(FENELON FALLS) Regardless of whether or not the snow is falling outside, it feels like a winter wonderland inside the Gemmel home in Fenelon Falls for about half the year.

"You just mention Christmas and I get goose bumps - I just love Christmas," said an enthusiastic Liz Gemmel.

Not only is her home with her husband, Murray, decorated beautifully, but it also boasts numerous winter villages with about 100 buildings and countless accessories, setting charming little scenes depicting cities from the likes of Dickens-style England to New York and the more traditional North Pole. From the working town clock and moving skaters, to children making snowmen and the welcoming flicker of lights shining through the windows of intricate miniature houses, the detail alone makes one feel like, if they were only small enough, they could enter into the nostalgic world created.

"I just love them, they all tell a little story," Mrs. Gemmel said.

The extensive collection began in the late 80s, said Mrs. Gemmel whose first piece was a department store building and whose favourites are the depictions of horse-drawn carriages. Sometime after her collection started, Mrs. Gemmel said she fell in love with a Great Gatsby, Department 56 set and has largely stuck to that brand ever since. The only piece that Mrs. Gemmel still wants and doesn't have is a ski slope, she said.

When Mrs. Gemmel begins to pull out her collection from the dedicated storage room in the couple's basement every year - before Halloween - she takes her time to enjoy the process of getting her various displays just right, taking about two weeks to complete the task. But all that time isn't wasted on a brief display, the collection will not be put away again until the end of February. Mrs. Gemmel said she is the type of person who sends Christmas cards out before anyone else, not out of a competitive spirit, but because she just can't wait to dive into what is the happiest time of year for her.

As for her husband's take on the extensive collection - which in fairness does include a car-themed display in the kitchen for him - Mr. Gemmel said he stays out of his wife's way for the most part, but admits that he does enjoy it.

He also helps out in his own way.

"I'm the glue-guy," he said with a smile, adding that he has fixed countless pieces when they have been knocked or broken.

Even the couple's daughter Barbara gets in on the action, helping her mom set-up by lending a hand with the decorations in hard-to-reach places.

But it is Mrs. Gemmel's knack for the creative - which includes painting sugar cube fences for her North Pole scene when she couldn't find an appropriate fence line - that drives the process that draws groups like Fenelon Fall's Red Hat Club as well as children from around town. Mrs. Gemmel said she never turns down a chance to show off her collection, but all she asks is that people call ahead and try to bring a donation for the food bank when they come.

"When someone sees it, they always want to bring their friends and I always say anytime."