THE (DECORATING) DOCTOR IS IN... DR. CHRISTMAS WORKS HIS DESIGN MAGIC AND TAKES THE STRESS OUT OF THE SEASON.Byline: Evan Henerson Staff Writer If you're a hard-core holiday hound, you probably already know precisely where every bulb, wreath and plastic reindeer reindeer, ruminant mammal, genus Rangifer, of the deer family, found in arctic and subarctic regions of Eurasia and North America. It is the only deer in which both sexes have antlers. fits in your holiday decorating scheme, right down to the last strand of tinsel tin·sel n. 1. Very thin sheets, strips, or threads of a glittering material used as a decoration. 2. Something sparkling or showy but basically valueless: the tinsel of parties and promotional events. . The less yuletide-savvy of us -- particularly those with money to spend -- call Bob Pranga, whose Burbank warehouse full of holiday trimmings would impress even jolly old St. Nick himself. Would you expect anything less from the man who calls himself ``Dr. Christmas''? ``I've raided every grandmother's attic from coast to coast looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. crocheted items, your crafty and vintage items,'' says Pranga, who has run his Christmas-themed design, decorating and consulting business with partner Debi Staron since 1984. ``We feature all the things you can't do everywhere else, ranging from very high-end ornaments all the way to what you'd find in grandma's toy box or cupboard.'' His endless supply of holiday paraphernalia PARAPHERNALIA. The name given to all such things as a woman has a right to retain as her own property, after her husband's death; they consist generally of her clothing, jewels, and ornaments suitable to her condition, which she used personally during his life. -- all of which is rentable -- circulates among private homes, businesses, and the sets of film and TV shows, which typically get to work on holiday-themed programming in the early part of the year. Depending on your budget, a Dr. Christmas job could run anywhere from $2,000 to $50,000 Christmas stockings? Dr. Christmas has plenty. Snow globes? Popular and hard to find, but doable. A sleigh sleigh: see sled. ? Pranga's got the one used in the Jim Carrey “James Carrey” redirects here. For the murder conspirator, see James Carey. James Eugene Carrey (born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian actor and comedian. film ``Man on the Moon.'' Then there's the infamous tuna-can Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. : nine tuna cans glued together in the shape of a Christmas tree, decorated in green felt. ``Everybody rents the tuna-can Christmas tree,'' says Pranga. ``That little investment has helped pay the rent on many occasions.'' A onetime decorator at Macy's Herald Square Herald Square is formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially named Avenue of the Americas) and 34th Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was named for the New York Herald, a newspaper originally headquartered there. , Pranga was responsible for sprucing up the store's Christmas trees. One holiday season, Mia Farrow farrow see farrowing. walked into the store, admired the trees and wished aloud that someone could perform similar magic at her home. Pranga volunteered. ``I didn't really take it seriously,'' he says. ``I had gone to New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of to be an actor, and we essentially worked the Christmas shops. When I met my business partner, we decided to move to L.A., again to be actors.'' The Christmas spirit followed Pranga out West. He and Staron found work at Christmas stores in Glendale, Woodland Hills and, ultimately, Beverly Hills Beverly Hills, city (1990 pop. 31,971), Los Angeles co., S Calif., completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles; inc. 1914. The largely residential city is home to many motion-picture and television personalities. , where Kathy Richards Hilton -- mom to heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton
The Hilton connection -- and a subsequent appearance on ``The Anna Nicole Show'' -- widened Pranga and Staron's client list further. Since going independent as Dr. Christmas (a moniker (1) A name, title or alias. See alias. (2) A COM object that is used to create instances of other objects. Monikers save programmers time when coding various types of COM-based functions such as linking one document to another (OLE). See COM and OLE. Pranga selected because he was, essentially, on call 24/7 and made house calls), there has been no shortage of business. ``Christmas is a very personal thing,'' says Pranga. ``During the consultation, we sit down with the client and get an idea what it's for. Is it for a party? Is it for the family? Is it just you? ``I generally sit down and ask them whether they want to participate. They look at me funny and start to laugh, but I say, `If you're going to participate, we're going to enjoy this. If you're not, stay out of my way and sign the check, because Christmas shouldn't be about stress.'' The Hiltons, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Delta Burke, Leeza Gibbons Leeza Kim Gibbons (born March 26, 1957) is an American talk show host. Gibbons is the host of her own radio show, Leeza Live, part of the Westwood One radio syndication company. , Candice Bergen Candice Patricia Bergen (born May 9, 1946) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning American actress and former fashion model, known primarily for her roles in sitcoms and television. and Andy Garcia all have been clients. This season, Dr. Christmas already has spruced up the Toluca Lake home of ``Desperate Housewives'' creator Marc Cherry Marc Cherry (born March 23, 1962) is an American writer and producer. He is best known for being the creator of the show Desperate Housewives. Career Early career and has Christmas-ized the Beverly Hilton. Gibbons Famous people named Gibbons include:
