The ornament comes with a printed history of the swans in Lakeland. 

Handmade paper Starlightz by Artecnica are shining bright once again in our garden gallery. Starlightz fold flat in an envelope and come with a 15 ft. white light kit. All you need is a light bulb to create an instant atmosphere of warmth and wonder by illuminating the colorful and intricately patterned Starlightz.

Green Fact: Artecnica is committed to considering issues of environmental sustainability and responsible manufacturing. Their products are made with recycled materials and transported in easy-ship flat packages to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Basd in Los Angeles, Artecnica collaborates with the most established and emerging international designers to create inspiring decorative objects for the living environment. Artecnica’s Design with Conscience® program works with artisan communities in developing countries to produce unique handcrafted objects that reflect indigenous skills. This humanitarian approach supports shared work and profit across borders, cultures, races, and religions. Starlightz are made in India. Designs vary. $40-$53 each.

Wish Lists make it easy for friends and family to find the perfect gift for you. Come unwind after work and enjoy wine, cheese and dessert bites while you shop during Wish List Thursdays at Brooke Pottery. Everyone has a chance to win, so tell all your friends and co-workers to join us for a fun evening of shopping in Downtown Lakeland. The Black Swan Bazaar and Traditions Unlimited are also open late for Thursdays on Kentucky.

One wish list/drawing entry per person. No purchase required to enter drawing. Gift certificate winner will be announced on Friday, December 9. Also on Friday, meet visiting artist Don Nedobeck in the shop 6-9 pm.

Nedobeck’s Alphabet Book is a fantastical voyage through the ABCs. Where else but from the imagination of Don Nedobeck would you find “Herrietta Hen and her horrendous hairdo” or “Terri the tall tan thin tiger talking with three tiny toads by their toy truck”? All 3 books are currently in stock.

If there is one word to describe artist, storyteller, musician, husband and father Don Nedobeck, it would be expressionist. To listen to his name is to hear the sounds of basic keys on a clarinet, Ne-do-beck, and with practice it becomes more fluid. Talking with Nedobeck is like sitting in your most comfortable old worn out chair with a fat, furry feline nestled upon your chest. Besides his greatest talent of putting people at ease, he’s a man capable of anything. You see, ever since Nedobeck was a boy, he was encouraged by his parents, a Russian father, also a fine artist, and a Polish mother whose landscaped garden surpassed Boerner’s Botanical’s gardens, to use two very important gifts: his imagination and his creativity. It was his creativity that allowed him to draw life from a whimsical point of view during his “occupational development” period as Good Humor man, stock boy, grain inspector and meter reader for the gas company.

When Nedobeck’s not using his hands to create art or music, he has his hands in the soil — his real form of meditation. Perhaps that’s where Don Nedobeck’s imagination is planted, tilled, shaped and continues to grow, producing art for the child in all of us. -Carmen Alicia Marguia

This year the Holiday Walkabout features special guest performers from Colonial Christmas. Get a sneak peek of this delightful holiday event that takes place December 3-4 at Kingscliff, a Lake Hollingsworth mansion. Experience the Holiday Celebrations of America’s Founding Fathers at Colonial Christmas. Twenty costumed interpreters will greet guests in seven themed rooms. Guests will join in colonial dances, eat tavern food, participate in period political discussions, learn about holiday, wedding, and hospitality traditions, play colonial games, watch excerpts from colonial-era plays, and engage in storytelling as told by slaves who celebrated the holiday.