Detail of the Week

Christmas is the perfect time to be a little extravagant and have fun with gift wrapping, giving, and decorations! While flipping through past issues of Victoria magazine this weekend, I came across a few things that I thought were very fitting to share with you today. Admittedly, I truly miss Victoria magazine. Their editorials were so thoughtful and stunning, and I miss the entire romantic lifestyle that they encompassed so well..with an ever apparent, yet underlying passion to support women of talent. I could go on about this forever, but onto this week's detail of the week, which specifically focuses on vintage finds, and showcases a few ideas on how to get creative with them...




01 Vintage wooden buttons. A little string, a large button, and a typographic stamp and voila! You have transformed a plain paper box into a subtle, but personalized gift. As an alternative, tie a simple hang tag around the button with a cheerful little note.

02 An advent calendar. Though perhaps not as tempting and delicious as chocolate, this one marks each day with a vintage ornament. I like the idea of an ornament exchange with a good friend–switching ornaments would be fun–or perhaps just using the calendar concept as a way of displaying your very favorite treasures in a unique way.

03 Ribbons and buckles. Re-purpose vintage belts to both fasten and embellish a gift. After opening up their gift, the receiver can adorn a plant pot, vase, lampshade or jewelry box with the belt.



04 Ribbons, vintage paper and brooches. A fun idea, again, to dress a gift with a unique style. Some carefully pleated paper, highly textural ribbon, layered with a glam brooch is almost too pretty to open! Upon opening the gift, the receive could hang the brooch on their Christmas tree, clip it to their hat or even a wreath.

The possibilities are endless! This week, I will be scouting out my favorite vintage and antique shops, looking for some perfect accessories, such as the ones mentioned above, as well as ornaments, pretty little boxes, (ceramic or paper) delicate napkins (to wrap with) and hat pins. It might be fun to also fill a vintage luggage piece, such as a hat box, with an item or two, such as a scarf, slippers, perfume, etc. I would love to know if you've tried some of these out, are interested, or have some other fun inspiration that you would like to share.

Have a great Monday!

/photography by Caroline Arber, Victoria Jan 2003/