Necessary accoutrements for New Year's eve (even if it's just you & the dog)

The champagne is chilling, December 31's dinner planned (we always have a crab feast on new year's, but worried we may not be able to find it this year!), or maybe you're off to a party. Perhaps just a pajama party, at home, watching the telly on east coast time. It's all good.

But you need some additions to whatever you're doing. Our new shipment of party goodies from Tops Malibu (cool little company in Eugene: they make everything right there and employ a lot of locals) is just in, and going fast. Sparklers (the good kind, that don't sputter and spit and send sparks – these really produce a sparkle and are safe indoors), confetti pops, wish papers and capsules, and our personal favorites: the Poof Balls. They're like pea shooters with safe, paper balls that you shoot across the room at your best friend or spouse. Won't hurt anything, and safe for dogs and kids if they get the notion to try and eat one. Give one to Grandma and watch the party ramp up...

Ahhh, new shipment of fab champagne flutes just in, too. Can't have too many nice ones; I love to mix ours all up so everyone gets a different style.

Pomegranate is open today until 5:30; tomorrow (12/31) from 10:30-4pm. Happy new year!

Christmas Girl

I just love this shot of our Mollie girl on Christmas, 2011. She very patiently put up with the snazzy necklace and endured a holiday party involving lots of people, other dogs, and... the highlight of her evening... an unsuspecting cat (who may now be permanently emotionally scarred by the barking). Mollie is our Pomegranate Principessa, now 14 or so. We don't know exactly, because she was a dear little rescue dog when we got her at approximately one year old. And she's been our wonderful girl and perfect shop dog all this time.

The first day she came to the shop, we showed her the curb and waved our hands around and said "no street, no street," (would César would approve of our techniques?) and she seemed to understand that she could chase the occasional truck-with-dog-in-back along the lawn, and make a skidding dead stop at the curb, never going into the street. Yeah, that first day in the car with her: I had just taken her to the vet for a checkup (she was skinny, starving, and totally aggravated by flea bites), and she sat next to me, put her paw on my shoulder, and looked at me with those spaniel/border collie eyes, and I was a complete goner. Love at first sight? Of course!

She's entertained kids and husbands for years at Pomegranate (while moms and wives shopped) by catching pinecones in a gravity-defying twist. These days, she's mostly at home because it's getting more difficult for her to travel to the shop and get around in general, but we try to bring her on more quiet days. Maybe she'll make an appearance on New Year's eve day...

No rush: you still have two full days to shop... and we're full of fun things for the girls, the guys, the kids, the house... and the hostess.

Tiramani is back: citrusy, fresh, and just lovely (perfume, lotion and new talc in stock)

New shipment of Tokyo Milk – yes, "Dead Sexy" included

Just off the press: lovely desk calendars from artist Greg Johnson

Some of Greg's collage work shown inside the calendar

I declare 2012 the year of champagne; start with these fabulous flutes. Set of four, each with different stylized botanical designs in silver.

Just put out about 3 dozen more pieces of our Parisian jewelry, including this sweet owl necklace

Piles 'o cotton napkins with a simple Greek key design. Mix & match: a simple way to dress up your dinner table.

Heavy glass Paris paperweight in gorgeous box

For the scotch lover in your family: The Glencairn glass is perfectly designed for your sipping pleasure. Found the best ice cube trays for these (makes big fat square cubes) at Ginger's in the Old Mill. Add a bottle, and voilà  – perfect guy gift (and we know how hard it is to find something good for guys)

Heavenly candles from Voluspa (also Mixture, Archipelago, The Thymes...). Boxed, in heavy glass, or in tins.

What a crazy fun season this has been! We managed to pack our little shop to the hilt, and are in constant motion replenishing or flipping displays when things are gone. Shipments keep coming (even tomorrow, the day before Christmas Eve, we've got some fab new items coming in), and we keep shifting everything to make room. We'll rest next year. Meanwhile, here are just a few pictures of some of our newly-arrived favorites (if you were here for our open house just a few weeks ago, you didn't see any of this). We'll wrap it all up for you (for free!) and you'll be a hero... Open Friday 10-6, Saturday 10-5ish (translation: if y'all are still shopping, we'll stay open; if not, we're closing a little early and heading home to pop open a nice cold bottle of champagne).

DIY and green decorating on a budget – article in the "Bulletin"

Last week we were part of a fun article on Christmas decorating on a budget: check it out here if you didn't get a chance to see it. Haven Home and Pomegranate teamed up to help writer Penny Nakamura pull together a very Christmasy great room... using our creativity to come up with inexpensive and green inspirations for decorating. We had a blast doing it; hope you can use some of the design ideas we came up with for this fun challenge!

Frasier Fir, our favorite holiday scent: now fully stocked up

Some holiday scents are just so annoying, don't you think?  Like that faux cinnamon spray they put on faux pinecones. Please. I'm a little sensitive to that stuff.