Pranga also has transformed her dining room into a snowy forest winter wonderland fantasy utilizing elements of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. ``It was absolutely spectacular,'' recalls Gibbons. ``We could never eat in there, but we had field trips and the kids brought their friends home from school to look at it: `Leeza has a forest in her living room!' '' This year's decor at the Gibbons home will be a bit more traditional and will include an artificial tree for the downstairs living room and a live upstairs ``family tree.'' ``I come from a family in the South that all celebrated in a very traditional sense and, like many Southern families, we would pull out all the stops,'' she continues. ``For me, more is more. This is not a time to be subtle.'' Celebrated or otherwise, people who decorate for the holidays are typically tapping into some element of their childhood. Pranga says it's his job to find that element and see it honored. ``I have to play part-time decorator, part-time therapist. ``I have to kind of know it all to provide everything that will give them the experience they want to have. Friends will come over, and everyone has an opinion, but when it comes to Christmas decorating, yours is the only one that matters, because you have to live with it.'' Evan Henerson, (818) 713-3651 evan.henerson@dailynews.com DR. CHRISTMAS'S HOLIDAY TIPS They've already written the book on holiday decorating (it's called ``Christmas Style''), and they typically charge for their expertise, but in the spirit of the season, the folks at Dr. Christmas gave us a few free Christmas-y tips for yuletide do-it-yourselfers. 1. If you're going to decorate, take the time to do it right. ``Don't give yourself unnecessary stress,'' says Bob Pranga (aka Dr. Christmas). ``Christmas doesn't have to be a big production number.'' 2. If longevity's your aim, go artificial. The longer you're going to want Christmas in your house, the better off you are with an artificial tree. ``They make them really nice, and they last the entire season,'' says Pranga. ``If you're going to go live, I don't recommend you do it more than two weeks before Christmas, or your tree will be drooping droop v. drooped, droop·ing, droops v.intr. 1. To bend or hang downward: "His mouth drooped sadly, pulled down, no doubt, by the plump weight of his jowls" .'' 3. Fire and timber don't mix. Keep your tree away from heating sources, particularly the fireplace if it's going to be lit. The same goes for live greens in the garlands. 4. Plan ahead -- and think about Christmas all year long. Yeah, of course, we're telling you this now when the holiday is a mere two weeks away. But for 2008, consider putting up the outdoor lights (even if they're not illuminated) during the warm months. Buy your gifts early, and get your cards addressed equally pronto pron·to adv. Informal Without delay; quickly. [Spanish, from Latin pr  mptus; see prompt. .
``While you're sitting there on the beach during summer, get the cards addressed, so that all you'll have to do (in December) is sign them and put them in the mail,'' says Pranga. ``There's a lot of pre-production work, as I call it, to Christmas that could be done ahead of time so you're not caught in the mad rush.'' -- E.H. Idea for camp fosters the spirit of the season Foster care children, says Bob Pranga, don't necessarily feel the magic of the season. Christmas, after all, is the time when these children get all gussied gus·sy tr.v. gus·sied, gus·sy·ing, gus·sies Slang To dress or decorate elaborately; adorn or embellish: gussied herself up in sequins and feathers. up in the hopes of attracting potential adoptive parents adoptive parents Social medicine Persons who lawfully adopt children, who are generally married couples but may be single persons, including homosexuals; most APs are married . ``I came up with this idea where I wanted to create a Christmas camp. Foster care kids can go to a safe place for a week where they get to do everything that's Christmas,'' says Pranga. ``The fun things -- the cookie baking, the music -- and it ends with this big show at the end of the week. ``I know so many people in the set-decorating industry,'' he continues. ``I thought, `Why can't we create this really magical camp where these kids can get a sense of what it could be?' '' Pranga envisions that at the end of the week, the children end up putting on a presentation for an invited audience of people who -- unbeknownst to the performers -- are actually people interested in adoption. ``It's really important to me that at the end of all this, maybe someone could be adopted,'' Pranga says. ``What a great gift for that kid.'' Pranga hopes to get the camp started in the winter of 2007, and is looking for sponsors, locations and people willing to help out. Interested parties should contact him at DR_Christmas@hotmail.com or at (310) 854-0886 -- E.H. CAPTION(S): 5 photos, 2 boxes Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Leeza Gibbons and Bob Pranga (2 -- 3 -- color) Leeza Gibbons' living room decorations, designed by Dr. Christmas -- aka Bob Pranga -- have a traditional feel, with a ribbon-festooned artificial tree and lots of twinkling twinkling, in astronomy: see seeing. lights. At left, Dr. Christmas' workers hang garlands in her home. Gibbons, a repeat customer, calls the decorating guru Hollywood's ``secret weapon.'' David Sprague/Staff Photographer (4 -- color) Bob Pranga: ``Foster care kids can go to a safe place ... where they get to do everything that's Christmas.'' Tina Burch/Staff Photographer (5 -- color) no caption (Christmas ornaments) Box: (1) DR. CHRISTMAS' HOLIDAY TIPS (see text) (2) Idea for camp fosters the spirit of the season (see text) |
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