Secret Garden Gift Wrap

At midnight the night before our daughter's party, I finally took the time to wrap the only two gifts we were taking to the party.

I was exhausted. I was anxious about the party. I was alone in the diningroom with wrapping paper, ribbon, tape strung out across the table while everyone else was fast asleep. I was thinking "Why do I always put this off until the last possible minute?!" I was working very quickly. No time to miscalculate. No time to start over and redo.

It's funny. I began wrapping without a plan. No Secret Garden Wrapping Plan floating around in my head. Just scissors and extemporaneous cutting and taping.

In the buffet drawer in our dining room lies some of the most beautiful wrapping paper, double faced satin ribbon, tissue paper, and paper flowers sent to me by none other than Sande aka A Gift Wrapped Life. Yes, I was armed with paper from the renowned Wrap Room!

_{The beautiful blush paper with handwritten script and celadon birds is my absolute favorite paper in Sande's Wrap Room.}

I also have a secret to tell you...Sande tied the bow on this gift!

Do you know that when the gorgeously wrapped package of gift wrap arrived on my doorstep the long rectangular white box inside was wrapped in this very bow?

That night, in my haste and desperation, I grabbed this gorgeous pink ribbon bow, that I had stowed away, and twisted the loop and made it fit this box. It took some patience and maneuvering, but it worked!

And this beautiful bow was rescued from the giftwrapping trashbag at the end of the party. I caught my husband just as he placed it in the trash. "What are you doing?" I said as I halted him in the act, "I can reuse that! and the paper!;)

The second gift was a complete accident. I can't take credit for this idea. I wasn't even thinking straight by this point.

I wrapped this box in solid white paper.

I did something terrible. I ripped a page out of a Beatrix Potter book! Oh, that's bad.

I trimmed the illustration down to fit the surface of the box and rounded the edges.

Then I cut two small slits at the bottom of the illustration so that I could run the ribbon under it.

Then I added some more Wrap Room ribbon. Layering different widths of ribbon is another one of Sande's tips.

Then something reminded me of the little celadon green paper flowers she sent in the package...

I pulled them from the drawer and laid them on the pink bow.

"The lettuces were certainly fine."

Total accident.

_{Green paper flowers pose as sweet little lettuces}

This last image is a freebie. Exactly one week after the party I saw this display created by Linda at WillowNest.

A simple white pedastal with white roses tucked in cabbage leaves...

A fine idea for a secret garden party.

A Gift Wrapped Life-Enter the World of Beautiful Gift Giving

Sande works her magic on a Hermes box by adorning it with tangerine and expresso brown ribbons

It's true-the world has become smaller thanks to the blogosphere. How else would I have possibly ever met Sande at A Gift Wrapped Life? How else would I have been able to become an apprentice of her trade? How else would such a talented decorator and business owner from another country ever find a connection with me, a former high school teacher?

Yes, blogging has opened the door to many friendships that otherwise would have never been created or even conceived.

Although Sande and I have never met in person, I call her a friend.

We keep up with each other through our blogs and email-She asks about Amelia;

I ask her about her website. We share each other's images on our posts. We even post over similar things without even realizing it from time to time.

Sande, I wish you all of the best in your newest business venture!

A Gift Wrapped Life rejuvenates two Kate Spade boxes

In a matter of days, Sande will be launching a new line of goodies- Gift wrap!!!

This new line of merchandise in her online boutique will be notably called the

Wrap Room.

For all of you paper collectors, ribbon lovers, and gift wrap amateurs,

Sande's new Wrap Room is sure to make you giddy!

Here are some of my favorite papers that she will be offering:

By following Sande's gift wrap tips and by using some of her top of the line gift wrap accessories, perhaps we too can give our loved ones some of the most beautifully packaged gifts as those pictured below.

I just love the simplicity and classic style of these two gifts. These are two samples of gift wrap for the special men in our lives.

Gray, pink, and white....
I would decorate a room by this box...or even use this box as a decoration...Seriously.



What a romantic package- Aqua and champagne ribbon topped with cream paper roses.
So perfectly beautiful.




Sande is doing a marvelous giveaway as the launching of her new website approaches.
Click here to enter!



If you have never visited A Gift Wrapped Life, then you must take the first flight there!