Letters to Santa with an online twist

Saks in the city

Holiday shoppers pass by window displays at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York. Saks, at Fifth near 49th Street, has digital projectors beaming images of translucent white snowflakes and bubbles onto the store's facade. The images interact with the architecture in a magical two and a-half minute music and light show that takes place every 10 minutes from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Holiday fantasy

A woman poses for a photo in front of a window display at Bergdorf Goodman in New York. The store, on Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, features holiday window designs inspired by fantasy travel to far-flung places and are titled "Wish You Were Here." David Hoey, Bergdorf Goodman senior director of visual presentation and window design, describes the holiday look as a mash-up of unexpected arrivals and departures, drawing on influences as varied as Roman mythology and the movies. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

"Yes, Virginia..."

Onlookers gaze at holiday window displays at Macy's in New York. Macy's theme this year is based on the real story of Viginia O'Hanlon, an eight-year-old girl who wrote to the New York Sun in 1897 asking the newspaper whether Santa Claus is real. "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus," the paper responded with the now-classic phrase. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

A miniature-scale display is featured at Lord & Taylor on Fifth Avenue near 38th Street in New York. The display offers 12 mechanical tableaus illustrating Christmas scenes set in the city, inspired by favorite memories that customers shared with the store. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Taking it all in

People study a display at Lord & Taylor in New York. "Share the Joy" includes candy canes, wrapped gifts, snowy streets, snowmen, wreath-bedecked homes, Santa's sleigh with reindeer and decorated trees. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Reflections of the holiday

Saks enlisted the help of an "experiential" marketing agency to spice up the Fifth Avenue store exterior store in New York. The outcome is a digital delight: snowflakes and bubbles pirouette to a remixed version of "Carol of the Bells" and interact with the architecture, with bubbles getting "stuck" under windowsills and snow piling up on them. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Dazzling display

The window display at Tiffany's, on Fifth Avenue at 57th Street in New York, takes on a fairy-tale theme, with a decorative heart necklace and a hummingbird holding a bejeweled key. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation

It's OK to stare

Clodagh O'Sullivan and her son Jack, 2, both of Queens, New York, share the magic that is the holiday season, taking in a display at Lord & Taylor, on Fifth Avenue. (Jonathan D. Woods / msnbc.com) Share Back to slideshow navigation