Popping the other question

Once the bride says yes, it's her turn to pop the question -- asking her bridal party to be a part of their wedding. This creative bride came to us to help her do it a little differently.

Each bridal party member was sent a split of Champagne etched with the custom design and message in silver, and nestled in handmade wooden boxes with sliding lids. Printed paper bands were wrapped around the box; custom designed with each recipients name and personal note on each. As an extra little detail, we topped it off with a matching wrap around the neck of the bottle and a dainty linen tie.

What better way to start a celebration than with a little Champagne?

Printed sweets; Martha-style!

What better way to come back from an unplanned blog-writing hiatus, than to share our feature in Martha Stewart Weddings. We've been so excited that MSW picked our sweets for their "Wedding full of floral clip art" article. See the whole story here... and check out our petit fours and candy lollies. To order, or see our other printed edibles, click here.

We have to address the elephant in the blogosphere; our ridiculously long break from the blog, despite our best efforts. There is no excuse - but we'll offer one up anyway. Simply put, we have been swamped with work and that always wins out. We have dozens of great projects to share, we just have to have one free hand to type! So stay tuned - we'll be posting more soon!

A sweet table

There are a few things I know for sure. 1) that I would ROCK as a contestant on "Wheel of Fortune" 2) that my son will NOT know any Barney songs, and 3) that if we cover something in chocolate and print a custom design on it, it's going to be the hit of the party. Add some great display dishes that show off the branded sweets and you've got yourself desserts and decor!

Candy tables are always a fun addition to a party - but we like to go the extra sugar-filled mile and brand each mini-dessert with a personalized design. This particular candy table we created was at The Wedding Party at The Breakers in Palm Beach. We designed a palm tree silhouette in green and flanked it with our initials in hot pink - and had it printed on anything that stood still.

Here's what was there - go ahead and drool...

• White chocolate-covered rice krispy treats printed and on lollipop sticks
• Petit fours with design on top (tiny vanilla cakes with buttercream and raspberry filling, enrobed in white chocolate)
• White chocolate-covered marshmallow pops, printed and covered in pink sprinkles
• Candy lollipops with design
• Fortune cookies covered in white chocolate and printed with design, with custom messages inside
• Palm tree lollies on wooden sticks
• Sugar cookies with icing plaque printed with a watercolored map of Palm Beach

Even if you're not having a sweet table (gasp!), you can take one of these elements and incorporate it into the event or wedding weekend. Pass the petit fours around at the cocktail hour as a sweet surprise... have the fortune cookies ready to take home on their way out... leave the rice krispy treats on their pillows... tuck the map cookies into their welcome bags.

Here's a link to pictures and descriptions of our branded sweets.

So that's it, I've gotta go stalk Pat Sajak till he lets me go on.

Hot New Years Gifts

If Gifts for the Good Life had a Greatest Hits CD, a compilation of some of our favorite projects, this one would be on Volume 1. The elements of this New Years gift from the Washingtonian and Bride & Groom Magazine, just seemed to come together perfectly. We've got a serious crush on these reusable heart-shaped handwarmers, which paired perfectly with hot cocoa sticks, printed marshmallow pops and clever wording. Each item was tucked in printed muslin drawstring sacks, with the printed card resting on top. Just creating this package brought us out of the winter doldrums!

If you are in the D.C. area, don't miss the Washingtonian / Bride & Groom's Wedding Showcase January 24th at the Mandarin Oriental. Click here for more details.

Box of sugar

Is there anything sweeter than rice krispy treats and marshmallows? Actually, yes... when they are covered in white-chocolate.

We had the pleasure of putting together holiday gifts for the lovely Hitched Bridal Salon in Washington, DC. We filled a handled wooden box with krispies and marshmallows that were printed with their logo and "Peace & love". Then we topped it off by wrapping a printed paper band around it with their message.

We love that it's a box they can use well after the sugar is gone...

Holiday edibles

One of our favorite clients asked us to create their holiday gifts again this year; always a medley of decadent edibles with a ranch-style theme. Her taste is impeccable, (she came up with a few of these!) so we thought we'd share this great assortment of some of our new loves...

