Boxwood Clippings

It’s graduation time! Congrats to all of those who are graduating or have loved ones that are! Celebrations are in order for Sarah and Brock! He made it through grueling law school and after many years both Sarah and I are feeling lucky not to have husbands in school…woot, woot!

No matter if it’s high school or postdoc graduation here are a few gifts we know your grad will love…

Any excuse for a personalized gift and we’ll take it! These canvas and leather cosmetic bags are adorbes and gender-neutral. $24-$28. Free Personalization, gift wrap and shipping with promo code: graduation.

Pearls are always a good idea for any special occasion. This website has a great selection at affordable prices.

For the guys, cufflinks are also great for a special occasion. I like these two-tone stiped cufflinks for $30.

A journal is a nice idea for the grad’s new chapter in life. This one is very cute.

Another idea is a spa or massage gift card to treat the grad after all that hard work. Balloons, flowers and caramel apples will also never fail. Do you have a go-to gift for graduates?

We’ve had some major gifting around here lately, so we got together to make some basic craft bags a little more interesting…

First, we used a pencil to draw our message and then used India Ink and a flat paint brush to paint over our pencil guide. The India ink makes the writing extra shiny and smooth, but you could just use regular craft paint for a similar look.

We’re all about really simple ways to make gift-giving a little more personal. What are your favorite tips?

I’ve always loved clothes pegs, maybe because I loved washing day when mum would hang the yummy smelling laundry out on the line, (ha, sometimes when I tell stories of my childhood Brock asks me what century I grew up in!). Anyhow, these are super versicle little tools, here’s how they I like to put them to use.

As a place setting:

Helping to organize my ribbon ends:

 As a label for my plants:

As a tag on a gift:

Plain old chip clip, or in this case marshmallow:

A pack of these run about $1…holler, I can’t think of any think more handy for that price.

How do you put yours to use?

Last week our best friend, Bri came to check out the new abode with her two kidlets. I don’t know how this woman even has an extra second to be so cute, but she brought me over the most perfect housewarming gift of herbs wrapped in burlap:

It was just what I needed to add some life to the house and to get me in to the kitchen. Such a great housewarming present right?! It would also work wonderfully as a hostess gift. Thanks a million Mamasita ;)

With a lot of our family living out of town we frequently have guests, and I love to playing hostess.

One of my favorite things to do is leave little gifts or snacks by the guest bed, it’s a welcoming and cozy touch don’t you think?

It doesn’t need to be fancy. A simple bottle of water and some favorite treats work nicely and let your guests know you’re more than happy to have them stay.

What are your favorite hostess tips?

Chocolate in my book is always a very good gift! See’s Candy is no exception!

Not only is the chocolate sooo delish, but I really enjoy the experience of going to pick out my faves, which is why their gift cards are so great.

Don’t you just love their stores? Black and white with chunky molding, so great!

At Costco their gift certificates come in a pack of 2 for $27.99 saving you a couple of bucks. They’re perfect for popping in the mail, or keeping in your purse to cheer up someone’s day.

I’m adding it to my list of ‘Trusty Faves’, will you?

I have been scouring all the shops lately trying to find things for the new house. I found the sweetest towels at Pottery Barn that I just couldn’t resist.

$4.99 for set of two (free shipping, $7 monogramming)

My towels arrived within just a few days and I am thrilled with them. I love the fringed edge, linen texture and most of all, monogram! I had ‘sanders’ monogrammed, which will be perfect to layer over hand towels in the bathrooms.

I also think they would make the cutest gifts at around $6 each. Don’t you think they’d make a perfect hostess present?

Charlotte Russe’s $5 Jewelry line is flippin’ incredible this spring!

Neutral clothing accessorized with a pop of colorful jewelry is never a bad idea. I try to invest in basic clothing to wear over and over and then have a few pieces of inexpensive jewelry so to mix and match so I never get tired of wearing the same thing.

Here are a few things making the list:

stacked coral rings

studded bracelet set

pink hexagon earrings

pink + gold bangle set

pale pink bracelet

gold clasp bracelet

dome earrings

simple beaded necklace

Let’s just say my shopping cart is full! Make sure to check out all the different colors and styles HERE.

Are you a still looking for a little something to add to an easter basket? We think these little rabbits by Bunnies by the Bay are pretty much the most adorable thing ever.

