The red bows on the green firs outside Elissa Aiken's split-level home give passers-by only a hint of the Christmas wonderland inside.

Aiken, 72, of Weldon Spring, has always loved Christmas. She grew up in north-central Louisiana, in the small town of Natchitoches. A Christmas festival there every year includes a fireworks display over the Cane River Lake. Residents wrap the magnolia trees with lights, and there's a parade.

Aiken used to march in the parade, playing the alto saxophone in the high school band.

Aiken must have had Natchitoches in mind when she built her Christmas village because it has plenty of small town charm. In fact, it has plenty of everything. The 500-plus trees, 110 lighted homes, two rivers, one waterfall and bay take up most of her 10-foot-by-20-foot den.

"I had to move a lot of furniture out," she said.

Her ex-husband started the display about 15 years ago. It was small — six houses and a train positioned on top of a hot tub in the sun room.

As the years passed, Aiken added more homes and new features, often at the suggestion of a family member. Someone said the village should have a fire station, so Aiken bought one and put 'smoke" on one of the village houses so the firefighters could keep busy.

"Then my son said, 'Mom, you really don't have enough industry; I think you should have a mine,' " Aiken said. "I said, 'What kind of a mine? And he said, 'Well, a coal mine.' And I said 'That's too dirty.' "

They eventually agreed on a diamond mine. Aiken added the seven dwarfs to work it.

Her grandson loves dinosaurs, so Aiken put in a dinosaur museum and positioned dinosaurs — as well as a few aliens — around the village for young visitors to find.

A friend who went to Disney World came back with Cinderella's castle, so Aiken found a special place for it and handmade a carriage to go with it.

Her village includes a Budweiser brewery with a dock where the beer can be loaded onto a large cargo ship in the bay.

Plans for next year include another level of homes and maybe a ski slope.

Aiken is a retired math teacher, who spent more than half of her 43-year career in the Parkway School District. While she was teaching, she decorated her entire classroom, not just the bulletin board, and wore special Christmas and Hanukkah outfits to school leading up to the holidays.

Now her whole house is decorated. Wreaths are on every interior door, and bows adorn lampshades, mirrors and railings. Her table is set with holiday linens and Christmas china and crystal.

Aiken said she's always liked to sew and crochet and do needle point, but she has no background in construction or electrical work.

Her friend Helen Carpenter said she often wonders how Aiken knows how to do everything the village entails.

"I am amazed because it almost takes an engineering mind," she said.

But Aiken's lack of construction know-how is apparent only when she explains that the village's different levels are made from a fern stand, a credenza, a fireplace mantle, a table and plastic bins.

Once when she went underneath to repair a connection, she got stuck among all the levels and wires. After about 15 minutes and kicking off her shoes, she was able to slide out on her back.

Her son, Kevin Aiken, said he told her that if she's going to continue to make it bigger, they'll have to come up with a better, safer framework.

Aiken's display isn't open to the public, but it has been a regular stop for many of her friends and relatives during the holiday season.

Carpenter said her five grandchildren, who live in Kentucky, always ask to stop by.

"She gave the children binoculars so they could look into the houses in the top row in the far corner," Carpenter said. "They must have asked 20 questions, and of course, being a teacher, she answered all of them very thoroughly."

Aiken said while she enjoys other people's reaction to the village, her favorite time is sitting in the den while the snow is falling outside, with only the lights from the display. The village takes her about six weeks to set up and about a week to take down. She's never considered leaving it up year-round, but it usually lasts well into the New Year.

"By February, I'm ready to get back to normal," she said. "I've got furniture in the laundry room, in the garage and the computer room. I'm ready to clean up."