Emily Paine Carter

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Just in the (St.) Nick of time, here are some holiday gifting ideas. Items that couldn't be stuffed into Santa's bag this week will spill into next week's column.

Let's get to work:

n Yikes! Today is your last day to order bags of Mill Mountain coffee as a fundraiser for Salem High School's worthy literary magazine. So, drink some high-octane coffee and hurry to track down SHS teacher and magazine adviser Fred Campbell or any member of the Delphi staff. (Salem High School, 387-2437)

n Maybe you had the foresight to shop a few weeks ago at College Lutheran Church's sale of gifts from around the world: fair-trade coffee and chocolates, wood carvings, banana-peel art cards, ornaments, candles, bright cloth from Ghana, etc. If you missed it, you can still find such good items for good causes through SERRV International, a supplier for the sale, at (800) 423-0071, P.O. Box 365, New Windsor, MD 21776-0365. But do look for the Salem church's annual benefit sale next fall.

n There's still time for crafting, so get cranking! Don't wait until Dec. 23 to produce a cherish-worthy creation. I come by this advice honestly and wearily: in my exuberant, foolish teenaged years I decided to knit a complicated afghan for my Richlands grandmother -- a mere two days before Christmas. Sure, it was a lovely gesture, but that memory still makes my "knitting muscles" twitch (you might not think that muscles are involved in needle crafts, but a daylong, yarn-wielding marathon could change your mind).

Remember that decoupage projects need time to dry. And so do other glues and paints. Your lungs and brain cells will thank you for good ventilation, too. (More personal experience here, cough, cough.)

There's a dizzying array of craft possibilities at big area stores. But there's also Crossroads Hobbies & Crafts of Salem on West Main Street (at the turn for Adelphia Cable).

Shop clerk Betty Chandler said the store is well-stocked with all sorts of arts and crafts supplies. Say, supplies for making jewelry and beaded things. Assorted wooden shapes for painting or staining. Paints and brushes. Paint-by-numbers kits. Sculpey and Fimo bakeable clay. And "gallery glass" -- which I'm eager to try: "You paint it on a window and it dries to look like stained glass," she said.

And how-to books. (Hmm, I thought: Now there's a smart investment for your craft dollar -- although less exciting than just messily experimenting.)

Owner Ronnie Black said that among the store's featured hobbies are models of vehicles: trains, rockets, and radio-controlled cars and airplanes.

There's also a fine array of ribbons -- and someone to properly loop your chosen ribbon into bows: a plus for the time-crunched or coordination-challenged decorator.

n Remember that the Salem Museum has a charming little shop stuffed with reproductions of vintage toys; historic cookbooks; CDs; memorabilia from our late, beloved Lakeside Amusement Park; local books -- including talented former Salemite CeCe Bell's newest Sock Monkey book (a sock monkey kit might still be for sale); Salem landmarks depicted on decorative magnets and wooden "Cat's Meow" miniatures; greeting cards, etc. And among my favorites are those Dover publications: stickers, coloring books, postcards, labels ... all at very reasonable prices.

Plus, you can check out the fascinating exhibits, including the current World War I display. Admission is free.

Salem Museum, The Williams-Brown House in Longwood Park, 801 E. Main St., Salem. 389-6760. Web site www.salemmuseum.org or e-mail info@salemmuseum.org.

Crossroads Hobbies & Crafts of Salem, 1104 W. Main St. 387-3414.