SUMMER GIFTS

Going to visit friends on long weekends is one of the joys of summer. Life is more relaxed in the warm weather and practical as well as beautiful gifts go a long way. So you don't arrive empty handed, here are some gifts to guarantee an invite next year:

Get to the farm stand in a flash with these Grocer Bike hot wheels from Anthropologie

Image Courtesy of Artel
Artel Glasses in cobalt with etched sea life are divine---the well depicted details are beautiful.Blue glasses with white china make for a fresh summery table. Available from Etabletop etabletop



Photo Courtesy of Ann Veronica
Going to Nantucket in the summer always meant lobsters from Sayle's Seafood. On the drive to the ferry we would take a detour to buy great canvas duffles at a Marblehead shop, Marblehead Handprints. The company, started by Molly Haley and Kathy Walters, closed its doors in 1992. Ann Veronica a high school student of Molly Haley, the founder, took what she learned and opened her own company in a similar artistic vein, utilizing the hand printing process. Her bag patterns include block printed summery motifs on durable canvas. Check out the selection at Ann Veronica


Linens add charm to a powder room and personality to a table, these embroidered florals have realistic detail. Delicate petals and leaves bring the flowers inside. From Edward Boutross


Image courtesy of Mrs. John L. Strong
The Encyclopedic House box series is everything one would want in a summer gift. A fresh beach scented candle in simple packaging, beautiful writing tablets the color of the Mediterranean ocean, and unique pencils fill a wooden box with a house that we all would love to visit! Pick up yours and look at the array of truly unique gifts at Mrs. John L. Strong


Liz Victory, the doyenne of high design shower curtains and rings has something else for us to love-- cosmetic bags of geometric patterns printed on cotton, available with a monogram from Periwinkle



Keep track of weekend plans to look forward to with this chandelier calendar from Good Tidings Designs available through Write on Sarasota available in August






Monogrammed plates with graphic David Hicks-inspired borders will make your hosts think of you whenever they use them. From Fontaine Maury. Orders take around 10 days to create plates


Paper shell boxes can conceal yummy Charbonell and Walker chocolates, a gift certificate to a favorite day spa or a suprise for the host. From France at Bell'Occhio, the most unique gem of a shop with fantastic french finds in San Francisco


A perfect catch fish box could hold plans of a fly fishing outing in Canada or river rafting in Colorado, also from Bell'Occhio



Candles for every room in the house! Packaged in thick glass tumblers with a floorplan detailing which scent is meant for what room, these candles can be a continuous gift with each visit. From Lafco



What do you bring that old friend with a brand new baby? This adorable seahorse blanket in sunburst orange, from Red Envelope