muse blanc et muse noir

Yes back to candles again. This time Jonathan Adler's latest muses which I am so thankful to have experienced. His white muse candle has become rather iconic and a beach house hostess gift staple but now Mr. Adler has really stepped up his scent offerings by debuting "blanc's" counterpart. Muse Noir. Think complexly masculine with earthy vetiver, amber and lemony bergamot. Some black plum is said to be tossed in too but it's hard to single out. Muse Noir is just plain additively delicious and sophisticated. Muse Blanc is rather linear in white mossy florals but also simple enough that everyone seems to swoon over it. Glowing porcelain faces eerily pleased when lit. Double swoon.

Now for the sad portion... due to the high heat they melted and turned to goo as they were being shipped. Another case of a gift having to be personally shelved (and used) but I'm not complaining about that part of things. Hopefully Mr. Adler will consider using stiffer wax and bottling Muse Noir into a perfume. I'll be the first in line to stock up and dole it out.

Image: MAM for GaveThat

Good Earth Giveaway

Good food and entertaining is still one of my most favorite DIY gift ideas. To kick off the summer social season of backyard parties, clam bakes on the beach, snacks hidden in picnic baskets and so on I'll be doing recipes and things of a food like nature on the weekends here at Gave That. Starting today is a surprise giveaway featuring a brand new collection of quick meal ideas by Good Earth!

What I made: Good Earth's Mediterranean Chicken with whole grain angel hair pasta, dried tomatoes & artichoke hearts

Good Earth Teas & Restaurants has created a new line of meal ideas using 100% whole grain pastas and no artificial preservatives or flavors. All you have to do is add the meat, in this case chicken or pork tenderloin or not if you want it to be vegetarian (add some tofu or squash). Everything else is provided in the box. Chef inspired tips are on the box too... that's where the idea for the artichoke hearts are to be found.

A little olive oil, some boiling of water for the pasta and everything came together rather quick and that's good for impromptu dinner parties at home. Anything that makes it look like you put in a lot of effort is the ace in your pocket. The best part is getting people to covert to whole grain pastas and this was the gem of Good Earth. The pasta was very soft, had some bite and nuttiness but was very much like regular angel hair. Setting this out family style everyone dug in and kept coming back to the pasta and how delicious it was. Good Earth people... Good Earth.

Thank you MyBlogSpark and Good Earth for the chance to sample the new line and better yet do a giveaway for you! Along with a box of Good Earth Mediterranean Chicken you will find something else very cool. Bamboo cutlery sets, dishes and a cutting board! Bamboo has become the "it" sustainable material of late and it was fun giving them a try. A reusable tote bag is included too. Open to US readers, all you have to do to enter: is email me: gavethat@gmail.com with "Good Earth" in the subject line and let me know if you've tried whole grain pastas. That's it! One entry per person, email, household. Winner chosen randomly. You have until July 14th 2010 so act quick.

Thank you myblogspark and Good Earth!

Editor Note - Good Earth provided their products for review, product information, and gift pack through MyBlogSpark for this giveaway. Thank you both! Please note that fulfillment of the prize package is being handled by myblogsprk.

Congratulations to Cheryl, she's July's Good Earth winner!! I want to thank everyone who emailed to enter, so many of you did which was awesome.

Image: MAM for GaveThat

Le Méridien LM01

Le Méridien's line of sleek, modernly masculine candles provides the perfect back door entrance to NYC's cult favorite Le Labo by Fabrice Penot and Edouard Roschi (they're the team behind LM01). Scent design has been a fascination of mine for ages and here is probably one of the first full fledged offerings to us, the public. Stay in a Le Méridien and you'll find LM01 candles burning all over. Come home (granted you were enamored with your stay) and you can relive the feeling over and over with a strike of a match.

Personally the heavy black glass and extremely woodsy scent had my attention immediately. Sweet in a pipe tobacco sort of way and mellowed out with frankincense, patchouli and cedarwood (heavy on this) it's perfect for someone sitting in front of a warm fire reading some great tome, pretending to be in a Finnish sauna, or a travel fanatic in love with Le Méridien lobbies.

Image: MAM for GaveThat

Also see:
- Modern Alchemy

Clarisonic & Dinair

Gave That Contributing editor Dr. M. of Best Picks Magazine Shares Her Favorites for spring brides... Also see her article on using Dinair for sunless tanning.

BRIDAL REGISTRY SPECIAL...

June is still the most popular month for weddings and with good reason. A June bride can expect warm temperatures and lots of flowers for her wedding day. If you are invited to a wedding or bridal shower, you may wish to check and see if the bride has a gift registry at a local store. These of course are only suggestions for gifts. You may wish to choose your own. The following special gifts are my top two picks which can be given at the bridal shower. This way the bride can use them to prepare for her wedding day and look positively radiant!


