Wrapped Beautifully

Sending Flowers - Is There Any Way To Make Them Last Longer?

So, you have decided that you will be sending flowers to someone for a holiday or a special occasion.  Flowers can be so special and so beautiful.  Although they can be fairly expensive, the expense can be justified.   But, it doesn't seem right that sometimes a bouquet of flowers doesn't last and therefore can't be appreciated for very long.

If the flowers were delivered fresh, there are a few tricks that you can take advantage of which can really make a difference.  This article explains these  in detail!  Sending Flowers Article

Now, if you are not 100%  committed to sending flowers as a gift, there are always other  gift alternatives that you can consider which are not perishable.  Fragrant imported soaps and candles can be a wonderful idea for people that seem to have everything.  Something that is a little more personal and perhaps luxurious is a silk scarf.  Silk scarves are a great alternative especially when the woman you have in mind doesn't tend to treat herself to luxury items such as this. 

Gift Delivery and Presentation - Just How Important Is It?

 From the time I was a little girl, I've been very appreciative of the way in which gifts are presented.  When it's done well, it really transforms the experience into something special, almost magical.

Not that much has changed today.  Only these days, I am more often the gift giver than receiver. 

In this article, I explain how and why I feel that the way in which a gift is presented is really important. Hubpages Article

 

Sending Fruit- There Are Times When You Probably Shouldn't

 Perhaps you have an elderly relative or friend who is now in a small apartment or assisted living.  It's often important or preferred to keep her volume of "things" down and footprint minimal.  Although sending fruit supports this objective, there is a risk to consider.

It is so common to send fruit on certain holidays and for some types of celebrations, like birthdays.

If it's going to a large or young, health conscious family that likes fruit, you have a good chance of it being enjoyed and used just as long as not too many others are sending the same thing.

In the case of it going to one person, like an aunt, mom or a grandma, the probability that it will get eaten drops significantly, particularly when others are also thinking about sending fruit. If this happens (and it often can, particularly with big holidays or important celebrations), there is no way all of the fruit will get eaten by this one person. And you may be lucky if it ends up being taken to a shelter or food pantry before it becomes too ripe or rotten.

You should also think about the possibility that she would like something that she can keep more than a week. There are alternatives to sending fruit which don't take up a lot of space. Perhaps this person is in a nursing home or in assisted living or just plain has too much "stuff". The idea of getting something perishable isn't bad because of this. The problem is that there may be a good chance it won't get used. So, even though it will be removed from the living space in a short period of time, in this case, it may not be eaten and enjoyed.

If you are open doing something other than sending fruit this year, keep in mind that sentimental women sometimes like something they can hold or look at to remind them of you and your thoughtfulness! And, if she really doesn't tend to buy nice things for herself, something to consider is a well made silk scarf in time-tested colors and a timeless design. Otherwise, you may want to consider some wonderful bees wax candles or fragrant triple milled soap.

Regardless of the way you go, make sure you give some attention to the gift delivery and presentation. It can be just as important as the gift itself! It helps the recipient to get excited about receiving a gift and to also become filled with wonder about what the gift might actually be.

Sending Flowers- Do You Realize How Special Peonies Are Even When Compared With Roses?

 
I love roses a lot, believe me.  But over the years, I've grown to love peonies, perhaps as much, if not more than roses.   After you hear more details from this article, you may start to feel the same way!  

Great Halloween Gift For The Teenage Daughter

Whether your daughter is beginning to think she's a little old for trick or treating or she is feeling a bit overwhelmed by the new school year schedule, you can show you care by giving her a delicate and beautiful light orange (several shades lighter than a pumpkin!), pashmina wrap. 

This is a color that works surprisingly well in the fall and incredibly well in the spring, summer and during tropical vacation get-aways, in the evening.  Be warned, mom may want to borrow it!  This video shows one way of wearing it as well as what it looks like when you are inside and outside.    

