Sweet Pea and Grosgrain

Officially, this is my 200th post but don't tell anyone because I do want the post to be a bit more special and include a May Giveaway. Maybe something thoughtful and profound. And so this is my unofficial 200th post as sometimes life gets in the way and even blogging goes on hold. The official 200th post will be sometime in the next week, as soon as we see our Dad through a major and unexpected spinal surgery tomorrow. Before I left for the hospital this afternoon I had to get a few orders wrapped and delivered and thought I would show you one.......I call it Sweet Pea.

I know you rarely see me gift wrap in what is referred to as a monochromatic color scheme. Nor do you often see me use grosgrain ribbon as I certainly favour double faced satins for the most part. I actually do enjoy working with grosgrain, it can be simple but striking. I will try some other variations in grosgrain ribbon in upcoming posts. It is an easy ribbon for most to use, it always ties easily, makes for a crisp, neat bow and is one of the most affordable ribbons.You can't ask for too much more than that from any ribbon.

What you have heard me talk about multiple times is the use of offcuts, those leftover strips of wrapping paper that are generally long and narrow. If you look closely you will see that I used an offcut as a wide folded strip over the gift wrap for dimension and as a guide for placing my three lengths of 1" grosgrain ribbon. The offcut is taped to the bottom (with double-sided tape so nothing is visible) and also works nicely to hide the folded sides. I simply brought the ribbon under the offcut strip and positioned the trio of grosgrain bows, one on top, two to the bottom. You could do any variation you like depending on the size of the package. This was a fairly large box so using three lengths seemed to enhance the presentation because I was using narrow ribbon. Gift wrapping is all about proportion, just like home design. Then again, sometimes rules can be broken and isn't that the fun of it?

It is official, I love the name Sweet Pea. This was a gift for someone so I do look to add something cheery and pretty. I thought this die-cut card was lovely with this green gift wrap presentation, but then made a inside copy error in my rush. But as you know, I will simply cut the image off and save it for another time as a gift card. There is a few other card variations I will attempt in upcoming posts. I have a rather long and interesting list of gift wrap techniques to challenge myself with shortly so the upcoming gift wrapping posts look to be quite creative and hopefully inspirational. Many have asked me to resume my Gift Wrap 101 tutorials and they will be coming back, along with the Small Comfort Series.

And just so you don't think I have totally lost my mind by leaving out embellishments of some nature. I added these petite white flowers to see which style you preferred. Feel free to tell me your preference. Maybe all this time you would have preferred more monochromatic gift wrapping. And to the lovely follower who emailed me in the last week asking for help in selecting and buying good ribbon, I will be emailing you back with some suggestions as soon as this hectic week is over.


My blog posts may be sparse over the next week though sometimes blogging can be a nice stress-release break between hospital breaks, so who knows which way it will go. Thank you in advance for your patience and see you soon. I hope you will look forward to my official 200th  post and the May Giveaway celebrating this blog milestone. A most grateful welcome to New Followers and I am honored that you have joined me here at A Gift Wrapped Life.



All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life