A Christmas-obsessed mum who made headlines last year with her real-life gingerbread house has opened a festive ‘selfie land’ – after cars of people queued down the street to see her displays.
Mum-of-two, Carmen Croxall, 36, went viral after transforming her rented home in Devon into a sweet-filled paradise.
But this year, she has vowed to go even bigger and better – opening her own decorative warehouse, ‘Christmas SelfieLand’, teeming with festive props and decor.
The impressive display features a snowy ‘Narnia’ enchanted forest, a ‘toy town’ filled with giant nutcrackers, a towering Christmas tree made out of toys, a North Pole post office, and more.
The festive photo-op spot cost Carmen £25,000 and took her and her team of 40 people, 14 weeks to create.
Her inspiration? The roaring success of her home display last Christmas.
“People used my house to take photos so much last year – at one point there were six cars queued up outside with their windows down and phones out,” Carmen, who runs prop-making company The Prop Factory, told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“As so many people came to visit it last year, I was inspired to build a Christmas SelfieLand at my warehouse down the road [with] 20 Christmas-themed photo opportunities.
“I felt like there was a massive demand for it!”
The warehouse, in Exeter, is open leading up to the holidays and consists of largely all recycled materials, and features 20 ‘selfie stations’ spread across two floors.
Highlights include the Chocolate Factory Gates, Giant Gingerbread House recreation, Candy Corner, a ‘Gonk Gathering’, and a ‘make believe machine’ made up of recycled industrial scrap materials.
Last year, Carmen’s home décor made headlines, though it proved to be divisive, with some people criticising the elaborate display.
Carmen, who is mum to four-year-old Arlo and a teenage son, said: “My neighbour’s landlord – not even mine – drove past when I was up a ladder and shouted at me saying he didn’t like it and he owned the house next door.
“Other than that, so many people loved it.
“Of course, there were negative comments online, including one saying I’d ruined the house.
“As it is rented, people on TikTok said I was disrespectful to my landlord, but I did ask his permission and he saw it in person when he came to do the annual gas safety check.”
On TikTok, a video of her sharing the transformation of her home into a gingerbread house went viral, garnering nearly 600,000 views and 69,000 likes, as well as hundreds of comments from fans.
But despite the overwhelming support, the mum has opted to keep the outlandish décor limited to her warehouse this time around.
She added: “[Last year] it was time that was the biggest cost!
“In terms of materials, it cost around £600.
“About 70% was made of recycled materials and any new materials I’ll be using again in future projects.
“I started it in mid-October and it took two solid weeks from start to finish – which was actually quite quick as I had to make everything including the bricks.
“I have used so much energy this year building SelfieLand that I won’t be decorating my house this year.”
