I picked up a tv rock from one of my favorite gift shops a while ago. Trust me, these will entertain grown ups as well.

I forgot to ask—does anybody remember “Klutz Press”? They made books for children like “Dollar bill origami - instant rebate”, which came with a crisp new one dollar bill. I loved the book on magic.

Klutz had a catalogue in which you could order their other books and accessories—I still remember the texture of the catalogue—like the old issues of “Paste” magazine—so tactile and fun! Anyway, they had these giant balloons, over three feet long. It used to take me an hour to blow one up, and I became very dizzy during the process, but it was all worth it. $10, which is a lot when you are eight years old, bought you three balloons. I used to imagine filling them up with helium and have them lift me into space (I wanted to be an astronaut).

Just wondering if anybody else remembers these. Better yet, does anybody know where to get some? Maybe the Compact Curiosities balloon is the same.

I love this packaging—it reminds me of some beautifully creative packaging we use here in Chicago for tea. A local chain of tea shops called Argo tea uses a similar style to keep their leaf-tea fresh on the shelf. Check them out at argotea.com — You can see the packages on the site (it’s flash or something so I can’t paste the link). Go to “Shop”, then to “Tea Sampler Sets”, and give your eyes a treat.

As for the graphics, it reminds me of a local coffee shop, similar to Argo, called Intelligentsia. See http://www.intelligentsiacoffee.com/store/coffee/5-pound/house for an example. (Can anybody tell me how to make links on this comment box?!). In general Intelligentsia does a wonderful job with their logos and graphics, and the color palettes are very fashion-forward. Take a gander.