They’ve been a family fave for years, and are a ‘go-to’ trusty favorite when it comes to giving gifts.

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They are so soft and fluffy, and something about their insides make them ‘flop’ ever so cutely. Perfect for babies, kiddies and the forever kid-at-heart!

You can find them HERE,  or if you fancy a snuggle you can see them at Nordstrom. :)

Here at Boxwood we are always trying to explore new ways to wrap gifts. Today I am happy to share one of our new favorites: Disposable tablecloths! You can find them at any grocery or party supply store costing about $3 per large tablecloth.

Believe me when I say this stuff is amazing to wrap with! Here are three different ways I used an aqua tablecloth:

As a Filler: I cut squares of tablecloth and put into the gift bag, just like I would tissue paper. Sometimes by the time I get a gift to a party my tissue paper is all smushed and wrinkled…but the plastic holds its shape beautifully. Love!

As Gift Wrap: I used the plastic exactly as I would wrapping paper. The only difference is the plastic is quite translucent, so you have to use a few layers. It is actually easier to wrap up the ends of your present as it doesn’t hold its creases like paper does if you need a re-do. Also, tape sticks to the plastic better than paper.

As Trimming: When cut into strips, the plastic was a cross between rafia/ribbon. it is so fun to work with.

The presents look very polished with their shiny plastic finish, and I can’t wait to give them to their recipients!

With the great price (I only used a fraction of the tablecloth), ease of  wrapping and pretty finish I will be buying many more plastic tablecloths in the future. What do you think?

One of my favorite presents I ever received was my hobo clutch. Everyone I know who owns one simply adores theirs too. They are hard-wearing, have pockets for everything and are the ultimate, everyday luxury.

The double clutch is the original classic and is always available in a rainbow of colors.

lauren clutch in dove $110

New colors are often introduced every season, and therefor a few old colors get discounted… glittery gold is currently $73.70!

This is our number #1 for the perfect present for any special lady in your life (yourself included).

Don’t forget: Free shipping and returns online at nordstrom.com, and in-store complimentary gift wrap.

When Sarah gave these presents out for the kiddos, I thought of someone else who would enjoy a little orange fizz. Accompanied with a cheezy saying, it makes a cute little Valentine…

“I have a crush on you, sweetie pie…”

We don’t know about you, but we dread January. It is so yucky; frigged cold and dark, long nights. Therefore, we always plan on things that we know will cheer us up. Being pumped about new goals, and January clearance is always high on the list, but this year we decided to treat ourselves to new stationary.

Ever since being very little we have been obsessed with stationary, and while we were looking at Christmas cards at Minted we also discovered their beautiful personalized stationary and couldn’t resist.

Within a few minutes we’d tried our monograms on several different designs, the only hard part was deciding which ones we liked best! We finally decided on these two pretties:

We are in love with our stationary, the quality and design is exceptional. They have definitely added a little cheer to our drab January and have inspired us to bring back the art of a hand-written note. You know how much we love to give personlaized gifts, and with so many design options to choose from we are loving this gift idea…

frilly& feminine for Kimberly:

A classic monogram for Mumsy:

Guaranteed fun personalizing a design for your recipient, and guaranteed a special gift to be cherished.

Make sure to sign up minted’s email list for promotions and specials HERE.

 For this look we used every day wrapping supplies and simply added metallic for a festive look.

• The graphic, blue print is an every day wrapping paper found at Target, we call the topper ‘sputnik’ which comes in a two pack at the dollar tree.
• The gold, zebra present is perfect for the glam diva in your life. You can doll up an ordinary jewelry box with a wild piece of scrapbook paper. This makes it easy to personalize gift wrap to the recipient’s style, and you don’t end up purchasing and storing a roll of wrapping paper you may not want to use again.
• The large, blue present is navy tissue, wrapped in cellophane for a high-shine look. An expensive ornament found at Target makes the perfect glamorous embellishment.

This ‘wraps up’ our Christmas gift wrap. Hope you have fun with yours and remember to go a little ‘wild’, as after all it’s only gift wrap!

Wrapping with your fella in mind can be a bit of a challenge. For this look we combined natural elements, and a touch of men’s fashion.

Details:

• The first package is brown paper with brown ribbon. The tag made from scrabble pieces glued to a scrap of leather. Simple.
• The second package is bark textured paper found at Target. An old belt was used for embellishment, we just needed to add an extra hole so it was snug.
• The final package is wrapped in seasonal plaid from the Dollar Tree. With cinnamon sticks and an acorn with twine finished the look.

