Holiday Magic In Overdrive

Sometimes this crafter needs to take a break & enjoy the magic of the holidays.  One of my favorite ways to do that this time of year is hit up this place: Bronners Christmas Wonderland.  Here in Michigan there's a town called Frankenmuth which is a "little Bavaria" themed town.  Everything is kitchy fun all year round.  German food, lederhosen, traditional music-the works.  At this time of year we only go to Bronners.  It's the world's largest Christmas store.  And they aren't kidding.

Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, this place is a must see.  And it's MASSIVE.  They have tour groups.  And a restaurant.  Even as an adult, it's awe-inspiring with just how much there is:

And that's just a small section.  Seriously, you could spend days in here.  It's a sort of crafter's inspiration paradise & holiday theme park rolled into one.

A small selection of their fruit ornaments:

The veggie section was even bigger.  This is my 5 yr old's favorite kind of broccoli.  An ornament:

Tropical fish:

There are also ornaments for fans of dinosaurs, doughnuts, balloon animals, aliens, booze (yeah I said booze), you name it, they pretty much have it.  They even have Star Trek & Elvis lights.  Surprisingly the one thing they didn't have was Star Wars (of course I looked).  But if you want ornaments the size of dinner plates or a life size nativity, complete with camel, for your front yard this is the place to go.

And where else could you see Santa riding in a UFO?

Or look through a ginormous telescope?

They put any "I've got the most decorations" neighbors to shame:

You can see the scale here in the lobby - my little elf babe is on the right.  If you use your magnifying glass you'll find her.  It's fun for the whole family to just look around, but of course we had to buy a few specialty ornaments: a dinosaur, an octopus, an eggplant, a morel mushroom and a traditional Christmas pickle.   Now we're officially ready for the holidays.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful, festive season no matter what you celebrate this time of year.  And for those of you celebrating the next few days, Merry Christmas!!