‘It’s to make other people smile’: Spokane Valley couple’s retro ‘blow mold’ collection unites at Christmas

Janet Betts’ friend had come over for a visit, but she was out of sorts.

Then she stepped out the back door.

“She goes, ‘I walked into the yard, and I went, why am I grumpy? I love being out here,’ ” Betts recalled.

That isn’t necessarily what got Betts and her husband, Steve, to start collecting hundreds of “blow molds,” those hollow, illuminated plastic holiday decorations that hearken to the retro Christmases of the mid-20th century. But it’s what keeps them decorating their Spokane Valley yard with them faithfully from the start of the Advent season Dec. 1 through the night of epiphany Jan. 6.

“It’s to make other people smile. I mean, it makes us smile when we see other people smile, their reactions,” Janet said. “If it can brighten somebody’s face, we’re lucky.”

It all began decades ago with a Santa and just two candles – Betts had acquired her first blow molds.

“We started out piecemeal, like everybody does,” she said.

But there was something about the whimsical yard accessories that stayed with her, so she and Steve began ramping up their collection about 25 years ago.

“We started buying more and more and more – and then more,” Janet said with a laugh.

While devotees like the Bettses have been at it for decades, the quirky holiday decorations have seen a resurgence in popularity in recent years. They’re made by blowing compressed air into a mold full of liquid plastic using the same process Wiffle balls and some plastic bottles are formed, according to the USA TODAY Network.

The Bettses don’t know how many blow molds they have; it’s become too hard to keep track, as one counting challenge among the couple’s kids proved with its varying results. After a tentative tally one year came to 567, Janet estimates they have at least 900 now.

“It’s gray, it’s foggy, and we’ve got an inversion layer, but there’s still color everywhere,” she said of the collection.

Each night, that color might come on or off at different times – often depending on how good that day’s TV schedule is. It’s the unpredictable nature of something Steve does manually every night for over a month, rather than trying to rely on timers (something he found didn’t work well).

He works tirelessly for some eight weeks starting in October to get the collection ready by the first of December, usually for four to five hours a day, Janet said. Steve drags each of the hundreds of characters to their spots, wires them for lighting and stakes them down – then rearranges when something inevitably just doesn’t fit.

“I set this all up for her” and the kids and grandkids, Steve said as he showcased the couple’s massive spread of glowing characters that stretches back and across an acre along East Trent Avenue.

There are Santas, of course, and their doting Mrs. Clauses. A gingerbread village (one of Steve’s favorites). Grinches. A formidable drumline of toy soldiers, and plenty of nativities (among Janet’s favorite displays). Then there are the candles – so many candles, as one of the most iconic blow -mold silhouettes.

“There’s a little bit of everything out there,” Steve said.

While it’s mostly a labor of love, Steve has fun with the creative side, too.

In one spot, he’s strategically placed a nearly life-sized nativity set under a worn wooden pergola, where a heavenly host of angels hangs from the wooden planks as though floating in the sky above the holy family. Across the lawn, a choir of children sits ingeniously perched atop “risers” like the kind used in any concert hall, though the real thing wouldn’t be made of discreetly covered milk crates and rebar.

Over in the gingerbread village, a meandering row of illuminated gum drops – among the only non-blow molds in the sprawling yard – adds color and cohesion to the playful candy theme.

“These are gorgeous; I’ve got to put these out,” Steve thought when one of their children gifted them the oversized sweets.

Then there’s the repurposed kiddie slide, which serves as a prop for a particularly adventurous snowman and wife perched at the top.

Janet has mobility issues, so she hasn’t been able to have the full blow -mold experience this season. She makes sure to go to the window and take it all in as best she can.

“It’s like, I can just stand there in awe and look at everything,” she said.

And she’s not the only one.

After all, the drive down Trent this time of year only offers a small peak at the couple’s expansive collection, so many people often seem to wonder: What’s behind the fence?

“What’s behind the fence is awe-inspiring,” Janet said.

Earlier this season, a woman and her boyfriend stopped by to peer at the nostalgic winter wonderland.

“If I ever get proposed to, this is where I want it to happen,” she told him.

One year, the Bettses came home to find a woman who didn’t speak much English and her young son admiring the glimmering collection from their fence. The couple invited them in and, while hesitant at first, they eventually witnessed it up close.

It showed them the collection’s power to bring people together.

“The first thing the little boy did was run over to give one of the blow molds a big hug,” Janet said. “And it’s like, that’s what Christmas is.”