Let's face it. The holidays are in, like, five minutes, like it or not. I actually had my first orders for Christmas gifts this week. I hate to say it, but I have joined the ranks of those who dread the holidays, even though I love the family time. The yearly premature push into the gimmicks of the holidays, the rushing around, the endless to-do lists. So there's no explanation for how gleefully I gift wrapped the items for my customers, except my love of pretty packaging and giving smart, thoughtful gifts. Luckily, I've been preparing for packing holiday orders early, because I love to enclose some extra special touches.
For starters, I reordered a favorite piece I like to stick in with all my orders.
Moo.com offers these high quality, affordable mini cards that I make into little bookmarks for my customers.
These have been a fun, easy way to remind people where to find me. Next, I ordered some tiny jot pads inside matchbooks, for which I designed little stickers. These were super affordable, and will hopefully be fun and useful for my customers.
Then, I designed some new care labels to enclose/stick onto various items for which I felt
customers would benefit from instructions. Also from moo.com.

Finally, I snagged some gorgeous ribbon and tissue, at half off their regular price. I love combining texture and color to give a preview of what's inside, so I picked some things that I hope will excite their recipents. I feel like I could go all "Martha Stewart" on these orders now. Alright, holidays, bring it on. But please be gentle!