I love surprises. A week ago, when my friend Gerri and I made our weekly visit to the Wynn Las Vegas to play the money the casino so graciously gives us every week….we saw a crowd around a beautifully-detailed carousel with four spectacular white horses.

We were told by an official-looking man standing nearby that the carousel and another art piece, a replica of a hot air balloon, were new to the Wynn (as of November 25) and were made of 110,000 flowers that have the look of real.

More information came later: The new installations were “conceptualized” by acclaimed event designer Preston Bailey and crafted by Wynn Design and Development and Forte Specialty Contractors. The sculptures have a core of fiber-reinforced plastic and took 3500 man hours to complete. The carousel is 13 ft. tall and weighs 6,000 pounds. The hot air balloon is 20 ft. tall and weighs 4,000 pounds. The Preston Bailey floral installations will “indefinitely reside” at Wynn Las Vegas.

The Wynn and its sister hotel, Encore, have practically patented the color red — used in their wall art, floral tile and carpet designs and even their gambling card, called the “red card”. The Wynn has been careful when decorating for the holidays in an already bright environment. A canopy of 50-year-old Ficus trees in the atrium have long been decorated with clear lights — and have been spectacular in themselves. Hand-crafted floral balls made of some 50,000 individual flowers also permanently adorn the atrium. Ten different base plants are also part of the atrium decor as are seasonal flowering plants, with varieties replaced every three weeks. For the holidays a variety of decorated Christmas trees have typically been added to offer a warm greeting to visitors. A lush soft atmosphere is the goal, not a loud chaotic holiday scene. This year’s additions of the colorful carousel and balloon have caused a regular parade of poses and photos.

The new art pieces also caused me to take notice and to ultimately decide to take a number of holiday-themed photos inside the Wynn and Encore.

Fortunately, the same week of my photos, a friend’s sister, Lois Skiera Zucek, was visiting her sister in Las Vegas. Lois is a song writer, typically of children’s music, but she showed me two CDs of her “adult” work, and she graciously gave me permission to use two of her pieces as background for my photo-montage seen in the accompanying video.

So, if you haven’t seen what’s new at the Wynn, you can watch the video. Better yet, watch the video AND visit the Wynn — with your own camera in tow. The new sculptures are spectacular and deserve to be viewed in person. How can so many flowers be so perfectly placed?

Of course, all the Wynn/Encore holiday decorations are lovely, so walking through both casinos will yield great views, on the floors, walls and even overhead. Yes, Virginia, places like Florida and Nevada do have winter holidays. The beauty of those holidays can definitely be found in Las Vegas.