Psssst, hey - buddy! Wanna buy the Larkin Building?

You may have heard Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple referred to as a jewel box of a church, but now you actually have the opportunity to stash your own baubles there. Not in the real thing, of course, although I'm sure the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation will accept any spare gemstones you may care to donate.
No, I'm talking about a cherry and curly maple replica made by Jay Rogers, a Harvard music grad who abandoned teaching to "leave financial security behind and become a full time artisan and maker of boxes." The award-winning craftsman's work will be on display at this coming weekend's American Craft Exposition, taking place August 24th to 26th, in the Henry Crown Sports pavilion at Northwestern University in Evanston. (Friday 10-8, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday 11-5 - more information online or by calling 847/570.5096.)

In addition to the three compartment Unity Temple box, there's also a six compartment box replica of the demolished Larkin Bulding, until 1950 in Buffalo, New York, and now in Pommele Sapele, Lacewood, and Curly Maple. Open the box by lifting off the roof, and you can almost hear the soft click track of all the teensy-tiny clerks pecking away at their teensy-tinier typewriters.