Doctored Decadence

Sometimes I think about how incredible it must have been to step into a store 100 hundred years ago and be dazzled. Really dazzled! Perfumes in elaborate glass bottles with those little squeeze bulbs and tassels dangling off, silver mirrors and combs, books with gilded pages, everything covered in decoupage. The packaging was almost better than the gift itself. Here are a few gift wrap looks inspired by past grandeur.

Packing things in rose petals.

Cherry blossoms in antique apothecary bottles.

Solid perfumes housed in pocket watch cases and a tiny snuff box. For how to create your own see here.

Abalone seashells wrapped in tulle holding sea salts.

Crystal and glass bottles hold bath oils and bubble bath.

Stay tuned for more vintage gift wrap looks soon. For more visit my Gift Wrap Inspiration area here.

Image: mam for Gave That

Audiophile Yoga

Truth serum: walked passed yoga class and kept on going. At home always waiting is this hooked up yoga mat by Gaiam that I picked up at The Foundary . If you know someone who does the same (speed walking past class) this is for them. More truth serum... it was the koi fish that made me really want it, the little lotus speaker that pumps out directions from my app is pure icing.

Gaiam Audio Yoga Mat

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Eclat D'Arpege

This one is for all you Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue devotes (and the people who adore them!). Years later and it's unreal how Light Blue is so often missing from its slot having sold out, how many wish lists it remains on and how happy it makes so many... the guys included. Then you have the flip... the everyone is wearing it if only I could find something similar but also a little different delima.

If D&G Light Blue had a fraternal twin it really would be Eclat D'Arpege by Lanvin. Released a few years after Light Blue and still rather obscure in comparison you must give it a whiff! In place of Light Blue's Sicilian lemons you have very green lemon leaves. Light Blue has ceder wood mixed with bamboo and Eclat D'Arpege has Lebanese white ceder. Same bright almost salty beach effect, only Eclat D'Arpege is housed in an Art Deco orb modeled after the original Arpege of the 1920's.


For more on my love affair with perfume and little gift finds see my beauty & scents area here.

Image: mam for Gave That

Boston Cream Valentine

These appeared and were so much more delicious than anything I had planed to make.

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Happy Booster

You have to see and smell these in person, they're that good! They eluded me for the longest time but Physicians Formula has said that the entire Happy Booster collection will be made permanent so good things come to those who wait. Still, these have to garner cult status. They vanish from shelves, they're so cute with puffy hearts and they smell like earthy purple violets. How many compacts nowadays have all of this going for them? Even better the translucent powder gives your skin the most ethereal glow and the blush always comes out rosy. These are on my permanent must give list for the rest of the year.

Happy Booster Physicians Formula Blush in Natural & Powder in Translucent

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BMC Handmade

Those who have someone loving to hand knit or crochet things for them are incredibly fortunate... for the rest of us there is still hope. These hats and infinity scarves here are whipped up by BMC Handmade. Soft and warm their Gloze beanie seems glued to my head and they're Suspense scarf is beyond beyond.

Even better BMC Handmade works with The Nationwide Children's Hospital so that every hat sold means a hat is donated to children who have lost their hair due to Chemotherapy.

Image: mam for Gave That | BMC Handmade Facebook

32 Questions on Love

"Can we love for love's sake without expectations?" —the Marquis de Sourdis

With Valentines Day looming so close it seemed as if I could get away with posting this conversation game. All the way back in the mid 1600's the Marquis de Sourdis is credited with coming up with the Salon game 32 Questions on Love. Such games were rather popular but the Marquis seems to have done an exceptional job at capturing a more universal, timeless subject. Especially when genders are removed. How much has changed all these hundreds of years later and how much has stayed the same?

These questions were clearly created to garner the most effect (some might say fights)... which is why the ones specifically on gifts are the most intriguing. The three are:

#27 If a man received gifts from a woman, should he return them if she decides to leave him and asks for them?

#28 Should a man ask for personal gifts that can be recognized by others from someone he loves and if he leaves, should he keep them, return them, or burn them?

#29 Should a woman give a man she loves personal gifts, when he asks for some?

For all of the 32 questions watch the video above and next time you're at an oh-so-boring party why not bring it up on your phone for a little conversational fun?

