A Tisket, A Tasket, A Disaster With the Basket!

The countdown begins for the Akron Antiquarian Book Fair and I am busily scurrying around trying to get my books (as opposed to my ducks) in a row. Because the fair is always held the Friday and Saturday of Easter and I have the kids – both Moira and her family and Catie and Joe -- coming for Easter dinner the day after the fair closes I have to plan a menu that won’t make me crazy and also get the Easter baskets made for my little boys. Oh, and the eggs too – Easter wouldn’t be Easter without plastic eggs filled with treats scattered around the yard. I already have the gift basket for the drawing at the fair sort of done (more on that in a second), but the next big thing for the fair is selecting books and penciling in prices. The books aren’t too hard to do, but I also plan on bringing ephemera which creates FAR more busy-work. But it’s fun work and I’m jazzed to do it all.

Now then, about this basket which you see in the photo above. Disaster struck last night when I was assembling it for the final time and filling in the spaces with the curly decorative shredded paper. I have no idea how I managed to do this, but I dropped the four appetizer plates on the brick floor of Eric’s office. Oh! The sound! The fury! There are not words.

The good part, the amazing part, is that only one plate actually broke, as they landed face down. But here’s the dilemma. Nancy and I chose them because they match the black and white beaded-handled appetizer knives and I doubt they can be replicated, though I will go back to the store tonight and try. If they don’t have any more and I can’t get some that match the knives I’ll revert to my fall-back plan which is to cut the number of plates down to two, use the backing from the original manufacture’s packaging, and wrap them in cello. Does this make me happy? No! It most emphatically does NOT. In case you haven’t guessed, I am a perfectionistic, neurotic who would make you nuts in five minutes. I’m telling you – that Eric is a saint.

Of course the trick to making this basket was to zero in on stuff that would appeal to the widest audience. So here’s what Nancy and I came up with:

4 (or two) appetizer plates

4 pretty beaded appetizer knives

2 goblets with cloth napkins inside

Basbane’s book about books “Patience and Fortitude”

A bottle of Da Vinci pinot grigio

A box of rosemary crackers

A package of cheese

Garlic stuffed olives

Chocolate

A scented pillar candle

The idea is that you go home, settle in with your new book and have a lovely snack by candlelight. Life is good and you are ever-so-happy that you went to the Akron Antiquarian Book Fair!

Of course before I take the basket to the fair the whole thing has to be wrapped in cellophane with the bow attached at the top, not on the basket handle, and the card I made earlier dangling fetchingly from the bow. But if there’s one thing I know from experience it’s that I couldn’t show you a picture of THAT if I spent the whole day trying. Cellophane creates a glare so blinding it would risk your eyesight.

Anyway, there’s the story of the basket. Mostly I’m happy with it, but I’ll be happier still if Marshall’s department store has four more small white square plates the rims of which are decorated with charming black depictions of New York City cultural destinations. It doesn't seem like too much to ask, but I can't even send up burnt offerings to the book gods.  I have it on good authority that they don't consider plates and baskets their department.

P.S. Yes, I already filled in the few spots I missed with the curly stuff.