Good Little Packages

I'm house-bound today after a trip to urgent care this morning and an x-ray. The only good thing about staying home is at least I can get some work done and catch up on projects....

Yesterday I dropped off a bunch of merchandise to Darren at Paris to the Moon in Costa Mesa. He was in Romantic Homes' March issue, and we are in April, so we hatched a plan to do a collaboration. I've posted on his shop before: it's a mix of the cutest little things and a few over-the-top big things, with a heavy dose of fantasy and nature and whimsy. He now has a huge Marie Antoinette in the front of the store, along with Marie Antoinette Action Figures. I'll go back tomorrow to see what he's done with all the baskets in his window; he was pulling out a huge stage set on painted canvas to use as a background for the window; he's an uber-stylist and consistently comes up with the most fantastic, fun, visuals.

He loved the baskets as soon as he saw them, but quickly added that his customers want some gold and glitter on them. We went heavy on the pink totes, with a few St. Tropez and Dijon and Antibes baskets thrown in. I did a few more this morning at home and so this is what I will show him tomorrow:

I especially like the gold and the green; the trims are a little burnished, so not as bright as in this shot:

This is closer to the true look, below; the trims are Dutch and are all vintage metallic threads; I got them to use for the liners for the rolling carts:I tried a tuxedo-stripe look on the orange:

And while I was there dropping off, I picked out a cute little gift for my friend Michelle, who has just had major surgery and needs a little cheer; look what Darren does:

A sweet little domed paper box, with your choice of pretty decoupage hang tags:

The box opens to reveal a glassine bag holding "the gift":
On a bed of pretty green paper shred:
And then you open the envelope to find your gift, a girl Bear as part of a set of circus animals: It will be perfect for Michelle, along with some flowers...it's totally "her!"
I am going to give Darren some pink and blue net bags too for his display. I'll have shots of his window full of baskets and his shop tomorrow.