Holiday Decorating? Don't Forget Your Scoot!

A few weeks ago, Lori & I were on a trip to Target when we discovered a whole new group of battery-operated holiday lights. Sweet!

The local scooterists have been holding an annual holiday lights ride where we all meet on one evening, decorate our scooters with lights and ride around the neighborhoods that have lots of holiday cheer. We have been doing it for over a decade, but in the past few years, Scoot! has hosted the event and started it at a local Starbucks where we treat participants to warm drinks before we shove off.

Lori and I bought various light sets. One is a big single snowflake with a suction cup that should stick nicely to the front of my P200. The smaller lights are LEDs so they should last a long time and not get hot. They are all made by Phillips and were in the $5-9 range. The snowflake came with batteries, but the others did not.

Are you having a holiday lights ride in your area? Perhaps you are coupling it with a toy drive? Leave a comment and share your plans with us all.
Blog entry soundtrack:

Holiday Gift: Department 56 Village Scooters

Every time I go by the Department 56 displays in stores I wonder why they don't have scooters. Well, it seems that they introduced scooters in 2008, but I never saw them, or my local stockists just didn't order them. Too bad for them-- they could have taken me for some serious money.

The Village Scooters are still available from Department 56 retailers. Two scooters for $20. If you have one in your ton, ask them to order them for you. or you can go to the website and be directed to online retailers that sell them.

 

One of the online retailers is Bronners who also sells this modern scooter ornament (but calls it a moped in the description, dernit). 

Holiday Gift: Hello Lucky Letterpress Cards

I guess it's time to start the scooterist holiday gift guide. Some say that Nov. 2 is too early, but many of my picks may need to be ordered for delivery, so it's never to early to start! Today's suggested gift are stationery items from Hello Lucky! The company is run by two sisters who are based in San Francisco. While they previously had some other items with scooters on them, they currently sell:

• Birthday Vespa Card $4.50
• Vespa Girl Holiday Card (individual or set of 6) $4.50-$15
• Vespa Girl Wrapping Paper $5.75

While the cards can be useful for friends, I think the wrapping paper is the most useful. Order now for the holidays!

NSR: Mr. Hankey Cookie DIY Video

This is almost scooter-related since I shot the video, the cookies were made by a scooterist and the idea for the cookie cutter was devised by another scooterist, but let's not split hairs (or get them in the dough).

Just in time for Christmas...How to Make Mr. Hankey Cookies

Holiday Gifts for Scooterists

Don't forget about the Sur la Table scooterist kitchen towels! $8

Holiday Gifts for Scooterists: ETSY

If you want a unique and handmade gift for your scooterist pal but can't make one yourself, check out Etsy.com where independent craftspeople can sell their own creations. Etsy has lots of cool scooter items. here are some of my faves:

Scooter Boy Gift Card

This greeting card has a button for the face which your recipient can wear or just leave as-is. The buyer can choose from different head pins.  $4.50

Felt Vespa Key Chains

A fun key chain or a fob to add to your bag to make it standout. Measures about 3.5" wide and 2.4" tall and stuffed for a 3D effect. $14.50

  

 Vespa Tea Cup

I covered Circa Ceramics in a past Scooter Collector column. Their mini tea cup is cute.  $18.

Vespa Scooter Linoleum Blockprint

 A small print that you can nab for just $2.50. Custom ink/paper selection.

 There are lots more scooter-inspired items on Etsy.com. Check it out!

Merry Christmas from the UK

Mau at Classic Scooterist Scene and Twist & Go sent us this fab e-card. Enjoy!

NSR: Mr. Hankey Cookies

My housemate has been making Mr. Hankey cookies for years, with constant refinements along the way. Last year I video taped the process & then promptly deleted the footage on accident. Doh! So, this year I took better care to do a better job.

If you want to do this yourself, here are a couple of tips:
* Use pre-made gingerbread dough.
* Create your cookie cutter with plumber's tape. It's flexible and cheap. YOu can make a new one each year.
* Keep an actual Mr. Hankey handy. I've seen some other cookies online that look like the person had never seen Mr. Hankey. :)

Have a great holiday, folks!

