Time out: I neglected to inform you that you could join Dear Reader’s Pre-Publication Club for Eve. Suzanne Beecher has previewed and enjoyed Eve, and she is offering a 5-minute portion of Eve in your e-mail inbox, free of charge, for one week, starting this past Monday the 15th.  Go here to sign up.  Once you’ve given your e-mail address, you can click on any sort of club you want to join–fiction, nonfiction,  thriller, mystery.  Eve is featured in the Pre-Publication section.  Thanks, Suzanne!  [And if you do sign up, be sure to jot a comment in the Book Forum section when you’re done!  Pretty please?  With sugar on top?  Any comment will do.  You don’t have to like Eve.]

And for all the people who desperately wanted to give Eve as a Christmas or Hanukkah gift, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Perhaps you could pre-order on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble or at your local independent bookseller?  The publication date is not my decision, as you may have already guessed, and yes, it would have been lovely to have it in hand before the holidays.  My sincerest apologies.

Today, I’m going to direct you to numerous fun projects I’ve found online (with the help of a few friends).  Needless to say, the holidays negate enjoyable down-time, unless you’ve sequestered a quiet moment to yourself here and there.  These projects looked fun, easy, and splendidly unusual–enough to make guests wonder whether you made them or not.

First, to make Jessica Pigza’s Chinese Papercut Spice Jars above, click here to link to the Design*Sponge page.  All instructions and photos are included.

Then, there are these beauties.  Don’t you love them?  They’re called Modern Centerpieces Made Out of Natural Materials, designed by Kayte Terry at the Craft Stylish blog.

Oh, my dear readers, I’m just getting warmed up.  Sorry for those of you who desired a philosophical discussion today; it’s just not on the docket.  Derek and Lauren at Design*Sponge (can you tell I’m addicted?) have put together these charming place holders and/or gifts–Terrarium Party Favors.  LOVE them!  Especially because we cold Northerners need some green to liven up our days.

My friend Kelly directed me to paper cutter Elsa Mora (except that I shouldn’t pinhole Elsa into just one medium, because her other illustrations and porcelains and jewelry are to die for).  You can peruse her blog here.  If you scroll down a ways, click on her artwork in the right-hand column, and the appropriate displays will appear.

For my readers who bake (or like to hang out in the kitchen eating what someone else is baking), look no further than Bakerella’s blog, which you can access here.  If you scroll down, there are some mighty cute reindeer that are calling Liliana’s name…if only she knew what reindeer were.  Keep scrolling down for recipes.  Could you have ever guessed cupcakes and cakes could be so…so…grown-up and grand?

OK, moving on to my fellow bibliophiles.  I just purchased the irresistible print of “Penelope” by Erin McGuire whose other illustrations are at paperbones.  I’m going to hang it in my office.

What else, what else?  Are you begging for more?

Well, let’s see, music.  You can make your own, of course, or you can splurge at iTunes or check out CDs from your local library.  These are fabulous for children (excluding Raffi):  Barenacked Ladies Snacktime! (thanks, Laura!), any of Elizabeth Mitchell’s sweet CDs (You Are My Flower, You Are My Little Bird–thanks, Becky!, You Are My Sunshine, Catch the Moon), Frances England’s Fascinating Creatures, Putumayo Presents CDs for kids (Latin Playground, New Orleans Playground, French Playground, Folk Playground, World Playground, and Sing Along).

For you parents or grandparents of toddlers out there, I’m leaving you with Barenaked Ladies’s “Pollywog in a Bog” on You Tube (and if you’re not familiar with the group, yes, they have a strange name, and there are no women in the group, but when they started out…as an adult band…it was a way to get attention; that’s it!).  Here I am laughing at myself for having explained that.

Well now, my ideas have run dry for the moment, but only for the moment.  Enjoy the sampling as a break from Christmas shopping!

[Post image: Bakerella’s Reindeer Pops (used by permission)]