This look is making ready to hit the mountains! Where are my boots?!

There is no bigger trend this season than mixing rustic and chic, and we are all over it with upcycling things we already owned and a little spray paint:

Details:

• For the little walnut present we simply spray painted the nut and hot glued it to a little box to create a huge statement on a little gift.
• For the large white gift we used glitter tape from the craft store and embellished with spray painted cinnamon sticks and a pine cone.
• We used craft paper, a scrap of natural mesh and a spray painted leaf to create an easy, elegant gift. We created a similar look by using an old belt to embellish a simple brown parcel.
• Lastly we used glitter scrapbook paper to wrap a wooden box and attached with twine.

Grab your spray paint ladies and get ready to witness a makeover!

For the rest of the week we’ll be sharing more of our gift wrap ideas, since we figure you’ll be busy setting up wrapping stations too. We hope you find them pretty, but also inspiring…enjoy!

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Black and white is our ultimate favorite color combination, so naturally it is our first go-to for gift wrap, with Christmas being no exception.We were inspired by THIS dress in My Fair Lady, to add lace. A pretty classy result we think!

Again, we gathered odds and ends from around the house to help achieve each look.

Details:

• The black lace is from a pair of tights that we cut up and used as a sleeve over the presents.
• The floral wrapping paper is a scrap from Sarah’s holler dollar drawer liner…we LOVE this print.
• The large white present was wrapped with white tissue paper and covered with a lace curtain that we bought at Ikea. It is a lot of lace for $15, and looks amazing in person.
• The white lace is from Martha Stewart that we blogged about here.

Do you have a favorite look your thinking of incorporating in your gift wrap? Do tell!

Stockings are always the last thing for us to open Christmas morning, and in many ways the icing on the cake.

Here are some of our favorite finds we love to see in our stocking:

1. Mini Bath Goodies: THESE ones at Bath and Body works are on sale 3 for $10 and are so delicious!

2. Hardware Store Gift Card: Mr Faubus gave this to Sarah last year with a coupon saying he’d tackle a house project. Good one Hubs, we loved it!

3. Terry’s Chocolate Orange: this has been a tradition in our family since forever, delicious and classic.

4. Lindt Lindor Truffles: Another yummy fave.

5. A Guilty Pleasure DVD or CD: Camelot is a must for our collections. Hello 60′s fashion and make-up and songs to die for!

6. New Scarf: like THIS is perfect to see us through winter. Plus, it works out great if you roll it up and stuff it in the leg of stocking!

7. Fashion Jewelry: So fun to have something new and spunky. THESE are great to group together or split up.

8. A Small Candle: A new scent ready for the new year! We love THIS one.

If you’re planning a trip to Bath and Body works, they always have coupons you can use. We usually just look HERE before shopping!

Well, ladies and gents that was the last of our stocking ideas for this year, we hope you found it helpful!

For this next gift wrapping look, we thought we’d mix two of our favorite colours, white and gold. It’s clean yet glamourous, classy and cute. We’re in love, are you?

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As you know we love to collect bits and bobs from around our houses, and throw them into the mix. Here are the gift details, from left to right:

• The ‘S’ was made from stationary brads, with white wrapping paper.
• Then the white paper with white tule was just a matter of layering the tule, one knot after another. 10 in total.
• The gold tinsel was just that, but first wrapped the gift with tissue paper then smothered it in tinsel and placed in clear box.
• The white wrapping with gold circle, is actually a napkin ring made from mini bells. So fun to repurpose.
• Then the gold on gold, is simply gold gift wrap with a gold pipe cleaner. Also, so fun to raid the kids crafts!

We hope you find these different looks inspiring, and note that you don’t always have to go out and buy wrapping to mix things up. :)

We can’t tell you how thrilled we were when our friends over at Lonny called and asked us to share some gift wrap ideas with them.

Our brains instantly exploded with ideas that we can’t wait to share with you. But first up, we knew another ‘cozy look’ was in order since we had such a great response from last year’s version. Tell me, have you ever seen an old sweater look so cute?!

For a how-to on this gift, and a peek at our other faves, be sure to check us out HERE.

Thanks again Lonny, we sure had fun :)