Gaudy and shiny

For 75 cents apiece and under, we acquired some tawdry seasonal leftovers at Albertsons to satisfy those magpie instincts. The square placemat embossed and cut lace doilies with festive 1950s-style poinsettias printed all over them were not marked as to brand. The backing was corrugated cardboard with large scallops along all four edges, which itself probably will find a reuse of some kind. We came home with three different cardboard reels of Berwick "Brilliance" metallic ribbon. Each reel has four different colors on it. They're very decorative as is, joining our reels of paper serpentine from Mexico, and of course it would be easy to glue something over the writing at the spool-ends. They probably would not be on sale but for the fact that the spool-end has a small Christmas tree on it. They're marked "Perfect For All Decorating Needs" and "Made in USA." Berwick now owns Offray, which had previously acquired Lion Ribbon.