This early experience didn't deter Ron at all, indeed he decided every home should have a crib and started selling them. Another time Ron decided that he would 'do landscaping' by gathering wood & moss and bark from nearby woods. When he gathered his family around the crib to sing Christmas Carols, the warmth of his sitting-room brought a range of sleeping creepy-crawlies to life. They didn't get far with the carols that year, "Once the wood lice started to move so did the kids".

Rob became ambitious and started to make his own figures. The big problem was always St Joseph, because he's generally standing up, and therefore defines the size of the crib. In one crisis year Ron built the cribs before he'd made the figures, and the result was tragically that Joseph didn't fit in. Parents complained, because whilst they could explain that there was no room at the inn it was difficult to convince children that there was no room in the stable either. Ron had to make new figures, using various little moulds so that his children could help (his wife's condition for allowing use of the kitchen table). He had Bambis and sheepdogs, and a parrot. Whilst he could accept the odd sheepdog, and Bambi at a push, the parrot was a bit of a problem. "The parrot was nearly as big as St Joseph, and however much we tried to hide him he dominated it. They didn't do well that year, the crib sales".