DINAIR STUDIO AIRBRUSH MAKE-UP KIT

One of the secrets to incredible photos and videos is airbrushed makeup. During a photo shoot for More Magazine, I airbrushed my foundation prior to going in to the makeup artist. The photos were flawless and airbrushing remains my preferred method of makeup application for working in front of the camera, especially with our new high definition videos.

Dinair's Studio Airbrush Make-Up Kit allows you to choose your color in order to get a better match of your skin tone. While some other airbrush makeups pigeon hole you as being pink or yellow, Dinair's line of 100+ shades accepts that complexions don't always fall into such rigid categories. The Studio Kit comes with everything and I do mean everything you need to do a complete make up application including stencils for eyebrows and lids. The foundation itself is the real treat however. It stays in place all day and needs no touch ups. It is so light that you can't feel it on but gives you excellent coverage. The Dinair compressors come in a variety of colors and is very compact for travel but at 0-8 psi, powerful enough to apply make up to your face and neck area. Likewise the Dinair airbrush gun is very well made, in the US, for smooth even application and easy clean up.

Any bride would enjoy receiving this kit at her shower because by the time her wedding day rolls around, she will be an expert at applying airbrush makeup! This is in part due to Dinair's informative instructional DVD included with every kit. This is something so compact that she can take with her on her honeymoon for those special pictures after the wedding. She will surely thank you for a gift that keeps on giving such beautiful results! Visit http://dinair.com to see her online video on airbrush application and to order.



CLARISONIC PLUS, MIA & OPAL WITH CLARISONIC's SKIN RENEWAL SERUM

I've had the pleasure of using Clarisonic's skin care systems since March of this year. I didn't have to wait months to see marked results however. After using the Clarisonic Plus just once to cleanse my skin I noticed that it was deeply refreshed and softer.

A bride's hormones and stress can make her skin more prone to breakouts and dry patches. How about giving her one less thing to worry about on her wedding day? That's what Clarisonic's Ultrasonic Skin Care Systems will do. She can see smaller pores, more even skin with less blemishes in as little as a week of using the Clarisonic. If she has fine lines and wrinkles, the Clarisonic Opal Skin Infusion System can instantly plump them up prior to makeup being applied. Clarisonic's Skin Renewal Serum keeps the skin soft and nourished and makes the perfect base for airbrushed makeup. The little Mias are just the thing to travel with and can allow her to feel at home no matter where she honeymoons. Better still, if you purchase any of the Clarisonics from http://clarisonic.com, they will personalize them with the bride's name at no extra charge. Trust me, she will use it and thank you every day!


BRIDAL REGISTRY GIVE-AWAY!



PHOTO of Clarisonic Serum & Dinair Studio Airbrush Make-Up Kit

1 winner will receive a complete Dinair Studio Airbrush Make-Up Kit and a full sized bottle of Clarisonic's Skin Renewal Serum!!!

Clarisonic and Dinair, through DoctorM, has generously provided a Clarisonic Skin Renewal Serum and Dinair Studio Airbrush Make-Up Kit to give one of you... all you have to do is e-mail me at gavethat@gmail.com subject line: "June Bride Giveaway" with why you or a bride you know would love this Dinair and Clarisonic prize package.

One winner will be chosen based on US entrants. You have until the end of July (ends July 31st 2010 12pm EST) to enter so be sure to tell all your brides to be.

See our past reviews of the Pink Mia here and the Opal here.

Giveaway Terms/Rules:
* This giveaway is open to our US audience. One (1) entry per person, per household, per email address, age 13 and up. Some restrictions apply and void where prohibited. In the event a winner fails to reply with his/her address for prize shipment we reserve the right to choose another winner based on existing entrants. Giveaway ends July 31st 2010, 12PM EST.

Congratulations Jessica! Once again it was so difficult to pick a winner and it was wonderful reading through all of your emails.

Gave That Contributing editor Dr. M. of Best Picks Magazine Shares Her Favorites for spring brides... Also see her article on using Dinair for sunless tanning.

Image: MAM for GaveThat

DIY Furoshiki with Flowers

For a little while now I have been experimenting with the Japanese art of reusable wrapping called furoshiki. Trying various materials such as silk scarves and in this case some favorite vintage napkins that I picked up last year, this has been a surprising way to hide little gifts on guests plates. Drying some wild flowers in the sun and forming a nosegay, these tucked easily into the classic (and most basic) Otsukai Tsutsumi form of furoshiki knot at the top for something a little different. Here is how you can do it too:



How To Do It:
Step 1) Lay your napkin or piece of fabric flat on a hard surface. Position your box in the middle of the fabric so each end lines up with a pointed corner.

