It's all in the presentation...

I hope you are having a great weekend - we finally had some nice weather here.  We were able to get outside a little to enjoy it - my husband did some spring clean-up in the flower beds and I admired his work!  The irises are about six inches tall - it won't be long until they are blooming again.

 

The iris bulbs that we have growing outside the front door have a beautiful deep color and are special to us since they came from Grandma's garden.  It will probably be another month until they look like this.

We have several other iris varieties in the garden - I think this pink one is so delicate and pretty.  Many of you mentioned gardening as one of your other hobbies.  I love to look at the gardens and take photos but my husband is the one who does nearly all of the actual gardening.

You are probably wondering what is going into the boxes today...so I won't keep you in suspense.  It is another "separate but equal" day with three slightly different sets of items added to each box.  I can't seem to get enough of the Martha Stewart Crafts products.  I enjoy the papers, the glitter, the punches (oh so many punches!) and the stamps.  I have added a Martha Stewart stamp set to each box today.

Christmas Tree

Heart and Flower

Monogram and Frame

Whenever I think of Martha Stewart I think about her emphasis on presentation.  Paying attention to the small details can definitely make things feel more special.  It doesn't take much time to add a little something and rise above the ordinary.

 Here is a simple example.  I wanted to return a pie dish to a neighbor who surprised us with a special treat.  I was taught that you never return a dish empty so I wanted to bring it back with cookies.  Instead of putting the cookies in the dish and covering them with foil or plastic wrap I used a cellophane bag, stacked the cookies and tied them up with a ribbon.  

ribbon, ribbon and more ribbon!

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that I have a weakness for the ribbons that are available at Costco.  They are very reasonably priced and come with many beautiful designs.  Most of the ribbons have wired edges but it is simple to remove the wire for papercrafting (here is a LINK to a post showing how to remove the wire).

The only "problem" is that the ribbon comes on 50 yard spools (well, it is Costco sized!) and so it takes a long time to use up the ribbon.  So - I try to share my ribbon whenever I can so I can buy more in new colors and patterns!  These three are all nice for spring projects.  I used the glitter daisies on the right for the cookie package (and also have a card sitting on my craft table waiting to be assembled using the same ribbon).  The center ribbon is a sheer pink with glitter silver dots.  On the left is the ribbon I "had" to buy so I could give some to my friend Shirley ("Okieladybug"), with Cricut green dots and cute ladybugs!

I cut off a couple of yards of each of the three ribbons and added all three to each of the boxes.  There should be enough for quite a few cards or to make a bow on a nice package. 

 

These boxes are getting very full - I should probably make a list of all of the items inside so you can keep track.  The sets might get shuffled when I wrap everything for shipping so there will definitely be an element of surprise when the three lucky people open their boxes!

Instead of reposting the directions for the giveaway, I would ask that if you have just come upon this celebration week and want to start at the beginning you go to Wednesday's post HERE and work your way forward.  The rest of you already know how to play along!

Here is the question for Sunday

What "little" things do you do to try to make your daily life more creative and artistic?  Do you like to set a beautiful table, arrange flowers and place them around the house, keep your linen closet tidy with sheet sets tied up with ribbon? Do you think attention to the small details can make your routine tasks seem less dull and repetitive?  How do you try to lead an "artful life"? 

That's a lot of questions and you don't have to answer each one directly - just share your thoughts on the general topic if you can.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and be sure to check in Monday to see what else is going in the boxes - one of the items might make you laugh...

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