Best Results Organizing

A few years ago, I wrote a post about my favorite organizing-related gift options for Paper Doll’s 2012 Holiday Gift List: A Compendium of Practical Delights, and included a link to designer Pat Kim’s Corkboard Globe.

The $270 message-and-reminder globe really caught people’s attention, so it was unfortunate that Kim ceased production and sale of the globe early the following year. Paper Doll HQ has fielded a lot of requests over the past 18 months from readers and fellow bloggers who wanted to find some globe-like alternatives for messages and other creative endeavors.

I believe I’ve finally found some worthy like-minded products.

CORK GLOBE

The delightful but unfortunately named Suck UK (purveyors of the nifty Origami Sticky Notes and the Cloud Magnetic Key Holder) carry Chiaki Kawakami‘s Cork Globe, complete with corky-tan oceans and tarry black continents with clearly defined national borders.

Mounted to rotate on a sleek stainless steel base that stands 11 3/4″ high, this 10″ diameter cork globe is designed to allow you to check off countries as you globe-trot or dream of future travels. (It’s great for kids who need to track their parents or other loved ones as they travel hither and yon.)

A handful of pins (i.e., thumb tacks) are supplied, though you can certainly use your own, perhaps to color-code who travels where. However, it’s not clear whether the blacking is deep enough so that repeated push-pinning won’t make countries seem more like cork-colored blobby lakes.

Suck UK’s Cork Globe is $200 — not quite as pricey as Pat Kim’s original $270, but it may still come with a hefty shipping cost if you’re in North America, and it’s not exactly kid-friendly without supervision. Check out the search page to put in your zip code and “cork globe” to see if it’s worth a road trip to any of the North American specialty shops that might carry it. For example, I found one option at a not-horrible two-hour distance from Paper Doll HQ.

[Editor’s note: Paper Doll has now found the same globe, available in the US, from Uncommon Goods, for only $150, and at CB2 for $129. Huzzah!]

This educational version of the cork globe concept seems too nice to use for posting your grocery list, however. So, I was still searching the globe (pun intended) for a more message-oriented option.

CHALK AROUND THE WORLD

Chalk Around the World Globe, a (mostly) globular chalkboard, measures 8 1/2″ in diameter. The base is made of powder-coated iron and comes in gold,

blue,

and red.

Suitable for a homeschool room, playroom, bedroom or any area with casual decor, I think the Chalk Around the World Globe is ideal as a message board that can’t be ignored! (Hey, that  rhymed! The manufacturers better cut me in if they use my marketing slogan!)

Chalk Around the World Globe is a Land of Nod exclusive item and sells for $49 for the gold, blue and red versions, a price significantly more manageable than any cork versions we’ve seen.

DO-IT-YOURSELF?

I’d hoped to find a set of instructions for creating a DIY version of the standard cork globe. Given that it’s easy enough to find styrofoam balls everywhere from Staples to specialty stores like Foam Ball Innovation, it doesn’t seem like it would be that difficult, and Pinterest certainly has all sorts of boards for creating cork maps. Sadly, thus far, alternatives for acquisition of cork globes and instructions for the best way to create safe, practical bases have eluded me.

Readers, feel free to share your thoughts on how a crafty self-starter might create the memo-globe of his or her dreams!