The Ultimate Christmas Collection
Posted by kathy stanton on
The Ultimate Christmas Storage company is all about quality Ornament Storage. With more than 25 years of experience in creating custom high-end packaging, the founding Stanton family was originally inspired to create these sturdy, acid-free storage boxes to store Steve’s Grandmother’s vintage ornaments. Coincidentally around the time, Christopher Radko was single-handedly re-invigorating the antique tradition of hand-blown glass Christmas ornaments, creating a new market for custom ornament storage, and Ultimate Christmas Storage was born. Being collectors themselves, the Stantons were happy to offer their very protective ornament storage to everyone. The products have evolved quite a bit over the years with each new design building on past knowledge and client feedback. In a recent interview with The Stantons, we asked about Ultimate Christmas’ past, present, and future.
Where did it all begin?
“Quality, functionality and great design has been a priority from the start”
Ultimate Christmas has stood the test of time. Kathy notes that as an architect, Steve knew the value of good design, taking all aspects into consideration. The first Ultimate Christmas Storage Box was made from acid-free chipboard, treated with a tarnish inhibitor, the same materials still used today. “Our product was and still is strong and scientifically sound, something we’re very proud of” muses Kathy, “I still have my original boxes, perfect as they were the day they were made”. Functionality is also a key part of the design and the original box is still a popular item. It had two layers and 44 compartments with adjustable dividers, “Today we have a box that can hold up to 100 ornaments!” adds Kathy. In addition to being essential for organizing and safely protecting ornaments year-round, they also become part of a home’s holiday decor; another reason for their success. The original St. Nicolas print had a beautiful black background with a classic Santa, candy canes, and pink roses, it was very popular and a staple of the Ultimate line for over ten years, people still call and ask for it to this day.
Two of our retired designs - a deep blue Snowman motif to the left and the original St. Nicholas to the right. Image courtesy of Delonda Anderson Bethea on Facebook. In her words: “These are the absolute best ornament storage boxes!! I've used them for years....and they are beautiful just to have sitting out during the Christmas season. Love them....and they protect those precious keepsake ornaments.”
What prints are popular today?
St. Nicholas - The second generation
This traditional print appeals to all Christmas lovers. St. Nicholas has an old-world, vintage feel featuring a classic Santa with his big bag of toys embellished with teddy bears, dolls, trains, horns, and drums. It’s especially appealing to everyone wishing to create that warm Christmas atmosphere. Children will love to help decorate the tree when opening this box is like opening a gift from Santa himself.
The Red Moire Stripe is understated and elegant. It’s a beautifully versatile print that can take center stage or blend in. This classic Christmas red is modern and timeless. It complements all of the other festive holiday prints, to become a beautiful addition to a home’s holiday decor.
Kathy has been using the Ultimate Christmas Storage boxes as part of her decor for years, and offers the following decorating tip: “Once I have the tree up and decorated, I tie big wire-edged ribbons around the empty boxes and arrange them under the tree - after the star on the top, it is my finishing touch.”
“We love to offer a variety of prints and over the years our clients have used these unique designs to organize their ornaments and add some color and fun.” - Kathy Stanton
This nostalgic winter wonderland print with its muted grey background is a sweet snowy motif of snowmen sheltering little woodland animals under an umbrella. It’s a beautiful print appealing to everyone in the family and especially grandparents who want to captivate the grandchildren around Christmas time. Tie a silver or red ribbon around it for a stunning look. It looks especially beautiful next to the Red Moire.
An elegant, yet subtle designer print, this is a beautiful modern print bursting with winter foliage and gold leaf threads running throughout, it adds just the right amount of festivity to the home’s decor. This is another versatile print that works beautifully with a modern, classic, or traditional themed decor.
A fun, playful design that is equal parts modern and artsy. People love the less traditional sky blue background with a wide variety of animals decked out in winter scarves. Animals include sheep, geese, cows, dogs, and more. It’s simply adorable! Another family favorite to bring Christmas cheer.
Anything new for the future?
“I’m excited to launch our newest fabric, I’m sure it will be a future Classic and will be a huge hit with our clients” - Kathy Stanton
This timeless gold bengaline moire is sure to become an instant classic in the Ultimate Christmas line. The versatile and subtle gold moire can be dressed up or down to complement all the other prints, past and present. Add a red, black or gold wire-edged ribbon bow for that wow factor. It will also be perfect for Easter time, adding a sense of style to any decor.
“With quality always in mind, the new Golden Glow bengaline moire offers a subtle elegance in keeping with the Ultimate line. - we wanted to offer our clients a new holiday classic, both festive and timeless.
What would Ultimate Christmas like to add to their range in the future?
“We always ask our clients what they think before we add new products to the line, as we truly value their input” starts Kathy, “There are so many things that people also ask us for and many things we’ve done in the past that I’d love to bring back - such as a smaller 12 compartment box for the 12 days of Christmas ornament set - we’d probably partner with a designer that makes these ornaments”
Also, high up on the maybe list is:
A finial box to hold just one Finial
A nativity box for something more traditional
A wreath box - highly requested
Most notable moments in Ultimate Christmas history -
“It’s been such a wonderful journey - originally inspired to create this product by our need to protect our own vintage ornaments as well as new Christopher Radko pieces, we were delighted when at one stage Christopher Radko commissioned us to create a box specifically for them! That was definitely a highlight”
“In addition, Lynn Haney - who makes beautifully detailed Santas - wanted boxes made with his own fabric. It was absolutely stunning, a hunter green background with 5 different Lynn Haney Santas floating around on it - very limited edition.we’re always happy to collaborate with talented and well-known artists.”
“We’ve also had one really interesting order of our Kraft line.” Kathy admits that when she received a large order of 16 Kraft boxes from a new client, she called them to find out what they would be using the boxes for. “I know many of my clients, often adding personal notes to orders and receiving pictures of their boxes in use. When I got this order, it was quite natural to just call and find out about them.” Turns out that the boxes were being purchased by a University’s Oceanography Department, and would be used to categorize mussel shells! “Definitely wasn’t expecting that” Kathy joked.
Ultimate Christmas is a client-centered business, “We love hearing from our clients,” mentions Kathy. “We often receive photos and I absolutely love it when our clients get creative.” This is also one of the reasons why Ultimate Christmas developed the Kraft line. With its natural clean look, clients use these for organizing a multitude of items and collections. Being organized is so easy as you can write directly on the box what’s being stored inside. Great for kids - allowing children to decorate the boxes themselves, and get them started with organizing early! Of course, the Kraft line is fantastic for storing Christmas ornaments: “One client simply wrote on her box, using a silver paint pen, ‘fa la la la’ in big bold lettering - it was so simple and so stunning”. The sky's the limit for the Kraft line.
“We strive to keep evolving, always looking for new ways to help our customers, but never sacrificing our quality.” Kathy points out that Ultimate Christmas doesn’t just mean great products, she’s also very proud of her hands-on customer service, always replying personally and usually within a few hours. “We are very proud of everything we’ve achieved, all our designs, products, and collaborations, but we are most proud of the enthusiastic and loyal customers that we have all over the country, many of whom have been customers since the beginning.”
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