Image: VIDEO by mam for Gave That

Puzzle Purses

After watching this video and following the steps to make these little Puzzle Purses someone told me, "boy they sure did go to great lengths for their Valentines back then!". I like to think people mean just as much to one another today as they did in the 1800's... but they sure had a point.

Fore diagrams and more pictures see my past post here for the Bright Star inspired Old Valentine.

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Choose Haiti Folk Art

Haitians, still living in camps, are creating these bracelets out of recycled plastic bottles and bits of newspaper... find them being sold at choosehaiti.com and some Forever21's. Each is a unique piece of Haitian wearable art and I love the French Creole peeking through.

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Sheer Burberry

Another perfume I wanted to quickly share is Burberry's Sheer Brit. This was a perfume recently given to someone sweet and she mentioned to me how happy it made her feel when she spritzed it on. All, "grapefruit and melons and flowers" she exclaimed. And that pretty much sums it up. It's lovely in how simple and soapy clean it smells... very different from the original Brit by Burberry, except for a little pear, but just as swank in a romantic, lighthearted, easy to wear sort of way. Plus the bottle it beautiful!

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Love Letter Gift Wrap

One way Victorian women decorated their letters was to add actual ribbons woven into the boarders of their stationery. (see one such letter here.) This seemed like a nice, romantic change from the traditional ribbon and bow used on top of most of our gift wrap today. Here are the results of a little testing.

It's pretty easy too. All one needs is an X-acto knife to make slits slightly larger than the ribbon you will be using. Then take a piece of tape and place it at the end of your ribbon. This will help make it stiff and easier to push through the slats you made in your gift wrapping paper. Poke and weave through, forming a bow on top. Something extra sweet for Valentines Day and bridal wrapping.

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Rachel Leigh's Bow

From the top it looks like a simple gold bangle bracelet but upon closer inspection it's really a floppy, flossy ribbon bow! These come in so many pretty colors but the gold and black enamel is next on my list.

Rachel Leigh's Audrey bracelet
Subversive bracelet
Vintage basket purse

Image: mam for Gave That

Twilight Woods

This is one of those love lost now found sort of stories. Perfume is one of the few things that has always helped to keep those dank skies from flattening me so where ever there is a collection you'll probably find me sniffing about. Bath & Body Works always has hoards but I've never felt like actually purchasing any, aside from my Japanese Cherry Blossom which sadly suffers from being heavy on the alcohol, and bits from the Aromatherapy line, as gifts (see below).

After picking up one of their newer, reformulated scents I can say the alcohol is now thankfully gone. The bottle is also gorgeous... one of the prettiest of their entire collection I think. The scent is Twilight Woods and the notes are many. This is where I was most intrigued, the bevy of exotic things that now seem to make up B&BW's latest fragrances. In the case of Twilight Woods, Oud. Oud or Agarwood is traditionally very popular in Middle Eastern perfumes and not often seen in Western blends, especially ones geared towards the feminine set.

This is where a little bit of the disappointment comes in. When I spritzed on Twilight Woods it was immediately obvious this was almost the exact same scent used way back in 2004 for a collection called Autumn Pumpkin. This was replaced later by their Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin which smells thoroughly different. Autumn Pumpkin was one of their most delicious and complex scents. Deep, slightly sweet, buttery, nutty, a little cider fruit in a mulled spice, fall maple leaves sort of way. So this is where the lost love is found in a new bottle. An old friend hidden inside something unexpected. I'm on cloud nine in that respect but did Autumn Pumpkin have Oud in it too? What about the apricot nectar, Tuscan cypress, coconut, and frangipani? As it dried down Twilight does have a hint more Vanilla but the scents are almost identical.


Bath & Body Works flagship stores use to carry tons of brands that were extremely hard to find in the US, even in NYC. Making it a last minute gift paradise. Most are gone now, replaced by hand sanitizers but the in house line that does make me come back is their Aromatherapy collection and, in particular, their Sensual Black Current Vanilla (their Happy line is amazing too!). The body mist comes in a pretty glass bottle and is more like an eau de toilette. It has the most deep, luscious, almost smokey current scent cut with herbal lemongrass which belies the price. Their answer to Jo Malon or Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella's Melograno, only a little bit more accessible.

Image: mam for Gave That