Step 2) Take the first corner of the fabric and bring it over the top of your box. Then take the other corner and bring it over top, taking the time to fold the corner underneath so it will not be hanging loosely over the side.

Step 3) Bring the remaining corners of the fabric to the center of the box and tie into a knot to secure. In the center of this knot place the bouquet of flower and then use the remaining fabric ends to wrap around them and tie another knot. That's it! For another view of how to do it see this diagram here and use the first Otsukai Tsutsumi example.



Watch this video to learn the steps to folding the above gift style:


Image: MAM for GaveThat

Best Made Company

Now that's how to gift wrap an axe! Wonders never cease and Gilt comes through yet again. Well actually Gilt Man debuted the Best Made Company line of axes and a delicious leather axe sling by designers Peter Buchanan-Smith and Graeme Cameron. Most sold out super quick which makes me surmise these are highly desirable and worthy of full price ($165 for the sling and around $220 for the axe itself)... see the Best Made Co. site for ordering. This time I'm going to have to pass as my Dad is a chainsaw sort of man but one has to wonder if that sling could double as a handbag?


Image: Gilt | Best Made Company

DIY Anthropologie Gift Wrap

Anthropologie for 2010 has been offering naturally sweet gift wrap for $2 to $4. In a recycled looking plain brown paper box a (as they call it) handmade garland is wrapped about as embellishment. It can be a little hard to see from their pictures what this actually is but in person, up close the garland is constructed of round pieces of felt strung on a grosgrain ribbon. Pushed together they form a wave of ruffles. Surprisingly easy to recreate and a way to reuse items from around your home. Now for how to do it:

Materials needed:
1 gift box (to make your own recycled gift box see this tutorial)
1 length of grosgrain ribbon
Felt or foam sheets
Scissors or an X-acto knife

How to do it:
Cut circle shapes out of your felt (or foam). For mine I used the bottom of a glass as a template and traced around it with a pencil lightly. You will need about 7.

Using the width of your grosgrain ribbon as your guide, cut two slits in the center of each felt circle piece, making sure they are long enough so the tip of your ribbon can pass through. If using scissors, fold the felt circle in half and cut two slits in the center, then unfold. Once you have done this with each piece, start from underneath the felt circle and poke the tip of the ribbon through the first slit. Pull through and then pass through the next slit. Keep doing this until each of the felt circles are strung on the ribbon. Push them together so they become ruffled and folded in half.


Then tie them around your gift box and fasten the loose ends of the ribbon with tape underneath. That's it!

Here is a step by step video I made showing how to create the garland look above:


Image: Anthropilogie.com | MAM for GaveThat | VIDEO: MAM for Gave That

Flying Wish Paper

Today I felt compelled to open up one of the Flying Wish Paper packages Julia Lambie sent me. Scrawling a few sentiments (prayers, hopes, dreams), balling them up until they look like little tumbleweeds and then flattening them back out Origami style. Rolling them into a tube and lighting them up. Fumbling with the camera the best part somewhat shocked me despite anticipation for it... your wish plumes upwards, taking flight quite literally. Majorly worth it. Find Flying Wish Paper gift packets in all sizes and designs here at Julia's site.

Image: MAM for GaveThat

Memento Mori

A Memento Mori to remember one by...

Every once in a while it comes out of its box and gets a round of approval, especially among men. Memento Mori by Douglas Little. Candle as conversation piece, conversation piece as a candle almost too good to burn and a lot bigger than I had anticipated. This one sits in its black box, ready to spring at any moment. Below is a gorgeous example of it in action, having been burned in designer Irina Shabayeva's workroom.

Black Skull Candle: Memento Mori D.L. & Co.

Fragrance Pocket Watches: Modern Alchemy D.L. & Co. (see them here)

Image: MAM for GaveThat | Irina Shabayeva's workroon as seen in Marie Claire magazine, photo by Perry Hagopian

Also see:
- Modern Alchemy

DIY Gift — The Spice Trade

A good while ago a documentary on Indian cooking came on and the one thing that has always stuck in my mind was when a lovely woman came on, opened a draw in her kitchen and proceeded to show a prized possession. It was a box containing many tiny round tins filled with spices. She said Indian brides are traditionally given these spice collections as wedding gifts that are loving used for ages (only a pinch or two is needed of each). Brilliant! Not to mention thoroughly DIY-able. Today was an attempt to recreate this.

Above are some little tins that resembled hers... find them in the beading area of craft stores or look in culinary boutiques as some are starting to sell these pre-filled with your choice of herbs and spices. Once the ones here were filled they were nestled inside the compartments of a simple, handmade paper gift box.

Image: MAM for Gave That