Green Easter Basket

Its easy to reduce our consumption of candy and sweets when you make the replacements really cool! For example, you can Go Green this Easter with a Green Easter Basket! This year, along with a few traditional items of chocolate and jelly beans, we are going green with special (young) plants! Featured here are Gardenia ‘Frostproof’ (Gardenia Jasmine), Lady of the Night (Brunfelsia gigantea), and Corkscrew Flower (Vigna caracalla). Each of these are known for one or more of the following: beauty, length of bloom, quality of fragrance produced.

I ordered these plants from Logee's.

Shock Mom

You are capable of giving her something that she will really love and want to wear a lot!  Scarfsense silk scarves

Some Soaps Are So Nice!

Did you know that there is a wide range of quality in soaps?  The same can be said for soap purpose.  All, of course, need to clean.  Some may be better at getting rid of very greasy grime.  And others could be great moisturizers.  Some  serve as a deodorant or perfume. 

Among my most favorite soaps are  triple milled soap or French milled soap.   As I understand it, milling essentially involves combining a fatty acid (oil or fat)  with sodium hydrochloride.  This mixture then is dried into crystals which are rolled  three times between large stainless steel rollers.  When a paste has formed, it's put into soap molds and dried.  Milling  makes the soap texture really smooth and hard, which causes it to last longer.  And, it also distributes the color and fragrance very evenly. 

I love to give this kind of soap for gifts.  Christmas, birthday, hostess, etc.  Adding some beautiful linen or cotton guest towels creates an especially lovely present. 

Shop around before making any purchases.   You can pay a lot of money for just one bar of soap like this.   I've seen them as high as $18.  TJ Maxx has some great prices for soaps of this kind.   The bars shown here are only $3.99 - $4.99 there! 

More Meaningful Birthday Party Decorations

My dad is turning 75 tomorrow and we are having a little celebration at the house today.  I went to iParty to get some decorations and learned that the special birthday number balloons and decorations stop at 60!  I'm assuming the demand, historically,  drops off for these later birthdays.  But, with more and more of us being healthier at these later ages, perhaps we will see a change with what is offered going forward.

Even if this does happen, or if you are preparing for an earlier or significantly advanced age special birthday, you may want to consider doing what I ended up doing with Dad's birthday, making a combination of store bought decorations with your customizations.

These pretty stars were purchased at iParty for $1.75 each.  I went through pictures of Dad and picked my favorite ones.  These were then scanned, printed and glued to the center of the stars. Next, several short catchy phrases were created, printed and glued on.  It's  nice when you can rhyme.  For example:  "High Five You're Seventy Five!" and "Oh My You're 75!".

To continue the star theme, a large mylar balloon was purchased for $11 which has room for adding the birthday number and the person's name.   These customizations can be added with a special marker or number and letter stickers.

Decorations put together with this kind of thought end up being a special kind of gift for the person celebrating the birthday as well as  their friends and family.

 

A Better Holiday Gift To Send Her

 

Think about sending that  special woman, be it your aunt, mother or sister,  something different this holiday season! A flower bouquet or fruit basket is nice.  But they last only a matter of days.   I have given this a lot of thought over many years.  And, if you are very careful about certain aspects of a particular choice, your gift this year could be really loved by the receiver!    

A knit green or red scarf for Christmas is very thoughtful and appropriate for a teenager or young woman in her twenties.  A silk scarf can be elegant and perfect for a refined woman in her  30s  and older.    When you find one in a wonderful shade of red or green, with a lovely classic design, it will likely be greatly appreciated and worn many holiday season for years to come.

When considering  a holiday red silk scarf,  look for a  gorgeous rich red shade.    The color needs to be deep.  But you don't want it to have a brown or burgundy hue.  Often, manufacturers go the other way and use a red that is too light and looks orange.    

