10 Best Ideas of the Week: Arty Launch for Mercedes-Benz B-Class, Gingerbread Elevator in Chicago, Gift-Wrapped John Legend

On Wednesday, L.A. Live kicked off its holiday festivities with its fifth annual holiday tree lighting, which aired live on KNBC and AXS TV and included performances from Barry Manilow and others. The 66-foot artificial Sequoia tree, with more than 120,000 white LED lights, towered above the L.A. Kings Holiday Ice at L.A. Live, presented by Coca-Cola.

Visitors to Sixteen—the Michelin-rated restaurant on the 16th floor of Chicago’s Trump International Hotel—will get a festive ride up. For the holiday season, the hotel’s elevator has been transformed into the Gingerbread Express. Guarded by a 4-foot-high candy cane, the sweet-smelling activation is covered with real gingerbread, candy canes, and chocolate. Inside, an embedded TV showcases footage of a roaring fire; overhead, miniature trains pass through an active track.

To launch Stoli’s new line of "Most Original" vodka flavors, UrbanDaddy produced an all-white event Wednesday in New York. Guests painted on the wall and decor, gradually bringing color to the space. Framed canvases and a photo booth filled with guests’ drawings and messages were the most popular pieces of the night. As Cherub performed for the crowd, artists painted the black backdrop with white, glittery paint.

Mercedes-Benz launched its B-Class vehicle in Toronto with an edgy, arty bash November 21 at The Sound Academy produced by the Mint Agency for Immersion Media. As part of the activation, a local street artist created seven original prints on 8- by 4-foot canvas live. Each print was given to a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Ontario after the event.

At TigerDirect.com and Intel's first Tech Holiday Bash November 20, a "floating" DJ booth moved up and down the four-story atrium of the Moore Building in Miami. DJ Supersede performed from the branded structure—a custom piece created by Raul Rodriguez of 2R Productions—that was suspended from a metal truss installed on the fourth floor. The Workshop Collective produced the event.

On the field at Marlins Park, two distinct spaces—one for cocktails and one for dinner and a concert—made the large, open site feel more intimate for the the Best Buddies Miami gala November 16. V.I.P. guests lounged at the Diamond Club and toured the locker room before being escorted through the dugout tunnel leading into the reception space.

To launch a national promotional tour for the holiday season, J.C. Penney brought singer-songwriter John Legend to New York’s Citi Pond at Bryant Park on Tuesday. On a small stage beside the skating rink, a square truss hung with red fabric was designed to look like a gift-wrapped present; the drapes dropped to reveal the entertainer and his piano just before the live performance.

The bittersweet Zellers Farewell Party served as a thank-you to current and past employees as the retailer gets ready to shutter all its stores after 61 years of business. A massive, four-sided bar was covered in blown-up newspaper clippings from 1951, the Toronto company's opening year. Big-band music and servers dressed in period garb added to the nostalgic atmosphere.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada celebrated its 50th anniversary gala at a November 22 gala at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto. To celebrate the group’s outdoorsy mission, planners lined the ballroom with living trees.

On Thursday Target launched its holiday collection, a collaboration with Neiman Marcus to create a line of limited-edition products from 24 different designers, with the opening of a pop-up shop in Midtown Manhattan. As an eye-catching way to draw attention to the temporary store, the retailer placed a woman knitting an oversize scarf in the window.