Sugar & Sweetness ............for Valentines Day

I haven't done a frou frou type of gift wrapping since the holidays............a presentation way over the top in sugar & sweetness. I spent part of my  weekend printing out mararon style papers, hunting down my hidden stash of pastel Ladurée ribbon, and my aim was to go high on the sweetness scale for a friend's group birthday gift, one of those significant birthdays that require major spoiling. As it turned out, I think it's level of sweetness is perfect for Valentine's Day. 

Now to get these lovelies in a box that doesn't squeeze the sugar out of the paper macarons.......so to speak. I lined up the 6 wrapped gifts in 2 long white floral boxes, 3 gifts in each box. These simple boxes are the perfect way to arrange multiple gifts, no crushing of ribbons and quite the gift wrapped effect when the lid is removed and pleated tissue opened. When the event is special, I look to give the party girl a bit of oooh and ahhh, that's what makes the effort worthwhile. 

Of course, the recipient will anticipate long stemmed flowers but so far I have never had anyone mind that the box was filled with gifts instead and I use this long, slim box quite often. Though I order these in quantity online you could ask your friendly florist to sell you a few when needed for this type of presentation. Or don't forget to save them if you happen to receive some long-stemmed romance today. 

A monochromatic handwritten paper as my printer was running out of ink fast with printing out all these colourful macarons. 

I even tried a pleated ribbon medallion with a leftover piece of hand-dyed silk ribbon...........and as you know I am not a crafty gal but it worked. I have been asked if it is a bit crazy to put this much effort into wrapping gifts in this manner............it would only be crazy if it didn't make the recipient feel so indulged and all the ribbons can be ironed and re-used. If it enhances someones special day, I am all for being the crazy one. But that's not the bad kind of crazy, is it?

Bring out the pastels, satin and silk ribbons, pearl ribbon, faux fur ribbon, paper flowers, soft tissue and crystal hearts. In other words, bring out the pink.....and girly attitude, no matter the age. 

The bright orange was my macaron paper favorite and I used it as a lid cover so the bottom box colour became part of the packaging. I think it added a nice saucy jolt to all the pastel tones. 

The bevy of gorgeous gifts for the beautiful birthday girl is a group effort, the gifts selected by the "best shopper" in our group, the "baker" bakes the sinfully rich chocolate iced cake, another makes the reservations, and I do the wrapping even though I am far from the best wrapper in the group. All of our good wishes are ready to be covered with layers of pink pleated tissue and closed up. Yes, believe it or not..........one more wrapping step. 

When you use a floral box, you can fuss up the outside as little or as much as you want............either way these slim boxes works really well for a presentation method. You can even get alway with just layering your gifts unwrapped in the tissue (clothing, books, diamonds). This is an older photo of the box as I didn't get a finish shot and no logo label on a birthday gift but you get the idea. 

Have the sweetest Valentine's Day!

I am all for sugar & sweetness......any day of the year. 

Photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life