marks and spencer Archives

Christmas Wrapping Guide with Marks and Spencer

Wrapping has always been an issue for me. I actually dread it every birthday, Christmas etc. Mainly because my best friend makes so much fun of my wrapping skills. I’m not that terrible, but I’m not great either. So I guess over the last few years I’d just given up trying.

So when Marks and Spencer invited me to a Christmas Wrapping event I automatically to yes. Whereas inside I was screaming “please help save my friends and family from poorly wrapped gifts this year”. And save them they did, because I picked up more than a tip or two, and I’ve decided to share them (ain’t I nice) with you below.

Christmas Wrapping Guide Tip 1

Create a gift bag out of wrapping paper, for hard to wrap gifts.

You know the kind of gift. The one with bits sticking out of it, rounded corners, it may even be fragile. Yes they’re also the bane of my Christmas too. Well they were, until Geraldine and Marks & Spencer teamed up to teach me how to make a gift bag out of wrapping paper. This works for literally any kind of gift. And it also means you don’t have to pay extra. Because let’s be honest, we all have a ton of spare wrapping paper lying around at this time of year. Check out my attempt at a wrapping paper gift bag below, with an awkward soap and lotion set. No bad, ey?

Find out how to create your own with the Marks and Spencer wrapping guide.

Christmas Wrapping Guide Tip 2

Buy gift wrapping sets, to make it look completely effortless.

Following on from my previous comments; don’t you just hate it when you have a load of spare wrapping paper, but you don’t have any matching ribbon, bows etc. Well yes, I do actually have that issue sometimes. But not anymore! Because I have discovered wrapping paper sets. Sets of complimentary paper, ribbons, tags etc. Yes these are actually a thing, and they’re available at M&S. It’s definitely the easiest way to give your friends and family stylishly wrapped presents.

Christmas Wrapping Guide Tip 3

Make it personal.

We all know that a well wrapped gift will get anyones attention, and rightly so. But why not make it personal. After all, we do the same with people’s gifts. Why not go the extra mile and match the wrapping to the person too? My personal style is uber minimalist, and I know that works with some friends. However some of my family/friends like cute packaging, others super seasonal. So this year I’ve decided to match my gifts with their wrapping. Making sure I go the extra mile. You know, for those bonus points from Santa.

Check out more photos from the event, and my attempts at gift wrapping at home below.

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This post is in collaboration with Marks & Spencer however all views, photos and words are my own.

Flower Arranging with Marks and Spencer

Flower arranging has always been an enchanting mystery to me. When I was younger my grandmother would always have beautiful bouquets of flowers scattered throughout her house. All of which she had arranged herself. It looked so simple, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t recreate it myself. In more recent years – after moving into my own apartment – the allure of fresh flowers has grown. However without any knowledge of how to arrange flowers, I was at a loss. Enter Marks and Spencer, their flower expert Simon Richards, and a special flower arranging class they set up for an intimate group of bloggers.

Flower Arranging Tip 1: Carnival of Colour

For their stand at Chelsea Flower Show this year, Marks and Spencer created their own carnival of colour. Reflecting on this, Simon’s first tip was all about adding colour to your patio, garden party, bbq, dining table etc. We were shown how to add colourful arrangements to our tables, with flowers such as peonies, sunflowers and more. The great thing about this style of arrangement is that there are no real rules. Pop them into bowls, glasses, onto plates. Scatter them across the table. Basically have your way with them.

Simon Says- have fun with colour, and be spontaneous!

Flower Arranging Tip 2: Roses/Bouquets

Next, Simon gave us tips on how to arrange the perfect hand-tied bouquet, and he did so with everyone’s favourite – the rose. Roses are a classic. No one can turn their noses up at a well groomed bouquet of roses, right? I’d had my eye on the cream and dusky pink roses all evening, so I was very excited for this tutorial. We were shown how to create an even bouquet. Starting with one flower in the middle, hold the stems around 1/3 of the way down with one hand, and gradually add flower-by-flower in a “fanning” technique; slowly rotating them as you go. Afterwards, simply wrap your ribbon/twine around the bouquet – whilst still holding it in the same place – and secure.

You can find some of the roses we used for our arranging here.

Simon Says – fan out/rotate your flowers as your add them to the bunch!

Flower Arranging Tip 3: At Home

Of course what we all want to know is how do we integrate this into our homes. They key thing here is to find a fitting vase. This could be any shape or size, as long as it fits into your interior. That said, different flowers will often look better in different types of vase. Tall, thin vases work better with a minimal amount of flowers. Whereas wider lipped vases look much nicer with large bouquets, and big blooms. I myself prefer a shorter, wider vase, which works with a variety of flowers.

Simon Says – for a contemporary look, choose a short, round vase!

Check out more photos from the event, and my attempts at flower arranging at home below.

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This post is in collaboration with Marks & Spencer however all views, photos and words are my own.