When Beads & Beyond sent out the call for residents to help decorate its window for Christmas a couple of weeks ago, people turned out.
“We had families coming in who had heard about it and wanted to participate,” said co-owner Emily Miller. “We had a couple of times where we didn’t have enough seats.”
In the end, Miller and co-owner Nancy Juliana said they had between 20 and 30 people go into the store to fashion clay figures. The store supplied the craft supplies, including wire figures Miller made to ease people’s figure-sculpting, making it easier and accessible for a broad range of ages and abilities.
Once the people were made, they were put in window (which took more than 14 hours and four employees to build), along with two giant papier-mâché mountains and a large 3D model of the Strater Hotel.
This year, the window’s theme is Durango-specific, “Where’s Waldo,” set in and around a Purgatory scene. And the more you look, the more you see – skiers crashing down the mountain, cartoon characters and even a group of Animas High School students.
Beads & Beyond has a long history of going above and beyond with its window decoration, especially since moving to its location at 840 Main Ave. in 2002.
“We’ve been upping the window game since we moved into this place,” Juliana said. “We have a very small product and we have a very big window. It’s also because we want to bring that delight and wonder. It’s the time of the year to give back, and this is our way to give back to the community.”
And for Miller, the community’s help was also a great way to get the window done because of the sheer volume of what needed to be made.
“We have always talked about how to get the community involved, and thought this is the perfect time,” she said.
Be sure to stop by Beads & Beyond and check out the window during Noel Night. There will also be homemade cookies available.
katie@durangoherald.com
