Gift Wrapping

My wrapping for little Scarlet's present.
Some assorted wrapping I have done over the years.
Colourful wrapping spotted at Ariel Booksellers.






The amazing Lena Corwin shows us some divine Christmas Wrapping from her friend Karen.













I love wrapping presents! Each year I begin planning my Christmas Wrapping theme months in advance. For me, it is one of the most exciting parts about Christmas. (Oh and of course the tree decoration and spending time with family and friends).

So...here are a few gift wrapping ideas I have found helpful:

1. I started a ribbon and trims box collecting odd pieces throughout the year. I use the long bits of ribbon to tie around gifts and I make bows and gift tag ties from the mini-me lengths.

2. I love using recycled paper or wallpaper off-cuts for interesting wrapping. I once found 6 rolls of canary yellow floral 1960's wallpaper on ebay and used it to wrap all of my gifts at Christmas. If I see something in a magazine I love, or a cute press release or poster, I make a few colour photocopies of it and use to gift wrap small trinkets like a lipstick or hair bow.

3. I generally save off-cuts of gift wrap and use them as a kind of belly band or feature strip on other gifts to add a nice contrast to the main gift wrap. (see Ariel wrapping picture above) But note - eek! Expect to store a big box of scrap paper for this one!

4. I think bows and corsages on gifts are so cute when formed out of unexpected materials such as pipe cleaners, leaves and crepe paper. I love to include fake flowers or paper doily's purchased from variety stores (see first pic).

5. I always invest in some pretty tape to give attention to detail to the underside of the gift (and to use to attach decoration to the top of the gift). At the moment my favourites are a lemon yellow gingham tape, some metallic coloured tape given to me by my lovely friend Lisa when she moved to NYC (thanks Leesie!) and some MT polka-dot tape.

6. Sometimes I wrap gifts in a pastel coloured tissue paper, then scatter with some glitter or paper confetti and re-wrap in some biodegradable cellophane. Not to be advised if the present opening is taking place at your house! (>_<)

7. I make my gift tags each year from scanning either my custom Christmas card design or my favourite image, scaling it down to gift tag size and step and repeating to print on A4 paper. Either that or I use little cardboard off-cuts or manila tags and stamp the recipients name with these with Kikki K Wooden Alphabet stamps. Time consuming but well worth it!

Now I am so inspired by all the lovely gift wrapping ideas seen on these beautiful blogs I can hardly wait for Summer to start planning my wrapping theme! :)

You can check out some eco wrapping tips here.

Cute little face wrapping seen on Tas-ka.

My Christmas wrapping from 2007.





The lovely Handmade romance made these pretty bows from this inspiration.




Sweet little 'Hello Happy' tags from The Small Object.


And this eco friendly gift wrapped present by this flickr poster.

Ikea's 2008 Christmas wrapping paper collection.


Plastic Bag pom poms from the very clever Creature Comforts.


Lena Corwin shows us a great way to recycle scrap pieces of fabric furoshiki style.


Some Eco-wrapping ideas from Martha Stewart.


Imagine these little corsages individually as little bows upon gifts!





I must say, having some lovely sticky tape is a big help! I stocked up on MT tape when I was in Tokyo last October.


Some lovely gift wrapping ideas from this Japanese wrapping book.














Or failing all this, if it all just gets too much, just leave a little comment below and for a small price I will wrap all of your gifts for you this Christmas! :) Job done!

Love Love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

Tavi and the wonderful 12-year-old world of Style Rookie




















I spot some Yokoo here.













For anyone feeling slightly ill with the thought of nearing dirty thirty like me, look no further than Style Rookie blog (compiled by a super fashionable 12-year-old) to make you feel even worse. Oh but little Tavi is just so adorable and talented that you can't help but just love her!

Style Rookie is full of quotes like this:

In other insomnia ramblings, I am honestly not that big on fashion magazines. Or at least, I hardly ever buy them. I just sneak food into Borders and grab a bunch of Vogues and fancy WE USE HELVETICA AND ALL CAPITAL LETTERS/COST 24 DOLLARS magazines and read them in the corner whilst slurping some GoGurt and walk out without buying anything. That's how you gotta operate in this here "recession," you see. Go cheap or go home!

(Editor's note: ha ha! I love Tavi's 'We use Helvetica and all capital letters / cost 24 dollars' quote! Hilarious!)

And this:
Thank you guys so much for the very helpful comments on my last post. My intention with the no-press promise I've explained before, and by reading the post you'll see that it is not at all a matter of thinking the press is not worthy of my blog. I didn't start this blog to get a head start in the industry or bring a lot of hits to my page, else I would be grasping more opportunities. Because of this, there really isn't any point in me taking press other than wanting to see my name in print, which I really don't have any desire to. I'm happy to contribute to an article creatively, but that's very different. I'm really grateful to be considered as the subject of an article, but I shouldn't feel obligated to say yes to an offer just because others would love to have the opportunity.
I'm 12. This blog is for fun.

Please please please watch this video of little Tavi reflecting on her first year of blogging. Divine!

Love love
Hello Sandwich
xxx

I love Three Buttons



Yesterday I discovered Three Buttons blog and I must say, it is absolute love at first sight. Here are some gorgeous things that the lovely Angela has featured on her divine blog.

Above: Something nice project.



So sweet are these folk inspired heart bags! I desperately want one!





How cute is Three Buttons! Documenting hearts wherever she sees them! Have a look at the full story here.



