Shabby Chic: The Gift of Giving by Rachel Ashwell, photographs by Amy Neunsinger.
Ashwell's ideas for gift giving revolve around beauty, comfort and function. She enjoys the gathering of the gift items as much as the presentation and the giving. Hers are the type of gift you spend time thinking about. They will relay a message and be meaningful to both the giver and the receiver.
She loves using vintage items, which she says speak to her, "aesthetically, inspirationally, or emotionally." She may find these at any time as she goes about her everyday rounds. When something speaks to her, she buys it and puts it away for the perfect occasion. This makes last minute gift gathering less of a chore.
Grouping items together is one way she lets the gifts tell a story. These themed gifts may be expensive (cashmere scarves, hats, gloves, and sweaters for her parents) or simple (vases of flowers).
Her suggestion is to find that one special piece and create your theme around that item. A mixture of old and new, packaged creatively guarantees a one of a kind gift. Some examples she shared were finding a partially embroidered linen tablecloth at a flea market. The work was beautifully done, but unfinished. She found matching yarn and needles to include with the tablecloth. The wonderful practicality of this gift was that by already being partially done, it didn't appear as an overwhelming task to complete.
Ms Ashwell also creates themes with color. An all white gift being pure and simple, it included some white ironstone jars on an ironstone platter, some white glasses, soap and beauty products complete with a fluffy white towel. Another example was a pink espresso cup and saucer, a pink sweater, pink linen napkin, pink frilly cloth and pink stationery.
Make your theme around a country. A shopping expedition to an Asian market could turn up some unique finds. As a hostess gift for a party: a beautiful bottle of sake, some candies, lotion, green tea, and a little tea strainer all wrapped up in an oriental newspaper with an origami paper gift label and a miniature paper umbrella for trim.
The presentation is very important to her, as shown in the last gift. Ashwell loves to use a combination of contemporary and vintage items. A plain craft box tied with a torn strip of fabric and a vintage silk flower for trim is one example. She collects bits of beautiful old ribbon, hem tape, wide ribbons, string, rubberbands, lace and other items she thinks will be useful. Bits of tulle, colorful pastel packing peanuts, or colored paper run through the paper shredder are some of the packing materials she uses.
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