Happy holidays to all. Remember the days or a time when you felt you just had to have something special for your child or a friend? The latest gadget that suddenly became the season’s rage like a slinky or Cabbage Patch Doll or an iPod shuffle? I bet if I researched this a bit, I would find all kinds of items that store owners could not keep on the shelf.

During the past two months, I’ve been experiencing a similar kind of frenzy. Suddenly, everyone near and far wants to purchase our yearly Christmas ornament. It’s truly an outlier as we’ve never had such enthusiasm for our Keokuk Art Center ornament.

Carla Celani, our secretary, called me one day and said, “I have an idea for this year’s ornament.”

“Great, what is it?” I responded.

“Stan’s Bakery. Well, Lisa, really came up with the idea,” she explained. Lisa is Carla’s daughter who had recently returned to Keokuk to live. Carla began the sketches and one day brought it by for me to look at. She also had talked to the owner of Stan’s Bakery who was teary-eyed hearing that this year’s ornament would feature her store, one that her parents had begun fifty plus years ago.

She showed me her sketch and before she left, I had to tell her that her cream horn just didn’t look like a cream horn. She took the criticism well and agreed. The cream horn image is important because Stan’s Bakery is a world-renowned cream horn baker. Their quaint shop features photos of all kinds of people eating their cream horns from around the world. It’s really fun to view the photos while smelling the sweet aroma of fresh baked donuts, etc.

Nick at Monk’s Creek also helped with the design. He created a better sketch for the cream horn and added a Christmas tree in the window as well as a wreath on the door. The one thing LaDonna, Stan’s daughter and current owner, wanted added was a quote her father was fond of saying “After all it takes a baker.” It’s front and center on the business window.

Fortunately, there is another small business owner whose shop is often visited during this time of year because of the amazing candy they sell during the holiday, Gate City Seed. It is one of those extra special places where you can find garden items, gifts, cards, and much more. The owners sell our ornaments but cannot keep up with the demand. Yesterday, I called Nick at Monk Creek and ordered another 100 ornaments. One thing that slows down the process of selling these is that we have to individually package each one.

Now, I have man hands. Taking an 1/8 ribbon, doubling it, and then slipping it into the ornament’s hole to create its string, is truly quite challenging for me. Then the ornament is placed into a little holiday card message and placed into an invitation envelope. Hence, I cannot just pick up the order and drop it off for consumers to gobble up. Wouldn’t that be lovely!

Anway, I cannot complain about the popularity of this ornament. I know next year we will most likely experience the same kind of frenzy because I’m quite certain it will feature none other than “Candy Land” at Gate City Seed.

It’s the fourth time I’ve had to reorder this year’s Christmas ornament. I’m currently waiting on a call so I can drive to Monk Creek to pick it up. Another side note: Monk Creek is out in the boonies about 30 minutes from my home. Ahh, the joy of making money for the Keokuk Art Center.