@BR Ednote:Editor’s Note: Every holiday season, the Bradenton Herald staff picks favorite gift selections from local businesses.

Gift: Mexican pottery elephant

Description: This Talavera-style pottery elephant is about the size of a small poodle and just as cute. It’s hand-painted in red, orange, cobalt-blue and turquoise and has yellow toenails.

Cost: $175

Where purchased: Seabreeze Pottery & Fountains, 1609 63rd Ave. E., Bradenton (751-9629)

Why I like it: This elephant has personality and, with his brilliant colors, would seem to be perfect in any garden to bring out the surrounding colors and create a happy atmosphere.

The hand-painted Mexican pottery is not as permanent as the stronger Colombian pottery, but it has a certain playfulness about it.

-- Richard Dymond, Herald staff writer