Photos by Daniel Krieger
Hmmm, first I must apologize for the willy nilly placement of these photos and the blocks of text. For some reason Blogger is not letting me place them nice and neatly and is not letting me properly space text (perhaps it is frazzled with holiday stress?)
As so many of you are aware, the major department stores of NYC put together fabulous holiday window displays. These displays are yearly tourist attractions with lines upon lines just to get a view of the displays. Three of the most ornate and popular are those put forth by
Macy's,
Saks, and
Lord & Taylor. The photos depict the
Lord & Taylor magic. My newspaper recently featured an article on the man heading up the
Lord & Taylor windows (what a fun job!). I found it very interesting and thought I would share with you. Article is by Samantha Critchell.
Manoel Renha, a 40ish Brazilian-turned-New Yorker with a slim build and trim dark hair, has more in common with jolly old St. Nick than appearances would suggest.
Renha thinks about the holidays all year long. He works with his own little cadre of elves, helping him make dolls look just right and adding just the right amount of glitter to each decoration. He spends long days and even many nights in a secret workshop.
Renha is the creative director for windows at Lord & Taylor's flagship store in Manhattan. The six over sized windows that face Fifth Avenue, which rise from a basement studio on the nation's only window hydraulic lift system, are Renha's gifts to the city and to all the visitors that come here to capture a little bit of holiday magic.
They never feature merchandise; they always have multiple moving parts. Lord & Taylor has done them for 80 years with Renha providing the creative juice for 21 of them.
The official theme for this year's windows is the five senses. But the windows also transport passers-by to the early part of the 20th century in faraway lands such as Paris, Copenhagen and Denmark.
"I always say my last one was my favorite but this one really is up there," Renha says. Other themes near and dear to him were "The Nutcracker" and fairy tales.
"The fun part is seeing the windows and eavesdropping on the comments. The best comments are from the kids they're so honest!" he says. "I take seriously their comments for the next year."
Renha never set out to be one of Santa Claus' helpers. He studied to be an architect but soon after school he was asked by family friends to work with them to change the image of their department-store chain. "Since then, I've been in retail," he says with a smile.
But when it comes to the holiday windows, Renha doesn't have to worry about pushing the season's "hot items." The process is more organic than that: With a few ideas swirling in his mind, he'll do loose sketches of scenes that he thinks will entertain and delight the crowds. Those produce a concept and, then, technical drawings. "That's where my architect and set designer background come in," he says.
In the summer, Renha does the same sort of inspiration boards that fashion designers use, a haphazard group of magazine clips, photographs, print swatches and color cards that set a mood. He later becomes an expert in the costumes, buildings, fabric, food and colors of the era.
It's a lot of work and expense for a project that doesn't necessarily drive traffic into the store. But Lord & Taylor's senior vice president of advertising, promotion and public relations LaVelle Olexa says the windows are about a bigger picture.
"The world who visits New York City expects fabulous windows. It's something important to the city overall. It would be a big miss not to have them," she says. "People remember coming back with their parents and now coming back with their own children or even grandchildren.
"Of course, she hopes this goodwill will turn into consumer loyalty eventually.
"Maybe they're not shopping today, but they might tomorrow or the day after," Olexa says.
Ultimately about 200 people have a hand in the creation of the windows, but Renha relies mostly on the two dozen in his own department that are there from the brainstorming sessions to the final touches.
"You can't count the yards of fabric we use for the windows. We buy everything in bulk," Renha says showing off bolts of satin and lace and boxes upon boxes of glittery garland and mini faux cranberries. A few boxes of toymaker Breyer's realistic animal figurines also are scattered about.
It's not uncommon for the garland to be cut into 1-inch pieces and all the cranberries cut off their branches. How else would one make a wreath that's scale-appropriate for a home where its residents are only 2 feet tall?
The hot glue gun is a favorite tool this time of year because everyone is in a rush to finish every last detail, from putting icing on the cakes to positioning the carving knife in Grandpa's hand.
