Dec. 03--No two snowflakes are alike -- and no two snow globes either. Well, that's not quite accurate. When it comes to those spellbinding glass globes adorning many a holiday mantel, a few scenes pop up repeatedly: a Christmas tree, for example. Or Thomas Kindade-esque cabin tucked between towering pines. A deer stopping by woods on a snowy evening (a la Robert Frost?) A wintry cityscape. Santa. Sleighs ...
Cool Snow Globes -- a company founded in Vermont that, despite its pun moniker, makes seriously beautiful hand-painted snow globes ("chillingly beautiful" they'd say) -- has all the basics covered: St. Nick snow globes, Christmas tree snow globes and something called Snowman in Jar (exactly what it sounds like). But there are also delightful deviations from the norm. The Zen collection features tiny, contemplative scenes such as a rock garden, a stone cairn and a golden pagoda nestled among snow-dusted trees. The arts series includes a glitter-infused re-creation of Georges Seurat's pointillist masterpiece "A Sunday at La Grande Jatte," plus globes paying homage to Monet water lilies and Klimt's "The Kiss."
Cool Snow Globes also makes custom editions for clients such as Harrods of London, the White House Historical Association and the Joffrey Ballet. We're coveting the midcentury-modern snow globe depicting the iconic Glass House in New Canaan, Conn. (available through the Glass House Design Store at designstore.theglasshouse.org). Meanwhile, there's something simple and starkly beautiful about the snow globe featuring only a stand of birch trees. It calls to mind "the easy wind and downy flake" of Frost's poem -- the meditative silence of snow falling in deep woods. That's the kind of winter magic Snowman in Jar or some Disney-themed globe can't capture.
Most Cool Snow Globes are $56. Available at coolsnowglobes.
Laura Pearson is a freelance writer.
