It's the Most Wonderful Time...

I know, I've been missing in action for quite some time.

Too much to do. Too many design projects.

But, believe it or not, it's "that time of the year" again!

So much to do.
So much to prep.
So much to unpack.
SOOOOOOO much!

So, stay tuned. I'll be giving you progress reports with plenty of inspirational pictures and entertaining stories. It's always a busy, crazy time of the year, and at the same time-exciting!

Come along for the ride.

Set-ups, day 2: You Better Watch Out

• Set phone for louder alarm tone so as not to oversleep (AGAIN) tomorrow
• Conduct quickie staff meeting before heading off for set-up one of two for the day
• Set up and decorate 8' tree
• Hang another dozen or so kugels at varying lengths from curtain rods
• Organize army of Santas and assign to regiments throughout the house
• Break for favorite lunch of Yardley Tomato Pie
• Hurry to second set-up site--running later than planned; rejoice in forgotten treasure found in Denise's purse
• Remove tags from four bags of newly-purchased ornaments for tree-makeover; decorate tree
• Apply hand lotion to scratched skin after primping poky tinsel mantle garland
• Home for quick gourmet dinner of black bean burrito and Coke Zero; promise to return to store and stay only until 9:30 p.m. to revamp front window
• Yeah, right
• Express horror upon seeing state of store after the day's surprise furniture delivery
• Express delight at tidy state of stock room
  
• Stop to admire new merchandise--unpacked, priced, and merchandised in our absence
• Direct procrastinated photo shoot for gift guide magazine insert; bribe Sneelock to stay a little longer to assist in furniture placement
• Sigh as, at 10:30 p.m., window revamp has yet to begin
  

fresh take

Day two of my week with Denise began with a set-up at an upscale brownstone-style town home in Newtown. Denise dubbed this bit of mantle decor a Glitter Sputnik (a cute color, to-boot!).

This being the third year for this client's set-up, we had the routine down, and other than having to light the tree ourselves (we're spoiled, and are used to pre-lit trees) things went smoothly. The most interesting projects are the ones in which we are given creative license to work our magic, putting a new twist on even our repeat customers' traditions.

Day three found us at a darling cottage owned by the vice-president of the company that manufactures one of our well-used pain killers--something we've needed a fair bit of this week. We transformed their comfortable home, arranging an extensive collection of Santa's (many purchased over the years at Black-Eyed Susan). With a dinner party planned for this weekend, the house stands ready to welcome friends.

This project proved particularly rewarding because of the client's directive to make changes and/or additions at our discretion, even encouraging us to do so. Not wanting to disappoint, we took a quick trip back to the store, where I hand-picked a few personal favorites to add just the right finishing touch.

Stay tuned for Thursday's wrap-up--day four, where we found a treasure trove of cuttings in the client's own back yard--ready for the picking, and just the thing to create holiday style.

The Madness begins!

Wow! I'm behind on the documentation of the 2008 Christmas setup for Black-eyed Susan. Probably, because Linda and I have been working most nights until our legs couldn't climb another step of the ladder or make one more trip to the inventory housed in the basement of the retail store.

It always amazes me that when the time come for this extremely intense week, I am always ready for the creative venture of setting up the store with the stories and themes that were planned last January. The week is even more anticipated by the arrival of my dear friend and partner in crime (also the CFO of my small company) Linda Giler, who comes in from Charlotte, N.C. for the "party". Each night as we drive the 20 minutes to my home in New Hope, we recount the days events and progress while making task lists for the next day. When the alarm goes off the next morning at 6:15am it all begins again. This goes on for about 7-8 days. At the end of this phase of the set-up, most of the work is completed and ready for the special events to begin. (You can email me at Susan@besusan.com to ask for a copy of the event list---really fun!)

There is much that goes into the preparation for the setup. Teams of staff pricing furiously, last minute deliveries being tracked, frantic orders are placed for ribbons, and the hunt begins for the close-out ornament hooks that were purchased last year for this years work. Inventory is lined up and sorted by department and/or color so the work can begin.

All in all, it's an exhausting week full of creative satisfaction punctuated with good times and laughter! Our windows say; "We're working on it.......Come see the magic!"

Boxes of recently received inventory waiting for price tags.......

One of our most realistic trees (artificial!) This tree is primarily made of injection molded plastic with some poly bristles for fullness on the very inside of the branches. The trees (3 large ones this year, and 3 small fixture trees) are set up and lighted the week before the setup. Hours of rearranging the current furniture and fixtures go in to preparing the space for the trees. Sneelock and my son, Ryan helped this year. Jeff set up the trees, primped, shaped, plugged and prep-ed them, while I readied the rest of the store for new visuals relating to the trees. It is a huge team effort to prepare for the work to come. Whew! I just have to say that these trees are fabulous! Every year, they get better, more realistic and more unbelievable! We even have a diffuser that makes the whole house smell like fresh juniper! (More to come on that later)!

Here's a closeup of one of my favorite color stories this year--chartreuse green and burgundy. These ornaments are "shatterproof". They come in all sizes and finishes--matte, shiny, pearl, the whole works! Great for outdoors as well as indoors. We love these!

Tulips, churches, tiny holly place-markers, long needled pine, tinsel trees---ready for the taking!

Row and rows of snow queens saluting, snowmen galore and santas wait to be placed.

Me peering into a box of unique glass bird ornaments in the most delicious colors.......

Inventory that has been transferred to the store for the beginning of the big set-up. Sharman has directed the crew on where to place the different color stories and themes. It's almost time!

The set-up is under way and we are open again for you to come in! It's a bit of a work in progress, but generally exciting to see the transformation. Don't worry, we still have some great fall decor, centerpieces and inspired looks that are not Christmas.

Watch for more updates and progress, my personal favorites, entertaining stories and more!

Come see the magic.