Gift Wrap - Bright Applique´

A visit to friend called for a little offering, and gave me an excuse, as if I needed one, to have some fun with gift wrapping.  I was tempted by the pretty packaging of this fudge by lovely sweetie brand Burnt Sugar. I'm hoping I get to sample this sea salt caramel variety later as it sounds yummy!

Being the lame-o slightly colour obsessive stylist that I am, I can't resist matching the wrapping to the gift - I just think it makes it more pretty when you unwrap the gift, if everything is co-ordinated (and yes my wardrobe is colour co-ordinated and I have been known to organise my bookshelves by colour too!)

I picked out a few bright greens and pinks, loved the spots and the striped sweet shop bags, but also loving this zany floral print wrap I picked up from a trip to Henley recently.

I wrapped the box in a bright jade green, as a base colour, and then had a look at what worked best with it for decoration. I liked the idea of using both the spots and the stripes to create a band of contrasting colour - but it didn't quite work because of the shape of the box. I would have been left with a lot of green on the top half, which looked too strong. 

Plan B then. Inspired by the bright floral wrapping paper, I decided to cut out individual flowers and create an applique´ design on the front of the box. This is a little gift wrap idea I've used for years and makes an expensive wrapping paper go much further. After a little play, I glued them in place with a glue stick, which is great because you can move the pieces around a bit before the glue sets, without making a mess of the paper.

Then, all that was needed was some cheerful ribbons to tie around the middle of the box to finish it off. I doubled on satin ribbon in clashing hot pink and orange combination. Rather than a traditional bow, I tied knot upon knot and used the ends splayed out instead of loops. Sweet.

Simple Vases - Fern-tastic

Thought I'd share a little leafy love for this weeks simple vases. Foliage table centres are perfect for those who aren't keen on flowers (weird I know but there are some out there). Also great if you're allergic to flowers of pollen or want to minimise the discomfort of friends and family who suffer from hayfever.

Green table arrangements can be both classic and modern when pared with crisp white linens, and fresh and informal with natural linens and rustic hessian or burlap.

This week though I wanted to look specifically at ferns. There are so many varieties of ferns available to suit different wedding styles and themes you can't fail to be inspired.

Here a just a few ways you could make them work for you:

Use different types of fern, individually, in a display of mixed glass vases and they become a botanical installation, like a real life version of lovely old botanical drawings. Above, the tints of blue and green glass are really subtly pretty.

These single stems above with their well defined leaves have a really graphic feel too, making them perfect for minimal modern styles.

On mantlepieces, drinks or sweet tables use varying vase heights or raise some up on a custom made ledge, a piece of wood styled with bits of moss or lovely old books.  

Generous amounts of soft bushy ferns create a more abundant display. I love the opulent feel of these gold vases. The contrast between the high gloss and matt textures of the vases lends more drama to this otherwise simple display. The gold runner grounds the display and adds warmth.

If you're considering a natural green palette for your wedding you might want to incorporate vintage brown pharmaceuticals bottles, and other details like wood slices and bell jars to make a feature of pretty foliage leaves and plants. 

This last example is more of a planted arrangement. Use low glass dishes and a mixture of foliage plants, or experiment with oasis foam and different foliage. If you are going to have a go at this, try it out in advance of the big day because not all foliage (or flowers for that matter) like oasis. And do make sure you condition your foliage really well before adding to the wet foam.

So what do you think? Would you forego flowers for foliage? Have you seen any gorgeous green weddings? As ever, would love to hear what you think..

Images from here, here, here, here, & here