Oh and how can you read this story and not fall in love with Three Buttons?


















Hello Bear! 

Japanese sewing machine magazines?! Yes please!




Come Sad. Leave Happy. What a wonderful place! 



Hello Sandwich would also like to thank Three Buttons for her lovely post and link yesterday! xxx

Craftastic!











One of these days I am going to have some free time. I just know it! I'm going to do some gardening, read my new Murakami novel, get out my Holbein gouache and make some paintings and colour code my winter wardrobe. I may even get prepared and pre-make this Christmas' bonbons rather than send myself into the usual panic come December 24.

Or do you know what I might do? I might make myself a nice Earl Grey tea, crack open the Iced Vovo's, and set myself up for a craft day with the lovely Pip Lincolne's new book Meet Me at Mikes. With 26 craft projects - all of which are more Cool-Melbourne-Craft-Chic than Nana-Craft (though I must admit, I am rather prone to a crochet coat hanger myself) this is one book you won't want to miss out on!

The amazing Pip has this to say about her new book:

The book is chock full of beautiful photos, projects and how-tos on all the basic things like sewing, knitting, crochet and embroidery. The projects range from simple screen printing, to making a mobile from paper ephemera, to clothing for crafty girls and babies, to making cute soft toys. There are things for the playroom, kitchen, living room and bedroom too! There are great gifty things to make for your Mum or your best friend (could be handy with Mother's Day looming?!)

Most projects are for beginners - but there are a couple of trickier things to keep the clever crafters happy too - and even if you've never made things before, this book will show you how. Instructions are fun and friendly - and all terms and techniques are shown clearly - assuming you are a complete beginner, so don't be scared!

Maybe it's time you made your Nanna proud and got into a bit of Contemporary Craft?! (Because it's really just a new-fangled version of her old-fashioned techniques!) Have fun making stuff!


You can buy the book at all good bookstores - or online here and here.

P.S. While you are waiting for your book to arrive check out Pip's blog! Or get involved in her Words and Pictures blog links. You could also join Pip's Brown Owls craft club. But better still, why don't you knit a Nana-Style Square blanket following these instructions.


Craftastic!

xxx

Marc Jacobs Daisy





Marc Jacobs Daisy have just brought out a Spring Edition! It's exactly the same lovely fresh scent, but now has sweet little grass-green petals! But the best part about this Limited Edition Spring Daisy is that it comes complete with a little garden treat: a set of colourful stickers to personalise your Daisy bottle. The assortment includes friendly little critters such as ladybugs and butterflies and daisies of all colours. You can apply the stickers to the glass, petals, cap or anywhere your little Daisy spirit takes you.

It's available in Australia from June 22 but if you can't wait till then you can meet the sticker critters and download some cute wallpapers like the below from the Marc Jacobs Daisy Website.



Tagged



I was tagged by the lovely Windy Days to answer these questions.

What is your current obsession?
Blogging! Can't you tell! :)

What are you wearing now?
A black satin high waisted pouffy skirt, a multi coloured sequined blouse, magenta suede bow pumps, and hair in a ponytail.

Do you nap a lot?
I have been lately after a busy deadline however I usually never nap. I generally think of naps as a luxury although lately they have been more of a necessity.

If you were a tree, what tree would you be?
I would like to one of these trees carved into amazing shapes.







What's for dinner?
Tonight we had Temaki Japanese hand roll night. I guess it's like the Japanese equivalent of tacos. We make a platter of avocado, cucumber, lettuce, tuna, salmon, egg, rice, mayonnaise and wrap in nori. We eat this once a week.

What was the last thing you bought?
A blueberry bagel and a latte from Pigeon coffee this morning. My favourite way to start the day.

What are you listening to right now?
Bill Evans Trio.

What is your favorite weather?
Chilly January days in Tokyo. I love rugging up in a warm jacket, gloves and scarf and making daily trips to the local sento.

What is on your bedside table?
A pile of magazines including Korean Vogue Girl and Ryuko Tsushin, Japanese for Everyone language study book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris on loan to me by the lovely Zoe (eek I promise to finish over the Easter break!), an almost empty tin of Atrix hand cream, my favourite Mogitate Kajitsu White Peach lip balm, a glass of water, a photo frame of my boyfriend and I in Taipei last year, a few bobby pins and a polka dot hair elastic.

What is your most challenging goal right now?
To finish my thesis before August.

Say something to the person who tagged you.
Windy Days I love love love your pretty blog! And it is so nice to have met you through the blogging world. I hope you have a gorgeous day. xxx

If you could have a house anywhere in the world, where do you want it to be?
Tokyo. In either Daikanyama, Shimokita or Nakameguro.

What can’t you live without?
My family and friends, creativity, Dame Edna Coral Popyp lipstick by MAC, and my mac.

What was the last book you read?
The last book I read was Haruki Murakami's Kafka on The Shore. On Boxing Day I purchased a stack of books using a voucher given to me from my lovely Aunty Donna but I still haven't made my way through them: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami, Naked by David Sedaris, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell, and Wild Ducks Flying Backward by Tom Robbins.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
Tokyo!

Last movie you watched?
A documentary called 'Traveling with Yoshitomo Nara'. Amazing!


I would like to tag these talented ladies: Yumi, Handmade romance, Emma, Bree, and Daydream Lily (if you want to of course!) and anyone else who would like to. :)