When wanting to get a holiday green silk scarf, look for shades of green that remind you of a forest and winter.    Mint greens fall flat, generally.  Although, if you have found one with white which makes a delicate print, it could be delightful.  It could, for instance, work with a black or deep green wool or velvet outfit.   A toned down chartreuse that is lime colored could potentially work with a deep green, not on its own. 

One of my passions in life is designing and creating premium quality silk scarves.  And, I do have  a great red as well as  a wonderful green scarf you could send!  You can order the scarves through Amazon which will give you the option of gift wrapping and free super saver shipping or my  scarfsense.com site  which lets you purchase the  gift box with green grosgrain ribbon shown in the picture here and use a order ahead  feature which lets you to specify a preferred ship date so that you can buy gifts ahead of time.

 

 

Essential Attributes of A Zen Fairy Garden

 

Have you ever noticed that some gardens seem to just pull you in and  cause you to escape into a state of peace and contentment, even if it's just for a few moments?

There are reasons for this.    And it has to do with the kind of  thought that went into the garden design.  When it comes to fairy gardens that have been made to date, I've noticed  there is a wide range of quality that has gone into their design.  This can be fine.  Many of these, for instance,  are part of children's play areas which may be in a constant state of change.  And, part of the fun can be to just participate in creating a garden that may or may not touch upon a particular theme.  

If, however, you'd like for the fairy garden to be something more, perhaps magical and alluring, it would be wise to step back and consider what attributes might work better than others. 

I've identified  some design rules which aren't really complicated or overwhelming. And,  collectively, they make an enormous difference in the quality of the result.  Here they are:

(1) Carefully utilize elements, both well and not so well known, from fairy lore. 

(2) Approach the design of the  elements with the essence of Zen (promoting a meditative state) in mind.

Some specific guidelines that could come out these design rules are:

(1) There is aesthetic use of geometric angles, lines and curves.

(2) Proportions are very consistent across objects.  This allows the garden to be believable.

(3) Less is more.  You'd be surprised at how easy it is to over do it and have a cluttered and therefore unattractive  effect.

I also think it's important that you figure out what you love to see in a garden, if you haven't already. With me, for example, I love plants with dark, glossy green leaves and delicate white flowers.  I also like rocky terrain. 

Next time you see a garden you love, ask yourself what are 3 things about it that you feel really make a difference.  After you do this for a while (this could take a few seasons!) you have a real chance of getting very good at designing a garden for yourself.

If you'd like specific information on how to create a  beautiful miniature  zen fairy garden, I have just published a new book, How To Create A Zen Fairy Garden, which is available at Amazon. 

Making a zen fairy garden  in miniature has a number of advantages including:

(1) It helps you make it through the winter in a cold climate or living in a city where you don't have access to a roof top or balcony garden.

(2) It takes hardly any time to start and complete.   And you get a surprising amount of enjoyment creating it a gazing at it.

(3) If you think you are going to want to build a full scale zen fairy garden, creating a miniature one first will help you to develop the design more fully.

One last point.  This makes a wonderful gift for folks that are hard to buy for, especially garden lovers!

 Update after one month (3/20/13).  The garden is doing great and is starting to fill out!  This second article has pictures I just took. Garden Ideas For First Day of Spring

Also, I put a youtube video that was recorded while I was making the zen fairy garden on my youtube channel!   How To Make A Miniature Zen Fairy Garden

 

Garden Ideas For First Day of Spring

Yahoo!  It's the first day of spring!  We made it through another New England winter!   For those of you who like to garden, time to pull out the tools and the wheelbarrow, right?  I wish.  Look out the window in the above picture.  We just got 10 inches of snow from a snow storm yesterday.   Drat! 

Now look at the foreground of the same picture.  What is that?  It's a miniature zen fairy garden! Here is my first article I wrote on the subject.  Essential Attributes of a Zen Fairy Garden

What is so nice about this kind of garden is that if your climate or weather  is not cooperating, you can still have one and work with it any day of the year.  If you have no yard outside you can have one of these.   If you are injured, handicapped or elderly, depending on what you can or can't actually do at this point, you may be able to have and tend to one of these.   If you have limited time or a limited budget, you should be able to have this kind of garden!

