Behind the Scenes: The 2011 Holiday Window Display

Nothing says “holiday season” like a festive window display! Every year, owner Krin Finger comes up with a concept (the “grand idea”, if you will) and her team of Window Design Specialists (I just made that title up – they’re that awesome!) helps bring it to life. To give you an idea of what went into this year’s holiday window display, I’m bringing you behind the scenes! The theme for 2011: Warm Wishes!

Where did the idea for this year’s windows come from?

Krin: It actually came when we were working on last year’s windows. The idea is to always try and out-do last year. And we want each year to be really different. So I knew that I wanted plaid to be the theme, in contrast with last year’s white and red, candy cane feel. It’s much more natural. Plaid came first, then “Warm Wishes” as a tagline, then the idea of birch trees. Then, Debbie, Juley and I met this summer and went to the Junk Bonanza and found plaid thermoses. They went well with Warm Wishes, and made us think of outdoorsy things.

Another important element is longevity. We try to get as much use out of the holiday window display as possible, since so much work goes into it. So when January rolls around, we might take out the holiday props and do something with sleds. We even try and keep the windows relevant until Valentine’s Day. Also, we try and re-use props at least twice. The window display we had up before this was from 5 years ago. We’re lucky that we have the storage space to recycle props.

If time or money were no object, what would your dream window display be?

Krin: A dream display this year would have been a solid wall of birch poles, but it would have been way too expensive. So we’re doing clusters, with space between each pole. Otherwise, I’d love to have vintage dress forms – cast-iron on wheels – to display outfits. That’s a real dream. Or new carpet in the windows.

So how does it all come together, start to finish? This year’s windows started with a whole lot of wood. Over the past couple of months, we collected seventy-five 84-inch birch poles, about 200 logs and a dozen stumps from friends, neighbors, the Northfield landfill and the Oaklawn Cemetary (all with permission, of course!) to create a birch-filled wonderland. You can imagine how that much wood might create a little bit of chaos around the store:

But hey – it’s got to sit somewhere before it’s arranged, right? Dale Finger, Krin’s ever-helpful husband, pulled up right in front of the store and we all pitched in to get it unloaded. Window displays take teamwork!

Once the wood arrived, the fun began! Juley and Debbie got to work stapling strings of lights (12 strands, to be exact!) to thick birch poles to create a back-lit effect. Here’s a look at the progress we made on the front window over the course of the day on Sunday:

When I left at 9 p.m., the Dream Team (Juley, Krin, Debbie and Jill) was still hard at work. You’ll have to drive by the store today to see the finished product – I know I will!

A HUGE thanks to the Geigers, the Jenkinsons, and of course, Dale (he finally gets his garage back!).