• Madison Marcela Toffee in Dark Chocolate Pecan
• Hot chocolate sticks - melt when stirred in hot milk.
• Cowgirl Chocolates – Assorted truffles in a printed drawstring muslin "Trail ridin' bag in “Mild-mannered”.
• Sea Salt Caramels
• Boxed set of 6 silken triangular infusers of organic herbal teas.
• Tin canister of organic popcorn in Alderwood smoked sea salt.
• Maple & Brown sugar cookies – paper-thin, crispy cookies held in a tall tin.
• Chocolate espresso cake – moist, rich, distinctive.
• Squirrel Brand: Meyer Private Reserve Cashews – imported, slow-roasted, and lightly salted.
• All held in an immense wooden cheesebox with handles and their ranch logo fire-branded onto the lid.

New Years Gifts

For a "tasteful" New Years gift from an investment firm to their clients, we put together our current favorite edibles in a huge wooden cheesebox with their logo fire-branded on the lid.

Our current faves? We're glad you asked! Smoked sea salt popcorn, Ultra-thin white chocolate Macadamia cookies, Dark chocolate rum raisin spirit-infused bundt cake for two, Tuscan-style almonds, Hot cocoa sticks, a tin of English Breakfast tea, and of course custom printed biscotti and chocolate-covered marshmallows with their logo. 2010 can't be bad with that kind of start!

We have a lot of projects to catch you up on - so visit again soon!

Fire-branded boxes... as centerpieces

Sometimes our clients come up with uses for things that we haven't even thought of... like this bride who is using these fire-branded wooden boxes to hold the flower centerpieces at her rehearsal dinner.

The party is taking place in an airport hanger; hence the airplane graphic with their initials and wedding date as the planes registration number. Gotta love creative clients!

Etched Splits for Museum Party

The Minneapolis Institute of Art is thrilled to host their new exhibit, "The Louvre and the Masterpiece", masterpieces of visual art from the world-famous Musée du Louvre. With the exhibit opening October 18th, they had a private viewing and party for members of the museum the night before. Lucky for us, they wanted to create sponsor gifts and guest favors.

The invitation wording was etched in silver on splits of Champagne. Each bottle was nestled in wood excelsior in a wooden crate with a printed paper band that mimicked the invitation design, wrapped around the crate. A silver custom wax seal with their logo held the paper ribbon printed with each sponsors name.

The splits were also used as favors at the actual event and were held in custom-made wooden boxes with the museum logo fire-branded onto the sliding lid. Here's to an exhibit well worth toasting!

Branded welcome box

We recently finished a welcome crate that was a great example of how we can take artwork (in this case, the couple's invitation design) and adapt it throughout the gift. Each item had a cohesive look, from the branded rice krispy treat to the printed accordion welcome note. The hand-picked items included:

• Hangover Helper held in tube with printed label (Tums, Tylenol, Sleep mask, Earplugs and Band-aids)
  
• Rice krispy treat dipped in white chocolate and printed with their design


• Deck of Eco-cards


• Cajun nut mix in resealable pouch


• Printed water bottle labels


• Custom designed and printed accordion itinerary and welcome note.


• All held in a hand-made wooden crate with a custom printed paper band.

Embroidered handkerchief

Since we've been talking about the little details, we thought this would fit well in that series. Embroidered handkerchiefs become an unexpected treasure - an updated heirloom - for parents, grandparents, and the bridal party.

These white hemstitched linen handkerchiefs were embroidered with each persons initials and the wedding date in their colors. We can also embroider a custom design, motif, or crest. Email us for pricing and info.

In the details: cups, napkins and candy bags

Sometimes we get a fun palette of colors to work with, sometimes a really beautiful, intricate piece of art, and sometimes we get both.

This bride had two different medallions - one with their initial and one without - both gorgeous. We had our favorite shatterproof cups (great for boat parties) printed with the medallion in turquoise. Then we printed a medley of cocktail napkins in deep purple, hydrangea, and ivory with their custom initial medallion.

We also had lined candy bags printed with "Sweet dreams" and their names, a perfect little detail to take with them.