"Everything has to be done by hand on this scale," Renha explains. "The details are what makes the difference." Each outfit is finished as if it were headed to the selling floor, with even hems and embellished trim. Shoes for each of the 80 characters are tiny pieces of leather sewn together. Renha can't use typical dolls' clothes because the size isn't quite right his figures are a little bigger. It's also difficult to find printed fabric for the garments and upholstery because the scale has to be so small.
"It's easy to find big prints, especially now in fashion, but not for these proportions," he says. Luckily, a child's tea set does work for the Parisian bakery scene this year. Glass-making isn't one of Renha's many talents.
Wishing all of my blog friends a Happy New Year. I'm really not a fan of New Year's. I get down when Christmas ends and the "magic" is gone and to me New Year's is always a let down - a holiday thrown in - but I can't say that I'll be sad to see 2007 go. It has been one of the most trying and difficult years for me and some of my close friends and family. 2008 is full of bright promise. I can't say all was bad in 2007 - one of the very best things that ever happened to me came about in March of 2007 - when I started blogging and met all of you. You are truly all inspirations to me and I feel a very close bond with all of you even though most of us have never met. I wish you all light, love, peace, and prosperity in 2008 and beyond and I look forward to starting the journey of the New Year with all of you.
The new "green" energy efficient Waterford ball debuting tonight in Times Square.
I like to have unique place cards every year. This year, I took an idea from 
This little guy was a big hit. It is a tree made entirely of cheese with parsley and tomatoes used to complete the look at topped with a yellow bell pepper star. It tasted good and made a cute presentation!
I dressed up the dining room chandelier with some vintage glass ornaments I found while at an estate sale this past year. I only dropped one in the process of tying these on LOL!
Please come have a seat in the living room. Here is our Christmas tree. It is real - Jeff won't go for a fake one! Yes, our living room walls are a golden yellow though I've noticed they come across a lot more vibrant in photos then they are in person. These walls were an awful shade of peachy brown when we moved in - I really can't even describe the color! We went with a creamy white but I soon decided we needed more color! I've recently told Jeff that I may want to change the color yet again - he wasn't too happy!
Allow me to show you some of my favorite ornaments. This little red clock is my most favorite. This has been part of my Christmas tree since I was a child and I snagged it from my mother when I moved out. I have placed this ornament on the tree every year for as long as I can remember. I don't know why it appeals to me so much - my mother thinks I'm crazy as it is just a cheap little thing that came in a package with many ornaments but it is very kitchy don't you think? 
This is one of two Italian themed ornaments my mother gave us last year. This one depicts the Trevi Fountain in Rome. We have a special love for Italy as both Jeff and I are of Italian ancestry and we honeymooned in Italy. 
Another favorite - this one also came into our collection last year. I love old movies, esp. old Bing Crosby films. I love, love, love Holiday Inn - one of my all time favorites and of course love White Christmas. This ornament plays the movie version of White Christmas. Our dog Margot can't figure out why the tree is singing - it is quite funny to watch her cock her head from side to side in confusion and wonder! 
Speaking of Margot - there are several ornaments with a dog theme - this one features her photo and was given to us by Jeff's grandmother.
This is a lovely addition for this year - it is from my mother-in-law and she just gave it to me last week. Cardinals are my favorite bird and we also live on a street with Cardinal in its name so we have several cardinal items throughout our home.
This is our mantle. I was just telling 
Before Jeff and I got together he used to decorate his Christmas tree in all gold. We have several boxes of gold glass ornaments that we don't really use anymore. They go up and down from the attic year to year. So this year, I decided to create some wreathes for the living room windows. 
This is a Cardinal Christmas tree that is stationed by our front door. 
An adorable tie on that 
Here are the results of some of the fabulous Joli Paquets I purchased. The bell kit came from 
...and this Sugar Shack kit came from 
This lovely doll is from 
This little pillow is one of the first Christmas themed items I bought when Jeff and I first moved in together.
Care for a sleigh ride? I have to say I've always wanted to go on one but haven't yet... The cone is another beauty from 
My mother made me this Santa mug when I was a child.
As we make our way into the kitchen we come across a few more Santas. This tin one was given to me by my grandmother. She used to use this in her holiday decor.
Even my aprons are ready for the holidays!
Ready or not here comes Santa Claus! I took this photo a few days ago as you can see - I think we are down to something like 13 days!
