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Michigan teen decorates 3 homes for Christmas every year to bring joy to others

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Posted at 9:08 PM, Dec 14, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-15 11:13:42-05

AJ Vultaggio has that Christmas twinkle in his eye.

His love for the holidays expands each year and eventually turned into quite a commitment.

"November 3, I started putting all the Christmas stuff up, all the lights and everything, and it took me all the way up until that week of Thanksgiving," Vultaggio said.

A decorating mastermind, the 19-year-old started spilling his holiday magic into his neighbor’s yard years ago.

"We saw what he was doing. So we just said, 'you know, it's an open slate if you want to use our property,'" said neighbor Perri Kern.

And then, Vultaggio started decorating another home on the block.

"He is so helpful and thoughtful. I mean, he's like, I could say, almost like a step-grandson. He's always asking me if he can help me do something. He's just an all-around, very nice young man," said neighbor Ed Kern.

Decorating three houses for the holidays has become an annual tradition with each year bringing something new.

"This year I added a 23-piece nativity set, I hand cut out all the pieces," Vultaggio said.

While decorating takes up a lot of his free time, Vultaggio says it's not something he plans to give up anytime soon.

"I love when people come by. That's the main big factor for why I do it. I love seeing the people coming by and just their reactions and everything. It's really nice to see," he said.

His neighbors couldn't be more thrilled with his holiday passion.

"We get really excited with him. It's nice to see him so into something so innocent, you know? I mean, it's just an innocent thing for him, but he's so into it. So he's a genuine kid, you know, it's really great," said Perri.

This story was originally reported by Alexandra Bahou on wxyz.com.