I stayed clear of of this sort of thing for a long time because I didn't like what I saw.  I am very fussy about textures, colors and forms. And at the same time, I want a garden to be captivating and beautiful.   But, then recently, I thought of and defined a hybrid garden, one that takes principles from both a fairy garden and a zen garden.  And, that, I fell in love with.

Now,  a month after creating it, my miniature zen fairy garden is very healthy, and is actually starting to fill out in places.  Most of all, it looks beautiful from all directions (this is one of the requirements I have for this kind of garden). 

Here is what the garden looks from the north side.

Notice the attractive textures and shapes that are being used.  You'll see the same kind of thing on the south side.

The main goal of this hybrid garden is to create something that is very pleasing to the eye which  can actually calm you down and let you escape for a moment or two.  One other crucial requirement which makes this possible is to get object proportions correct.

 

Notice the size of the birdhouse relative to the ground cover and the garden bench.  Look at how the type of vegetation that is both above the rock and below it make the rock seem like a boulder or a mountain ledge.  The net effect of good proproptions is the garden looks very believable and therefore interesting.

If you'd like to get more details including how to make a miniature zen fairy garden, I have a new little book on it which is available from Amazon! How To Make A Zen Fairy Garden

 

 

 

 

Playmobil Farm and Tractor Gift- How To Transform It Into Something Extra Special

Adults sometimes forget that when a children's gift  involves a kind of transportation, they should consider whether or not they should do anything about terrain.  Train and race car sets certainly benefit from terrain and tracks.  And when you are buying the Playmobil Farm and Tractor as a gift set, you aught to consider including a garden crop mat that would be in proportion with the farm and tractor so that they could be used together.   The  gift would become  extra special, some might say, even transformed!  This article will give you more details and even begin to describe how you'd make one!  It will also explain the significance of this Christmas scene from 1965 and the cardboard market.

If you would like to know more about how to make a garden crop mat, I have a book available at Amazon which will walk you through how to do it, step by step.  

 

 

 

 

My Annual Post Christmas and January Activities

Let's face it, after Christmas is over, we can feel a little down.  Two things I can do in January really help me get over it.  And, they are things I learned from my former husband.  Yes, sweet, lovely things can come out of unions that don't last a lifetime!  

The first activity is creating Christmas present tags out of the Christmas cards received.    Even if you don't feel you have any artistic ability, you can absolutely do this.  It takes no time at all and it's quite fun. 

The first thing I do is survey all the cards.  Of course the ones with family pictures get put into a different pile (they replace last year's pictures that are posted in a collage in the office). 

There are ones that don't have a lot of interesting things going on.  Sometimes the colors, textures and patterns let them become nice tags.  Or,  they just aren't interesting enough and aren't used at all.    And then you have the cards that have a lot going on.  It's typically some kind of winter or Christmas scene.  And with these, you can often get multiple tags out of one card!

The key is to center on the central object if you have one (like a wreath, santa, horse drawn sleigh, etc) and figure out beforehand where will the back side of the tag come from.  It's ideal when it can be above or to the left of the central object for a tag.   Here, the fold will be just above or to the left of the central object.  If you are worried about your centering and cutting straight lines ability, just use a ruler and a pencil with an eraser to get your centering correct and lines straight.

It's not that you can't make a tag when the back needs to be to the right or bottom of the central object, its just that it wouldn't open in a standard way.  If I really love the tag, I will allow this, or maybe even make a tag out of two card sections by doing some cutting and pasting. Of course, if the tag is just a neat design or texture, you don't have this problem (you will be able to have it open with the fold on the left or top).

The percentage of cards that end up being usable from year to year varies a lot.  This adds to the fun!  When next Christmas comes, and you can use them as tags on presents, you'll see that they can really make wonderful accents for your gifts, especially when you match up the tag with the wrap and ribbon. Note that this is a fun activity to do on your own or even with children (just make sure you use the safe/blunt scissors).

