸

I’ve always had a few of these snowmen (and they were never my favorite) so when packing this year, I took the one that was most beat up knowing he could become an Uncle Sam snowman. 🇺🇸⛄️

Some paint stripper, elbow grease, and patience and he is red, white, and blue ready! ❤️🤍💙

While he is not perfect, I think he came out pretty good! I included some pictures to show how the repaint process is done (at least for me!) 🎨

I have a few others waiting to get the patriotic treatment, including a penguin, polar bear, and some nutcrackers. What should come next?!

This snowman has joined his friends outside for the 4th! 🇺🇸⛄️🇺🇸

07/02/2025

Happy July! Some nighttime shots of our patriotic display…enjoy! ❤️🇺🇸💙

06/29/2025

Hitting some of the new Fourth of July blow molds with some “sun block” during this heat wave! A little clear coat to protect the patriotic colors during the summer months…Working on some finishing touches on our July 4th display today and will be lit later this evening! ❤️🇺🇸💙