Shopping in Cranford

Those who maintain they learned everything they need to know in kindergarten will tell you that painting ceramics is an explosion of creative awakening only possibly on par with the popsicle-stick, log-cabin-building and macaroni-gluing that spur childhood imaginations to glowing realms of ecstatic craft-joy. There are more than 400 ceramic pieces to choose to paint at Color Me Mine's two NYC locations in Tribeca and the Financial District. The roomy, comfortable studios are a great place to get friends together for a pottery party, and wildly innovative painted piggy banks make one-of-a-kind, conspicuous gifts. Prices range from $12 to $95, depending on the size of the piece, plus a $12 kiln fee for each item.

Every morning, Yummy Good's owners rise, pluck fresh fruits and vegetables from their crates, and cast them into presses to squeeze every last drop of juice out. The resulting bottled concoctions – which blend the liquids of raw fruits and veggies into flavors such as rabbit juice or lemon love – wait to be picked up by or delivered to thirsty clients. With juice in hand, customers cleanse their insides with infusions of pure, raw nutrients in prescribed three- to five-day plans.

City Tree Lot’s trees travel from local farms and the mountains of North Carolina to decorate living rooms for the holiday season. Douglas firs support ornaments with sturdy branches, while the needles of a North Carolina Fraser fir twinkle magically under the rays of colorful Christmas tree lights. City Tree Lot’s trees range in height from 5 to 13 feet, allowing them to fit into tight corners or tower majestically in a stately living room or two-story man cave.

In addition to populating homes with seasonal greenery, the holiday helpers behind City Tree Lot also embody the spirit of the season through their ongoing charitable work. This year, their are twofold; in addition to collecting winter coats for victims of Superstorm Sandy, they're also running a supplies drive for animal shelters busy caring for newly homeless pets.

Since 1988, Specs For Less has been sharpening visual acuity in Staten Island and its surrounding areas. At each of its five locations, customers' eyes are coddled by a staff of optometrists, who examine eyes aided by up-to-date equipment as well as ongoing education. Meanwhile, eyewear consultants concern themselves with keeping newly minted prescriptions stylishly adhered to faces, occupying the vanguard of frame style trends with an inventory of designs from Coach, Fendi, and Dior.

Customers may walk into Top Hat & Tails as mere men, wearing jeans that sag off the waistline or scuff against the floor. But they leave as gentlemen, sporting fine men’s clothing and formalwear tailored to a T. Co-owners Brian Berry and Horace Kinard—who has been haberdashering for 20 years—take measurements onsite and alter in-house to drape dapper gents in fine suits, ties, tuxes, custom shirts, and shoes. A seasonally rotating catalog of styles from Calvin Klein, Joseph Abboud, and Oscar de la Renta elevates the elegance of invitees to weddings, dances, or black-tie balls. As Berry told Maplewood Patch last year, “We’ve had everything from Sweet Sixteens to every other formal event you can think of,” including musicians from the Philharmonic, who presumably came in to replace their glockenspiel's torn cummerbund.

The flooring experts at Korkmaz Rugs & Flooring, located less than 15 minutes from the Lincoln Tunnel, oversee 25,000 square feet of tile, laminate, hardwood, and luxurious hand- and power-loomed area rugs. A crop of more than 1,000 living-room-size carpets twirl before the customers' eyes on an automated rug-hanging display, showing off designs ranging from traditional Persian-style bordering and curly motifs to ultramodern geometric shapes to fuzzy Magic Eye puzzles. The crew of in-house flooring installers gussy up rooms with customized carpeting packages, runners, bindings, and exquisite hardwood medallions, and make feet feel distinguished with sheets of fine, classicaI Italian stone tile.