The second activity is especially wonderful on a snowy or very cold day when you are relegated to the house.   It has to do with developing a very special ability that you probably thought you are either blessed with it or you aren't.  It's drawing.  I told Peter when we were just dating how much I  loved to draw.  But I only took one art class and that was in high school.  Although I got As, I thought that I didn't have much natural ability.  I was sad and disappointed about this particularly because I knew both my mother and great grandmother had a fair amount of artistic ability, and both drew and painted some very beautiful things.  

The next thing  I knew, we were on a field trip to an art store. Drawing paper, pencils and erasers were bought, as well as the most wonderful book there is on drawing.   It will show ANYONE how to draw and how to draw well.  It's called Drawing On The Right Side of The Brain.

Honestly, it is remarkable how quickly this book gets you to develop skill here.  If you have any interest at all in this, you have to get this book!  You will be so thrilled and amazed with what you will be able to do. 

Here is the first drawing I made (as I was reading the book).

 

My biggest challenge now is not learning how to draw, but giving myself permission to take the time to learn and practice.    I always seem to have other priorities that "must" be taken care of first.  Otherwise I feel guilty for indulging.   Take a look at the dates of the drawings. Years can go by before I draw again!

 

But, as with riding a bike, once you develop some skill here, you have it for life!

Get out there and draw!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Baskets: Can Be Beautiful Yet Healthy

I wouldn't recommend doing this for a child.  But, I would recommend trying this for a  significant other or a parent who really shouldn't be eating pure sugar jelly beans, sicky sweet chocolate easter bunnies and marshmallow Peeps.

As you can see, the center of attraction is this lovely and delicate  Maiden Hair Fern.  You can find these at better garden centers such as Russells in Wayland, MA (which is where I got this).  And instead of eggs, we have a couple very generously sized and beautifully fragrant  tripled milled soap from Italy.  These are quite the find as instead of  $12 a piece,they are about  $4 at TJ Maxx.  They are also featuring handsome quilted placemats right now.  Two  have been tucked into this basket.  And voila!  you have a beautiful yet healthy easter basket. 

Alright, I'll add a small gold foil Lindt Easter Bunny in solid milk chocolate to this.  It still is a heck of a lot healthier than the typical easter basket!

If you end up trying this, I'd love to hear about your results!

If you like the "green" aspect of this, this easter basket article from a few years ago shows a variation Another Green Easter Basket

1.  Scarfsense silk scarves are uniquely qualified to be a great alternative to sending flowers or fruit. And, while comparable (and often somewhat lower in price) to those choices, there are some big advantages: They won’t wilt (as with flowers) or go bad (as with fruit). And every time a recipient wears hers, she’ll be reminded of your thoughtfulness!
   
   
2.  Scarfsense features premium quality 100% silk scarves that are timeless and classic and in only vibrant, smart colors so that it's easy to select the perfect gift for "her", whether she's a mom, sister, aunt or friend. 
   
   
3.  Scarfsense silk scarves have an ideal weight, 12 mommes. This is not too heavy or light. This weight is significant for a silk scarf today. They cost more to make. Silk scarves in this weight are luxurious, drape well & are not widely available, but can occasionally be found at higher end retail establishments. 
   
   
4.  Scarfsense silk scarves have optimal dimensions too, 16” x 60”.  This allows them to be used to make the most attractive ties. It is important to keep in mind that aspects of clothing can enhance or ruin a look. For example, under certain conditions slightly over-sized scarves can work. Today, though, some designers are working with the notion that just about any over-sized scarves are fine. This is simply not the case. There are times when they really detract from a potentially good look.

Send a Scarfsense silk scarf to her* this holiday season!

*mom, sister, aunt, friend

Available at Amazon and at http://www.thescarfboutique.com/