tulle, tissue, and itune movies

A quick explanation for my blogging absence. A major spring-cleaning and house purge that went longer than you can imagine, a unexpected dart-in-the-neck type of allergy response triggered by a late but pollen-laden spring that practically put me into a coma I swear, a bit of outdoor nesting as you will read about below. Sometimes that happens and once started I was determined to get overdue tasks out of the way before Daisy and I head up to Haliburton in Northern Ontario for July to spend time with my best friend at her most relaxing cottage. Plenty of girl time, hiking, rowing, swimming, campfires, and s'mores and absolutely no schedule, quite possibly no makeup either. I hope to blog but that will be based on their internet provider in this secluded setting. In the meantime, I still have several weeks to pass along some gift wrapping ideas of a more summery look. As I have claimed many times, I am not a crafty gal but even I can make these tulle and tissue pom poms. I think the combination of the soft and stiff materials gives the pom pom a bit more layered personality. I will try a few, some really big ones and show you how to use them for a soft and summery gift presentation. You can get started with this easy tutorial here.

Last winter I was watching the movie Sisters, kind of a depressing movie (based on the Anton Chekhov play) about a dysfunctional trio of sisters. When the movie opens, they are preparing a birthday party and as they are trading verbal barbs, one of them is hanging a most colourful garland of glowing birthday lights across a balcony staircase. I know it was the satin ribbon and brightly coloured bags that caught my eye and and I made a mental note to find the festive party enhancer, truthfully it was the only thing that made that movie rental worthwhile. To make a long story shorter, I finally ran across it this morning and the Martha Stewart tutorial can be seen here. Imagine the colour possibilities! I love them used outdoors (if the evening stays dry) but loved them equally as used in the movie, indoors to brighten up a wintry birthday celebration. 

Our screened veranda is finally finished and it has become one of those "why didn't we do this sooner" type of home projects, we do feel like we suddenly have a small cottage outside our living room. I believe in spending every minute of our relatively short summer season outdoors and to enjoy meals without swatting flies away has become an indulgent pleasure each and every evening. I have always loved screened porches and mostly because they strike me as quite cosy in the evening so the first thing I did was go buy lamps. To turn on an outdoor lamp in our area without attracting mosquitoes is quite the summer luxury, of course they still come but they can't get to us now. I have quickly progressed from nighttime reading to watching itune movies on my laptop which as led to the final decision in finishing our new living quarters which I knew would answer itself pretty quickly. I am so going to need a daybed..............function always follows form. 

Speaking of itunes movies...............and speaking of steamy! Leaving is a tortured and passionate love story, the kind that Kristin Scott Thomas does so well. There are sub-titles, a beautiful locale, no happy ending, plenty of steamy behavior, and a big question............how far would you go for love? Note: I do watch all kinds of movies, fun ones too. 
















Image 1 via Greedy For Colour/Image 2 via Martha Stewart/Image 3 and 4 via Google/ Links above.

When I fell in love with Grosgrain Ribbon

I always liked grosgrain ribbon but I much preferred satin ribbon. Actually, I would say that I adore satin ribbon as you well know by now. Satin ribbon always moves easily in my hands when I tie a bow, cooperates in a smooth manner while grosgrain resists tight twists and turns more than most ribbon types. Gros grain actually means coarse texture. Because of it's weave (and signature horizontal weave lines) it is a stiffer fabric, it will fight with you a bit but in the end it does make for a lovely stiff bow. Some people simply like the crisp, classic look of grosgrain ribbon better than the more feminine satin sister. 

It wasn't until I received a 2.5" wide grosgrain ribbon recently that I changed my mind, the extra width made all the difference. Revealed it's unique texture better too. Ever since this 2.5' grosgrain showed up in chocolate brown, hot pink, black and turquoise, I have been using it like crazy (you know how I love a lavish presentation). I like any ribbon that holds it's shape a bit, one of the reasons I rarely use wired ribbon. Once a gift is wrapped, it should be wrapped. I can't stand fussing and fluffing with it on the way to an event. Truthfully, by that point I am more concerned with my attire than my gift presentation.

You may notice I have combined 3 gift wrap techniques, wrapped them all together in one presentation. I have re-cycled a Henri Bendel store box, used a magazine image(Fashionista Gift Wrap), and clipped on a stray earring as a jewelry embellishment (believe me, if I had the pair I would be wearing them). Oh, and I used a type of ribbon that you have rarely seen me use before, so technically that makes it 4 techniques as far as blog tags go. This view to the side and rear is to show the effect of longer ribbon tails. My guideline, the wider the ribbon, the longer the ribbon tails, even more glam if they trail off the package.

As I mentioned before, remember to scan your favorite magazine images and re-use or re-format in the future for gift wrap or gift tags. I would certainly want to use this costumed Cate Blanchett as Elizabeth (torn from the pages of Vogue) as a matching gift tag. And I will as soon as I figure out this new scanner. I promise to show you.

All photos by Sande Chase ~ A Gift Wrapped Life