Santa on a Scooter?

Josh's mom found this image on the ABC News website. Funny! See that bag on the back of the scooter? Based on past photos of heavily loaded scooters, that thing must be full of livestock or bananas.

The caption:

Holiday Window Displays
People look into the window of Selfridges as the store unveils its new Christmas display, Oct. 29, 2008, in London. The annual festive display has been a part of London Christmas retailing for nearly 100 years.
(Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Blog entry soundtrack: "Leilani" by Hoodoo Gurus

Holiday Gift Idea: Personalized Scooter Stationery

I am a fan of Rock Scissor Paper from way back. They are having a short but tasty sale on their personalized stationery today and tomorrow. You can save 10% on your personalized stationery order by entering the code: thanks8 at checkout. I ordered their scooter stationery and love it, although I admit that I am choosy about who gets this special stationery. Order some for yourself and some or a friend!

The record theme is cute, too.

Cost Plus Scooter Ornaments

Cost Plus World Market has a blown glass scooter ornament in blue or red. $14.99. They appear to be ET4s.

I heard a rumor that this weekend there would be a 2 for 1 ornament sale.

Holiday Shopping: Target

Looking for some cool scooter items for the kids? Target has lots of affordable items:


Our Generation Doll Scooter sells for $26.99 and comes in lilac or a peach color and fits the Our Generation 18" dolls. Probably will fit other dolls like Elmo or Cabbage Patch dolls (do they make those anymore?).



Pink and Green Motor Scooter Framed Art by Miriam Bedia is a little spendy at $89.99, but this 14x14" print may be the thing for you or a friend.



The wee ones may enjoy the Big Bobby Scooter which is for ages 1 yr. and up and sells for $74.99. Thick rugged plastic stand up to a toddler's abuse and drool. Measures 15Hx14Wx23D".



While it isn't 100% scooter, The CarePlay Squirrel is a more affordable scooter-style ride-on toy at $44.99. It is rated for ages 1-3 and can hold an amazing 200lbs. That's one big baby!

Got it!: The Lammy ornament from Sur la Table

I previously posted about this new Lambretta scooter ornament from Sur la Table. Today, I went to one of their retail locations and bought one. $24 is steep. Perhaps it may go on sale after Christmas, but I didn't want to chance it.

It's a nice quality ornament. A couple things to look out for if you plan to buy one:
1) It is made of 2 separate pieces that are glued together, so look for one with minimal bond marks.
2) The retail locations have them in a bin, so examine the one you purchase to make sure it isn't scratched, chipped or faded. The earlier you go in the more you'll have to choose from.

All in all, it is a nice ornament and a rarity as it is a Lammy versus a Vespa.

Blog entry soundtrack: stream from Radio Paradise.

Sur la Table Scooter Ornament

Thanks to Andy H. for alerting me to this super-desirable Scooter Ornament from Sur la Table. It says that it is not available until later in the month, so order now to ensure you get one. The caption makes me wonder who is working at SLT? They used the term "scooterist" so they must be in the know. =wink-wink,nudge-nudge=

It is clearly a Lambretta, so Lammy Lovers can rejoice to get something that isn't a Vespa. Now, whee are the Fuji Rabbit and NSU ornaments?!?

Scooter Goodies

It's hard to keep a good scooter collectible away from me. But, this year, my boyfriend did. He presented me with this glass Santa on a scooter that he picked up at Walmart. It's cute, especially Santa's rosy cheeks.
If you read my column you may recall my post from November 10th where I said that a friend said he got an ornament from Walmart. We rushed over there & found nothing. Then, it was reported that the ornament was actually at hallmark. Chalk it up to an honest mistake...Well, my boyfriend kept going back & when he found this one at Walmart, he knew he had me. Since I had already scoured he place, I wouldn't be going back. His present was safe. So, no you know. Head over there for their after-Christmas sale and snap up the rest of them.





