Still shopping around for gift ideas? Here’s our third installment of suggestions for perfect presents for the home. And although it’s hard to believe you’ll need more ideas after this, we’ll be back with more great finds next week-and the next.
Cover story
When you think of the kimono, you think of elaborate celebrations and
festivals, important events in one’s life. Colors, patterns and prints swirl through your mind. Les Carnets DeZhou, a Parisian company, has taken these exquisite robes and given them not only a new spin but also given people a beautiful new way to keep and record their own celebrations and memories. The beauty comes in the way Les Carnets DeZhou has dressed photo albums and notebooks in kimonos from the turn of the century to the ’60s. The notebooks and photo albums are one-of-a-kind, meaning patterns and colors will vary. Small notebooks (4 by 6 inches) are $22; large notebooks (6 by 9 inches), $30. Small photo albums (13 by 6 inches) are $75; large albums (10 by 13 inches), $96. Call Room, which has contemporary furniture showrooms in New York and Miami, for a catalog or to order, at 888-420-7666.
— Pamela Sherrod
Cold hands (and feet), warm heart
This heart offers warmth, whimsy and whiffs of vanilla all in one package. The scented water bottle is $28 at Chiasso, 835 N. Michigan Ave., Water Tower Place, 312-280-1249; and Oakbrook Center, Oak Brook, 630-928-1169; or can be ordered by calling 800-654-3570 or visiting www.chiasso.com. (Chiasso also carries this bright yellow Duckie Water Bottle, also $28.)
But if cute’s not your gift-recipient’s style, she doesn’t have to be left out in the cold. Garnet Hill, which calls itself the “Original Natural Fibers” catalog, offers a bottle dressed in a soft, knit pashmina coverup in multicolored stripes. It’s Item No. 3072 in the Garnet Hill catalog, $98, plus shipping and handling. Call 800-622-6216 or visit www.garnethill.com.
— Pamela Sherrod
Fulcrumnicity
It’s metalwork, it’s lovely to look at and it’s an oh-so-practical candle snuffer. The work of Burlington, Vt., artist Bruce R. MacDonald is made of reddened copper and balances atop a stand when not in use. It’s $44 ($49 with gift wrap) from the Studio Shop of Guild.com; there is no shipping or handling charge. Order online at Guild.com or call toll-free, 877-344-8453.
— Marjorie David
Give some green
Not the folding kind, the foliage kind. To celebrate the holidays-or for any other occasion, such as a wedding, a graduation or in memory of someone you love-you can have a tree planted in someone’s name in any one of Chicago’s 555 parks and receive a handsome personalized “Green Deed,” suitable for framing. The cost depends on which tree you select from a list of suitable species-from $250 crab apples to $500 oaks. Or, donate a bench for a park or playground, with a commemorative plaque. If you have a site in mind, the landscape staff will come as close as possible, or they can suggest parks that need trees and benches. Call Eleanor Royko Cronin, special project coordinator, at 312-747-2728.
— Beth Botts
