When doing last minute Christmas shopping, consider adding to the home collection of someone on your gift list. Or, if you know they have an interest in certain items (and equally important, a place to store or display collectibles), start them off with a few.

It could make shopping easier for Christmas next year and every other gift giving occasion between now and then.

When it comes to deciding what to collect, the sky is the limit and pricing varies. Some people collect books by their favorite author. Others love anything Disney or any object with a lighthouse on it for instance. This time of the year is perfect for starting a holiday patterned china collection.

Connie Thompson (see “Time to call it The Thompson House”) is a buyer, seller and collector of antique and vintage items. Flower frogs are just one of the things that she’s “into” now. These are affordable, with some starting as low as a few dollars. But there are also flower frogs that sell for thousands of dollars.

These flower frogs make interesting displays and are great conversation starters, because not everyone knows about them. After all, when green floral foam was invented in the 50s, flower frogs soon became somewhat passé.

Production had already slowed significantly from what it was in the late 20s and early 30s because of WWII and The Depression. Records show the first floral frog patent was issued in 1875. However, flower arrangers or frogs are still being produced today. For instance Kenzan pin frogs are used for Japanese flower arranging called Ikebana.

Floral frogs help hold flowers secure for flower arrangements. Some are free standing or figural and created from pottery. Others are used in the bottom of vases. The design might be a metal grid to poke stems through or a metal disc with pins, clips or spikes sticking up to help secure stems. Others are clear or colored glass disk with holes for flowers with thicker though delicate stems like tulips or lillies. Shapes are round or square and only an inch or so tall.

Though there is no way to know for sure, the name, “frog” is thought to come from the fact that these flower holders rest in water, like a frog.

Glass flower frogs can be repurposed to hold crayons, display a marble collection, hold tweezers or other small items. Metal spiked versions can hold recipes or business cards.Floral frogs