Letter Giving

I have never really done a "Christmas Letter" update of my own, but I decided this was the year. I wrote up a little letter for all of my extended family and enclosed it into a little envelope package with 3 stationary cards. I am heading out on my mission in just a few weeks and so will be longing for letters coming my way :) So, a little encouragement to those I love was given as a gift. Sneaky, I know. It was really fun to find fun stationary though. For I do LOVE stationary!

Happy Hunting

I had so much fun finding Matt and Paige's Christmas Present this year. I found one in the summer during a visit to Leavenworth. A box of Forest Animals Cookie Cutters! Like a moose and fish. They were too fun to pass up. Then during molly and I's weekend getaway to Portland I found a great find. In their infamous bookstore I spotted a deer head that can hold toothbrushes in it's antlers and the paste in it's mouth. It was so crazy I had to get it for them. Then I got to do my favorite part...wrap it! I found a Bear ornament at Crate&Barrel to tie on top. And the PineCone paper was at my store and was just perfectly wonderful! Then I used a Top Foods grocery bag to wrap the bottom gift. It was a really fun one to wrap!

Friday the 13th

So, for my Friday the 13th I got to work all day at my store and then headed straight to a friends birthday party. Her theme colors were red, white and black. So, while my lunch break I ran and got some red Lindt chocolate balls and wrapped them up in a little box for her birthday.

For the party my mom wore an arrow through her head, my dad did a smashing job creating fake wounds on him pretending to have gotten heavily hurt from racket ball, and I wore a red crab on my head :) We sure are crazy Cahoons, we couldn't just show up for a Friday the 13th Party without doing anything. It was pretty fun!

the gift.

Here is the package containing two fun fall scarfs for my mothers birthday. I love packages tied up in ribbon, it is one of my favorite sights in the world.

the Opera gift

I have a dear friend, Jennifer Lowe, who majored in voice at college. She is an opera star! And so I found her this antique book and fabulous card for her birthday. I am so excited for her to get them! How lovely it is when you find the perfect gift for someone you love. This is one of those rare moments. Gift giving is one of the happiest things, it is such a delight to find something you know someone will cherish. And wrapping it is half the fun as well. I love to make the wrapping as fun as the gift inside! For anything worth doing is worth doing with a cherry on top! That is what makes life so wonderful, making things beautiful.

Good luck to School Goers!

The good luck at school Rachelle package. I attached some scraps from a pansy paper to a deli tote and it just said "Rachelle" all over it! We enclosed items to wish her luck at school.

Flip-Flops and Lemon Drops.

While my sweet sisters (inlaw) were in town for our family reunion I planned a picnic to celebrate Cahoon women!

I themed it with yellow: flip-flops and lemon drops.
It was a lot of fun to prepare for and plan.

Here is a glimpse at how it went!

My Gift.

The Gift Give-away!

I was finally able to get my gift to give away done.

I made some "Quotings:" paintings of quotes.

I then got to have a blast getting packaging to mail them off. Painting is something that I need to do more of, because it takes me away from the hustle of everyday life. It is a time when you can just be. To sit, reflect and pause.

Place Cards

At work we have all sorts of boxes and containers and this one puzzled me for a while. It has two little tabs on top that were just there to pick it up from and I started thinking...what else could you do with that...Place Cards!!! So, I made up an example for work and it has been a hit! It also fits 4 Hershey kisses perfectly.

Sea Necklaces!

When we took Luna to Edmonds Beach we found some shells with holes in top, perfect to slip onto a necklace!! So, we came home and I helped her paint and modge-podge (that became one of her favorite words) them. Then we tied them to ribbon and I came up with some fun packaging to put them in. Tins and paper were from Packaging Specialties, ribbon from the dollar bin at Michaels Craft store. She is going to give one to her mom, her sister and good friend. And then I made one for her! It was a blast and they turned out so wonderfully adorable!

Packaging Delight!

This was a project from school where we had to pick a package to re-design. So, I picked the sweet little ANNA'S cookie (the chocolate mint thin was the flavor I did). It was a really fun project to research the company and create a new design for them. The old packaging was almost camouflage looking. They had a great little story to go along with their cookie hidden on their website and so I put it on the new packaging as well. This project really made me appreciate all the little packages out there on the shelves of the world!

The "Bird"thay Gift

I had a lot of fun wrapping this gift for Andrea's "bird"thay. She LOVEs to birdwatch and so I decided a fun present filled with birdie items would be a lot of fun! So, I wrapped it with paper, ribbon and stickers from work and put little white feathers all throughout it. It turned out very whimsical and fun!

The BIG Celebration Cookie!

Being in the baking mood...I made a GIANT cookie for a woman that I visit and teach for church. This was a box and some paper that were going to be thrown away at work and I snagged them to create a big cookie in. My friend is a young mother of 4, and they are moving next week. So, I hope this cookie will make her feel special and be fun to munch on with her kids as they pack up! A cookie and a cold glass of milk always brighten any day!

The joy of a wrapped package!

I have had a blast wrapping gifts lately! These two gifts were a double effort from one wrapping paper. The paper is from the store I work at, Packaging Specialties, and it is double sided!! Oh how joyful a thing is double sided paper!! The first package was a gift for my adorable little sister Andrea who just graduated from High School. I attached a purple tissue flower I made at work. The second gift was for my dearest friend, Jessica Bean, for her 22 birthday!! I used a card I had made for my college open house to match the green! This wrapping paper is probably one of my most favorites!! Pride and Prejudice on one side and modern green on the other!!! What a terrific delight!