But there is one scent that really sends me, that is really pure and makes your house smell fabulous in winter: Frasier Fir by The Thymes. If you want instant holiday cheer, this is it. Yesterday we got another shipment in, and we are fully loaded, from candles and diffusers, to their adorable round soaps and pinecone soap dish... to dish soap and counter spray, if you really want to infuse your house with this gorgeous winter scent. And, it all makes for great hostess gifts.

Make your kitchen smell great with Frasier Fir all-purpose spray and concentrated dishsoap

Fab soap in a cute little bag; pair it with the pinecone soapdish

Lots of new stock, including the new Frasier Fir paper sachet

Right now we're running a holiday special on all our lovely candles: spend $20 or more on any of our candles, and get a sweet little gift to take with you!

Woof! An awesome result from Pomegranate's annual Holiday Soirée and Fundraiser

The ice bar at the end of the night. Everything gone; still pretty

Have to say, it's been a really fun December at Pomegranate, starting with our annual Holiday Soirée and Day of Giving Back on December 3. That's the day we put on our fancy pants (so to speak: someone was so busy she never managed to put on a bit of makeup, or eat lunch or drink water until reminded to do so late in the day) and fill the shop with nibbles, libations, good music, tons of great holiday merchandise and decorating. Oh yes, we set up an ice bar outside and serve martinis. Real cocktails in real glasses (until we run out of glassware). And this year, we even had live music, thanks to our buddy and most excellent guitarist Bill Hayes, who played for hours and entertained everyone out in our little cottage. Perhaps best of all, this event is also a fund-raiser, as we always donate 10% of the day's sales to charity. This year, our recipient was The Humane Society of Central Oregon (specially picked by Mollie, our sweet old rescue dog). Over the years we've supported Saving Grace, Family Access Network, The Sparrow Club, Assistance League, Partners in Care... and many others.

It's pretty simple. The more we bring in, the more we can donate to our charity. The past couple of years have been okay, but not outstanding, as one can imagine. {And, you have to take into account the smallish size of our shop and total possible capacity, which I think we hit at about 5pm that day.} But this year, we blew the roof off our goals, and were able to write a check for $750 to the Humane Society. That's pretty darn good for us in our teeny shop, and we're very happy with the outcome... We were really delighted to see so many of our dear customers, who came flooding in to buy gifts and goodies. We rented 100 martini glasses and blew through those right away; had to move to the plastic glasses, until we ran out of those, too. We may have served 160+ cocktails (real ones, mind you: Robert is a good bartender and doesn't skimp on the vodka). Add multiple bottles of champagne, lots of nibbles, and plenty of good cheer. It was a darn good day, and a great kickoff to a joyous and busy season for us. Thanks everybody, for remembering us and coming out to our little hidden location to partake in this fun day!

I finally took a photo of the ice bar at the end of the evening, when everything (and everybody) was gone. We always get our ice from Cascade Ice. They deliver it, and it's beautiful and clear. We have a little stand/table it fits on; line it with white felt and led lights and it's a magical place from which to serve drinks. This year one big block did it; Robert crushed the inner edge of the block and added more crushed ice as a bed for the bottles and shaker... and it really looked like a little glacier. This was definitely my favorite design from all our years throwing this party. {Although some customers would say the year we designed a luge was the best, but I had to put my foot down: we are never doing that again – don't even ask.} Our Pometini recipe is on our website (pomegranate-home.com), and we're happy to share ideas with you if you want to set up an outside bar for a party. It's easy, really. All you need is someone crazy enough to stand out in the cold and shake up a bunch of cocktails.

Oh, the best part of this story: The Humane Society gave us a poster board with pictures of current pets looking for homes, and a couple who attended our soirée saw a picture of a sweet dog, and went out the next day and adopted her. Yay! We're so happy to have done a little bit to help facilitate this new happy placement. I myself was kind of smitten with a little guy named Peanut, but knew Mollie would not be happy at all with a new roommate...

Holiday Soirée (and day of giving back) tomorrow. Woof!

Today we're dashing around, getting ready for tomorrow's annual Holiday Open House, Soirée, and Day of Giving Back at Pomegranate. Come join us for nibbles and libations, treats, specials, and a store full of great things for the holidays. And, we will donate ten percent of all sales to charity: this year, our recipient is The Humane Society of Central Oregon. Our dear little Mollie girl (senior citizen shopdog extraordinaire, who was a rescue dog herself) requested this one herself. {Mollie is still with us, but unable to attend the soirée – too much activity for her.}

Here's what we're doing: open at 11, when we'll have little cinnamon roll treats, champs, and hot spiced cider for you while you look around. For the first ten people who spend $50 or more, we have a gift of a wonderful Mary Lake Thompson tea towel ($10.95 value). We'll keep the goodies, the food, the drinks and the cheer going all day.... the soirée part starts at 4pm, with Robert's famous Pometinis from the ice bar (oh yeah, in martini glasses, no plastic cups for us... unless we run out of glasses), live music (by fabulous guitarist Bill Hayes), more nibbles and general merriment.

And did I mention the store is absolutely packed with new finds? I'm afraid more is coming in today, and the elves and I are going to be crazed, looking for homes for it all.