Loved the Christmas idea sent in by viewer Mary Ward of Huron, Ohio, because it can be adapted for year-round use. Mary informed me that last year, she took a 2" x 4" x 8" piece of wood and stapled a Slinky to it. She then sprayed everything gold, added some greenery, and used it hold her Christmas cards. Mary also added, "No tape on the wall, no holes in the walls, no anything and the cards were right there and handy to look at anytime. Great idea. Totally great! Mary then added, "How about using a different color [Slinky], placing it on a desk and using it to hold stationery, note cards, bills, correspondence, etc.?" We tried one of the larger plastic Slinkies and used it to hold CDs. The result was OK but not ideal.
For a different look, we used the official metal Slinky again, only this time we brought the front around to meet the back, and stapled it in a circle to a disk of wood. In so doing, we discovered that you should form the Slinky around a glass or a can when you staple it so there will be a larger hole in the center. When you insert a bunch of cards, you'll see that the center space is necessary. After stapling, you can remove whatever you used to pull the Slinky around.
One of the best Christmas gift suggestions that comes to mind is Robert Sabuda's awesome pop-up version of The Twelve Days Of Christmas. Buy yourself a copy and one for a friend. Since I was already familiar with Sabuda's The Christmas Alphabet, which I reviewed and displayed during last year's Christmas show, I was thrilled to discover this most recent publication. In The Twelve Days...every day is illustrated with a marvelously detailed pop-up. This is a coffee table book worthy of being brought out every year for the holidays.
Next on the holiday scene are the Year Boxes, which have a lift-off lid, are covered with adhesive-backed paper so that they look nice and tidy on the shelf, and contain space to put the year numerals on the front. These containers were inspired by a column I read last year by Susan Ager in the Detroit Free Press. Susan wrote a wonderful article (which I would liked to have read on-air but it was too lengthy) about a friend of hers who, throughout the year, tacked onto his bulletin board mementoes of the year's happier moments. There were snapshots, quotations, cartoons from friends, and other kinds of things that many of us tend to exhibit on our refrigerators for ever and ever.
Unlike most of us, however, at the end of every year Susan's friend takes everything down and puts it in a box along with other mementoes that weren't tacked up. He includes items like theater ticket stubs, wrapping paper from a special gift, and souvenir statuettes. All of these testimonials go into the box and it is labeled for the year.
Now, says Susan, this is not an easy parting. We want to hang on to those things we have on that refrigerator - those special photographs, those special memories. Susan writes:
He's a brave man to do it....I asked my friend if he doesn't worry that the new year will bring scant memories. He said, "No. Instead of telling myself how much I miss this and that, I look ahead and make room for the new."
I guess that's something we might all think of at the end of the year, too.
Resources The 12 Days of Christmas: A Pop-Up Celebration
by Robert Sabuda (ISBN: 0689808658)
Click
here to order this title.
Simon & Schuster/Pocket Books
100 Front St.
Riverside, NJ 08075
Toll-free: 888-866-6631
Fax: 800-943-9831
E-mail:
Consumer.CustomerService@simonandschuster.com
Website: www.simonsays.com
The Christmas Alphabet
by Robert Sabuda (ISBN: 0531068579)
pop-up book
Click
here to order this title.
Grolier Pub Co. / Franklin Watts / Children's Press
Grolier Customer Service
Sherman Turnpike
Danbury, CT 06816
USA
Toll Free Phone: 800-353-3140
URL:
www.grolier.com
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