November/December 1999 Issue

Island Home for the Holidays

   The advent of year-round Christmas stores enables shoppers to find holiday decorations in any season. Shell shops, too, always have cleverly creative ornaments fashioned out of treasures from the sea. But if you’re looking for something a little bit different, the following island establishments might just do the holiday trick.
   Brightly colored banners decorated with holly and bells, gingerbread figures, or candy canes can be found at the Sporty Seahorse Shop, located near the Sanibel Lighthouse. Knitted “holiday bottle wraps” share shelf space with painted glass boxes, and velvet poinsettias are arranged nearby. Holiday-theme mini tote bags are available, as are flags showing Santa Claus riding in his sleigh. 362 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-1858.
   Islander Trading Post is the place to find the sought-after dolls made by Byer’s Choice Ltd. They are known among doll collectors as a “Handcrafted Christmas Tradition.” The company’s lines include “The Carolers,” featuring 10-inch dolls dressed as Santa, an artist, nurse, pilgrim, woman wearing a muff, and the “Mouse King.” Its “Salvation Army” line comprises similar dolls, depicted singing carols, playing the trumpet, and holding a Bible, apples, or Christmas presents. The store also carries Lizzie High Dolls, which have been handmade in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, since 1985. The shop has a huge selection of all types of candles, in addition to candle rings made of artificial berries or apples. Almost as plentiful are pastel-colored angels made of china or glass, in a variety of sizes. Collectors of Lilliput Lane’s miniature cottages will find several available for sale. Also look for Annalee Collectible Dolls from Meredith, New Hampshire, with fetching soft-sculptured faces. 1446 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/395-0888.
   For the holidays, Trader’s Store & Café has stocked up on candles from Mexico and wooden ornaments from Indonesia, according to store manager Marguerite Jordan. There are also ornaments made of crystal or hand-blown glass. Celebrants of Hanukkah will find a selection of menorahs. 1551 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/ 395-3151.
   At the Bell Tower Shops in Ft. Myers, The Mole Hole has one room devoted to Christopher Radko ornaments. The store also features ceramic houses made by Dept. 56, and Roman figurines and angels. Bell Tower Shops, Ft. Myers, 941/433-4700.
   Renee Salo, owner of Periwinkle Florist and Gift Baskets, explains that in addition to flowers, “one thing that does really well during the holidays are our gift baskets. I make many different kinds every year, including baskets with gourmet foods, or toiletries, or candles in every size, from votives to larger ones.” Salo notes that people buy her basket creations to give as gifts to family and friends, “but also for themselves.” 1719 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-3125.
   The Golden Pear carries colorful needlepoint Christmas stockings and pillows, and holiday silk flowers. Decorative acrylic trees “have gorgeous silver glitter that picks up the light with rainbow colors,” says Lois Hallof, a partner in the store. There are silver and glitter flower containers, and glass and silver candleholders “with beveled glass that also picks up the light.” The shop sells many different sizes and colors of candles by Vance Kitira of Japan. “From personal experience, having had a fire in my home years ago, I want candles to be long-burning and very safe, which these are,” Hallof adds. 2407 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, 941/472-5681.
   Beau Arnold and John Merkel of Weeds & Things offer fresh-cut miniature boxwood trees, and other kinds, complete with lights and ornaments. “Many tourists in condos or houses want them,” they note. Also popular are pine wreaths, swags, and garlands “with an island flair because they’re decorated with shells, sand dollars, and gold ribbons.” Poinsettia trees are a big hit, and artificial trees, wreaths, and swags sell well, too. 2330 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel, 941/472-2112 or 800/233-6545.
   “Decorative and practical” Fitz and Floyd fine china abounds in Phil Johnson’s Ile Crocodile. The Frosty Folk collection, featuring whimsical snowmen, is a big seller, he says, as “an amazing number of people collect snowmen.” Last year’s elaborate Old World-style Florentine Santa teapots and cookie jars are still very popular. New this year are the Jolly Old St. Nick line; Christmas Deer, with bells as its motif; and Peaceable Kingdom. The latter consists of exquisite angels with animals, all in pastel colors that lend an iridescent, frosted look. The shop also stocks small baskets, each carrying a dozen Christmas cocktail napkins. The cloth napkins are decorated with holly or Christmas roses. 2330 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel, 941/472-9166.
   Floral Artistry owner Beth Traucht has doubled her store’s space and is thrilled to have extra room for this season’s “millennium theme.” She is incorporating “lots of elegant angels, made out of tin, fabric, plaster, or cement, with fresh-cut or silk flower arrangements and wreaths.” Different sizes of snowmen are also for sale. They’re crafted of gray and black cement, so they’re guaranteed not to melt. 2400 Palm Ridge Road, Sanibel, 941/472-3040 or 800/449-1282.
   On Captiva, Carmen and Vanessa Lombardo have a “major display” of holiday wares at their Confused Chameleon shop, including an entire wall of ornaments. Be sure to keep Santa Claus happy on Christmas Eve with some handpainted ceramic cookie jars, cookie plates, regular-size mugs, and jumbo mugs full of goodies. You’ll be able to fit small photographs into the store’s unique stuffed Santa Claus frames. Also available are Christmas artworks from Haiti, and metal Santa figures on springs. 11528 Andy Rosse Lane, Captiva, 941/472-0560.
—Libby Grimm