While I was out doing some last-minute shopping, yesterday, we stopped at Mai Do, a Japanese stationery store and Jon spotted this set of jelly stickers. I should really rent him out, he's like a scooter collectible bloodhound! There are only 3 scooters in the whole collection, but you may be able to use the other stickers elsewhere, especially the cute rocketship, minis or doulble-decker buses. The set was $3.30.

Here's a detail of one of the scooters:

Scoot! Holiday Lights Ride

The local San Jose scooter crew has been holding a holiday lights ride for years. I used to host it at my house. Scooterists would meet there and I'd treat them to snacks and hot cocoa. Then, we'd get on our scooters and brave the cold to ride around and checkout the holiday lights. Once I moved out of that neighborhood, the scooterists across the street took it over, then a local shop, until this year when Scoot! sponsored it with San Jose Vespa.

We met at San Jose Vespa for some snacks and scooter talk. We held a raffle with proceeds o benefit ScooterRelief.org. Then we jumped on our scooters and Josh guided us through the surrounding neighborhood. We ended up at a local Starbucks where Scoot! bought the hot drinks. Norbert, Eddie and I decorated our scooters with battery-operated lights. I used the Braketext to broadcast "Happy Holidays from Scoot! Magazine." A man in a car stopped me to ask where I got the Braketext, and wondered if they made it or cars. Dunnno. At any rate, you can see the video that I posted on YouTube. Thankfully iMovie is easy to use.


Interested in a fun event to do in the winter? Try a holiday lights ride in your area!

Scooter Christmas Cards

Whenever I'm in the local mall, I stop by Papyrus, a chain stationery store just to see if they have any scooter-themed cards. This past weekend, I found 2 great cards. The first is of a silhouette of a girl on a fenderlight Vespa with packages on the rear rack. It is cute and retro-flavored. The drawback is that it says, "For You, Sister" on the front and "Special wished of holiday joy to my terrific sis." Those of you who have read my blog before probably remember my previous rants about greeting cards where the card company comes up with greeting for us. I'd rather just have a cool graphic and write the greeting myself. This card could go to many people if it were blank, but since I don't have a sister, this will sit in my collectibles box. $2.95



The second card is, fortunately, blank. It has a colorized and glittered scooter on the front and nothing inside. Perfect for you to write your own, heartfelt and personal greeting, like "Merry Christmas, Steve." Just Kidding! The scooter looks as if it were sculpted or maybe made of tin, like a small toy. This is part of Papyrus' fancy-smancy line, so the card is a whopping $4.95. So, maybe that's what makes it hard to decide where to send it. It's not affordable to send a whole stack of them out. Forget the presents!


Papyrus has reently launched their online store,but it doesn't have these cards. Use the site to find the nearest location and grab them while you can.

Hallmark Santa Ornament

Each year as we enter November, I begin a little game. Luckily, my boyfriend Jon nd housemate Lori love to play, too. It's "find the scooter ornament." Some years, our prospects are lean, while others are brimming with finds. We're usually tipped off by rumors and chat from other scooterists, but we often have a plan of stores to scour, websites to check out and catalogs to flip through.

This year, Lori heard from another scooterist that Walmart had a Santa ornament. I had already hit Walmart and thought it seemed doubtful. After some web searches, Lori discovered that it was actually "Hallmark" not "Walmart" and off she went to buy out the last 2 "Santa's Scooter" ornaments left in the local store. Score one for Lori. Note: The Halmark site is a bear and you won't find the ornament on the site, so check your local stores for it. I also haven't been able to confirm of 3rd party retailers such as Long's Drugs have this ornament. I'll be checking that out, too.

The ornament has a pull-string at the back of the scooter which plays a version of "Here Comes Santa Claus" with scooter engine sound effects. Cute! Santa's hand waves while the song plays. Double-cute!The ornament retails for $20.

Although I should really be working on my feature article for the next issue, I am going to go out and hit the stores looking for something Lori or Jon haven't found. If you've got any tips to share with me or the blog readers, post a comment!