A dress................as a gift wrap embelishment.

There is something about this gift wrap concept I like. Actually there is a few things I like. Novel. Fun. Easy. And it is perfect for wrapping up a fashionista gift for friends who love your gift wrap efforts and presentation. In fact, they expect it from you, don't they?

It was this fashion photo that got me thinking about using a paper dress as a gift wrap embellishment. I loved the volume of this skirt so my only challenge was finding a way to build layers and volume in the skirt, that was the part that I thought would be fun to capture in a gift wrapped manner. Or at least as much as possible when using paper instead of couture fabric. 

Once I found the gift wrap mesh that was hiding away in my supplies, the rest of the dress was easy to build. I simply cut leftover pink damask gift wrap paper to make the bottom skirt lining and the bodice is a wide black flocked ribbon, then took 3 tiered layers of the gold mesh and secured them with a pewter push clip. You begin carefully threading ribbon (the smoother the better) through the mesh holes at the bottom of each mesh layer (not too close to edge as it the mesh will pull apart) and let the ribbon pouf a bit as you move it along. You are moving the ribbon in the top and then under the mesh. In this case there is 3 mesh tiers, each each shorter and 3 layers of ribbons which gives the skirt volume. There is no precise measurement, you can play with any ribbon any way you like, as much or as little as you want. I used a 1/2" chartreuse satin, when I tried a wider version it pulled the mesh holes too far apart. I think I may have a solution to that problem but I will demonstrate on my next "dress embelishment" post. If it works. 

I really like that the paper dress and gift wrapping has dimension and fullness as this top view shows. Simply makes the presentation more visual and fun when presenting to your fashionista friend.

You can go crazy with pattern (using up leftover gift wrap pieces) as I have in capturing the look of my inspiration photo or twist it to a more subdued palette. Depending on the size of your "dress", you can even use patterned scrapbook paper for your patterned skirt liner. It does peek through the mesh overskirt so make it pretty. I will share some other "dress embellishments" over the next few weeks, perhaps a bridal dress for the wedding season ahead?

This pliable mesh is available in most party stores in a variety of colours. I had the gold metallic mesh on hand and it happened to fit the colour direction I was aiming for but any colours would work equally as well or better. Perhaps pick a mesh colour that will enhance the gift paper colours you have on hand. I also use this mesh for wrapping wine bottles in an dramatic but elegant fashion. 

I chose a Paris giftwrap as my background (see inspiration photo above) but when your "dress" has this much texture and pattern, it would look fashionably stylish on any solid paper as well. The bow is a simple 1/4" satin ribbon tied around the gift to fashion a bodice bow. It isn't totally necessary at this point, but I did think it finished off the presentation quite nicely. Try it, you will see it really is...... novel. fun. easy. Back to work, I have a wedding "dress" to design. 

Photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life/ Photo 2 via Tumblr

Va Va Voom...for music to my ears

We have an exceptional symphony in our medium-size town of Windsor, Ontario. We are one of the cities in Canada that is right in the heart of the economic downtown and car industry meltdown, so the only music a lot of people want to hear is the hum of a well-functioning auto assembly line. But we are the keepers of our children's future world as well so I don't think this should mean we ignore the arts, though sadly it can be the first to go when concerns are more pressing. I think it means we should support it if we can, go listen to the local talent, go to that local artist showing, look around closer to home. Music needs to be heard, artists need to draw, and we need to hear and see beauty more than ever. Some of the most creative solutions will come from this very bleak time as the world re-aligns itself. With that in mind......I decided to do some va va voom in exchange for music to my ears.

A la la friend of mine is involved with the local Windsor Symphony and every year they have a fundraising gala. You know what that means.......silent auctions. I donate this Tower Of Gifts for three reasons, my friend is a really good one, two I hope it raises funds for our symphony, and three.......I hope the bidder has a wonderful la la moment when she opens it all ( last year's bidder had a "la la " un-wrapping party but they didn't invite me). I expect it will take about 3-4 hours to unwrap this production because it took double that time to put this tall lady together. It did run through my head to downplay the gift production, being that the economy is awful and I don't want to send the wrong message. Then I thought......just go crazy, I'll try to make it gorgeous and maybe it will fetch a few more dollars for our worthy symphony, in which case I'm going to bring out all the stops. I thought you might enjoy seeing this presentation, it's not often I do a tower (3.5 feet tall) that includes 5 boxes and 17 gift wrapped gifts (every single one of them) and likely about 200 yards of ribbon , I'm exaggerating, not quite that many yards.

The gala colour scheme is Black & White so I thought a strong dose of coral and orange would make it stand out and loosen some wallets. I used my vintage Paris label gift wrap and all 17 gift items of various sizes are from France (or look like they could be). In wrapping each item, I used 10 different gift wrap styles for a delicious pattern mix and just about every ribbon colour I have ( I did pass out at 10 pm). The Windsor Symphony director and conductor John Morris Russell is a fabulously energetic and creative one and I hope he will stick around, we are lucky to have him.

Just in case you think I've lost my mind with this over-the-top presentation, I thought I would share a simpler gift wrap presentation I used when wrapping up this lovely notebook. Look......no bows, just simple knots over matte gold metallic paper, it can be done.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ Oooh la la Cadeau

Wrapped in Paris

This makes me want to re-style my dressing table and perfume bottles. Though I don't have any vintage bottles as evocative of Paris as these, I can work with what I have and see what happens. Don't you think Lampe Berger should come out with a Vintage Paris collection that looks as fabulous as these? While I'm thinking of vintage Paris, this little idea for wrapping a petite cadeau came over me..............

New Paris Vintage Labels gift wrap!

Sometimes you just need to wrap up a special little something. Nothing too big or extravagant, could be a co-worker's birthday, the friend who listens really well, or a hostess gift. The gift may be small, but the giving message is the same and you want your petite presentation to reflect that. I used a thin velvet ribbon so this Paris vintage label pattern remains visible, then layered a decorative label over the ribbon. Decorative labels come in the same images as the paper so this is especially effective and easy. I tied in a amber crystal heart (taken from a keychain), but you could just as easily use the tiny paper flowers shown in last weeks post or any bauble you take from old costume jewelry. I'll show you more of these decorative labels as I prep them for addition to my website.

Photo Image from Jo Tyler-discovered via Beautiful Things To Share, Vintage Paris Gift Wrap and Vintage Decorative Labels Tin from Cavallini & Co.